One Sensational Shot

In Issue 30 of The Evening Glass, Fletcher Walton is joined by comedy’s Aidan McCaffery to discuss Fletcher's recent extensive analysis of the streaming landscape – which you’ll find here - and Hollywood’s rejigged release slate for 2020 – our original preview of which you’ll find here. Plus, as ever, there’s digressions galore - into the cult of Red Dwarf, the Arnold Schwarzenegger School of Acting, and, surprisingly, Thom Yorke swearing in a fishbowl.Let us know what you think on Facebook, Twitter, leave us a review on iTunes, follow us on Spotify, and check us out on Instagram and eBay.

In Issue 29 of the The Evening Glass, Luke and Fletcher return to Luke's DVD A to Z for the first time in a year (a year!) to rewatch effervescent cult comedy BASEketball. Produced, directed and ostensibly written by spoof supremo David Zucker, it's equally a vehicle for its stars ascendant Trey Parker and Matt Stone in, amazingly, their third and, amazingly, last live action outing. Twenty-two years old next month, here in the UK its theatrical release was canceled - I remember reading Empire magazine's preemptive review that summer before the trail went dead for more than a year until it crawled out on video following a dismal performance in US cinemas ($7 million, barely scraping the box office top 150). Its reputation was thus born from Sky Moviemax, late night Channel 4, and rental tapes playing in the background of a hundred Sixth Form house parties.Canonically consistent with the rise of the Farrelly Brothers, whose There's Something About Mary exploded in cinemas that same summer, and the Weitz Brothers' American Pie, which arrived one year later, BASEketball's bad taste antics unfortunately presaged the decline of its genre, as parody was quickly overwhelmed with gross-out - although, in terms of comedic escalation, perhaps what started with farting cowboys in was always going to end with murder-by-cock-through-the-ear. But we reckon it remains the last good work to emerge from the ZAZ stable and a great vehicle for the sillier side of Parker & Stone.

The Evening Glass has long functioned as a clearinghouse of relative topicality for whatever Luke and I happened to like at the flicks or on TV that month. But it's always been our intention to expand into other areas of interest, as soon as we could come up with some witty names. There'll be One Sensational Sound, a repository for discussions of our musical tastes. The literary wing of the burgeoning criticism empire will, naturally, be labelled One Sensational Sentence. And we were all set to launch One Sensational Sprite this spring, but then I beat Luke best-three-out-of-five at Mario Kart and he announced his retirement from Nintendo effective immediately, so that was that.One moniker we did nail down is One Sensational Strike, a catch-all term granting us the latitude to discuss in the same single stream our loves of football, militant trade unionism, and "Big" Ern McCracken from Kingpin. For our pilot issue - perhaps that should be pre-season friendly? - I'm joined by my old pal Tim Anderson, for a chat about lockdown viewing habits, Disney favourites, top flight football's return to BBC broadcast after three decades away, and Kenny Effing Powers. Enjoy!

A reluctantly single yuppie accidentally befriends the oddball who installed his cable. An over-the-hill male model is brainwashed into a political assassination. A band of pampered actors marooned in jungle begin to live their roles for real. Through these diverse premises, director Ben Stiller has sculpted accessibly silly Hollywood comedies that at the same time function as densely detailed, slyly subversive satires of a self-involved American culture at media overload. In the second edition of our 90s Comedian series, Luke and Fletcher step into The Electronic Labyrinth to reflect on the first two decades of Stiller's filmmaking, from his early shorts and sketch shows, through the relative success of Reality Bites and relative failure of The Cable Guy, past his now revered cult classic Zoolander, to his magnificent, go-for-broke masterwork, Tropic Thunder.

2012 was one hell of a time. Not only did we think the world wouldn't get much worse after the global economic crisis and the rise of international terrorism - but we also allowed ourselves to get excited about a beloved franchise being purchased by a huge corporation. But, here we are - five movies in, a few TV shows (including a live action one) and a whole lot of fan chatter. We wanted to allow the dust to settle after the release of 'The Rise of Skywalker' - so this isn't a review of that picture - but more of a discussion over a cold coffee about how we feel about creative filmmaking in the streaming age. As always, let us know what you think on Facebook, Twitter, leave us a review on iTunes, follow us on Spotify, and check us out on Instagram and eBay.

Comedy's Aidan McCaffery is an apostate. He has renounced his longtime comic congregation, the London Metropolitan Elite Church of the Woke & Vegan Reading Room, and walks now the path of the born-again Leondensian. With his microphone a shepherd's crook, he will tend to a new flock among the earthy ribaldry and casual xenophobia of the working men's clubs of the North. His cancel culture card has itself been cancelled, cut into pieces and pressed upon the clacking tongues of the devoted, to be swallowed as sacrament. In its place, a membership with Cooplands Rewards and a set of vouchers to be enjoyed between 5 pm and 7 pm at any of Leeds City Centre's 12 Wetherspoons locations.In advance of Aidan's exodus, Fletcher Walton secured his presence at O.S.S. Ealing one last time to discuss the biggest cinema releases of 2020 - but naturally not before an opening 45 minutes of acerbic, insightful, culturally necessary blah blah blah. Enjoy, and ee bah gum!

In Issue 28 of The Evening Glass, Luke and Fletcher reflect on their favourite festive films - from Dianne Jackson's The Snowman to Barry Levinson's Diner - before looking closely at one of the finest of them all, John Landis' Trading Places.Let us know what you think on Facebook, Twitter, leave us a review on iTunes, follow us on Spotify, and check us out on Instagram and eBay.Sherry Christmas, Frohe Weinachten, Anís Navidad, and see you all in 2020!

Do the Right Thing is a film about conflict and conversation. With preternatural vision and skill, director Spike Lee creates urban America in microcosm across a handful of larger-than-life Bed-Stuy blocks sweltering in the summer sun, and on those sidewalks and shopfronts presents a procession of discussions – between black and white, male and female, young and old, past and present, boyfriend and girlfriend, brother and sister, brother and brother, father and son, native and immigrant, have and have-not. Lee encourages us to follow each dialogue and recognise both sides. Then, in act of marvelous courage by the filmmakers, the viewer is given licence not to decide or conclude or offer a verdict, but to witness, consider and reflect. Spike expects us to think. In this issue of The Electronic Labyrinth, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of perhaps the greatest Hollywood film in our lifetimes, Luke Littleboy and Fletcher Walton have a go at understanding how Spike and his team marshal the instruments of cinema to articulate these arguments within the community they've so vividly realised, as over the course of the hottest day of the year limitations in understanding threaten alliances and push us to crisis.

In the thirty-some years Luke, James and Fletcher have shared the planet, Hollywood has released no film better than Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing. One Sensational Shot honours the 30th anniversary of that release with two new issues. Later in the month on The Electronic Labyrinth, Luke and Fletcher go scene-by-scene to explore and understand Do the Right Thing's marvelous riches as an incredible work of cinema.Here, in Episode 27 of The Evening Glass, Fletcher discusses the film, its themes, and, as usual, every bloody other thing else as well, with Spike Lee novice Aidan McCaffery.. In this issue, we've sought to reflect the maturity, the honesty, the dexterity and the precision of this challenging work. If we've done our job, we hope it's on that level which you'll engage and enjoy.

A lot can happen in 20 years. Some of us of a certain age look back on the 90s with a hazy sense of nostalgia. So it's almost reassuring to remember that something as simple as a space movie could still split a fanbase clean in two, just like today. In contrast to the other prequels, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace was written by George Lucas over the period of a few years, carefully crafting the script alongside the art department. As the pre-production crew grew, an entire world teeming with life and distinct cultures grew to populate the movie.  Still, after the audience sobered up after opening weekend, people started to murmur... 'Is it any good?'. Like we said, a lot can happen in 20 years. The prequel generation is now grown up and the franchise isn't even owned by its creator any more.  Luke, James and Fletcher get together to ask how the film holds up after 20 years, where it sits within Lucas' career, and 'Is it any good?'. Let us know what you think – get in touch on Twitter, Facebook, and don’t forget to leave a review on iTunes.

Returning from another of our now customary three-month hiatuses (look, man, the sun was out, you dig?), Episode 26 of The Evening Glass finds Fletcher and special guest Aidan McCaffery fresh from an opening weekend screening of Todd Phillips' Joker and ready to rock and roll (part 2) with an hour of reaction, commendation, dissension and debate.Bust a move to the flicks, load this sucker up on the next day's morning commute, then come back at us with yer own opinions on the most stimulating comic book adaptation of the year.

In Issue 25 of The Evening Glass, we discuss a divergent brace of cult sci-fi visions. The kitsch embrace of a shag carpet zero-G space pad hosts Luke as his DVD A to Z continues with Roger Vadim's camp classic Barbarella, while it's from the altogether less salubrious environs of a Soho all-nighter that Fletcher files fevered dispatches on Panos Cosmatos' hypnagogic Beyond the Black Rainbow.We also touch on Cosmatos' drug-drenched sophomore feature, Mandy, present our pick of July's cinema releases - so get yer diaries out - and, digressive as ever, there's time as well for quick forays into football fandom, Stranger Things, and to what extent every person younger than us has without doubt been irrevocably traumatised by science phones. Technology, kids - just say no!

James Cameron and Christopher Nolan are two of our favourite Hollywood directors.In his singular, unfashionable dedications to practical effects, specificity of medium, cinematic exhibition and sophistication in plotting and presentation, over two decades Kit Nolan has emerged as an antidote to the contemporary blockbuster, the last best hope that blockbuster cinema can enthral audiences while advancing the form.Jim Cameron, the biggest director of the '90s, has been largely absent from cinemas for 20 years. Cameron's cinematic style is less adventurous than Nolan's, but his colossal innovation in special effects and his preternatural synthesis of story, character and spectacle are without parallel - and his accidental heroes remain among the most beloved characters in popular culture.In an issue of The Evening Glass thankfully nowhere near as austere as its introductory paragraphs, Fletcher is joined by comedy's Aidan McCaffery for a customarily lengthy chat on these two maestros - and one which made abundantly clear that we need to retrospective these two brilliant filmographies in their entirety, the sooner the better!

In reference, and deference, to the 1994 triple-whammy that turned Jim Carrey into an overnight sensation (ten years in the making), this month's Electronic Labyrinth sees Luke and Fletcher race through Ace Ventura, The Mask and Dumb and Dumber, The Cable Guy, The Truman Show and Man on the Moon; explain what comedy meant to the box office in the '80s and '90s; and plot the contemporary elimination of the blockbuster comedy.

Maybe two weeks is a long time in pop culture - but this...is The Evening Glass. Mindfulness podcasting, where life slows down to a crawl...where we chew every mouthful six times to get the benefit...and where we don't stop thinking about one of the biggest, baddest, boldest series of all time just because it finished a fortnight ago. Now the dust has settled, and the ash and the blood and the bits of people, Luke and Fletcher offer a few wine-soaked opinions on their experience with HBO's Game of Thrones. Enjoy!

Amid the Marvel maelstrom, a trepidatious Fletcher Walton is joined by comedian and box office boffin Aidan McCaffery to open the books on the franchise titan and assess its prospects of displacing James Cameron from the Iron Throne.This issue's a preview of a customarily discursive two hours with Aidan and Fletcher which we'll be publishing in June, so get the coffee brewing!

We remember the people's wookie. The man who crafted the character of Chewbacca after being 'spotted', and making a few well-placed trips to the zoo for research.  Peter Mayhew brought a tremendous amount to a character that didn't have a line of recognisable dialogue. We remember his career and contributions to the Star Wars films here.  James and Luke also speculate on the Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker plot following the trailer.  Let us know what you think – get in touch on Twitter, Facebook, and don’t forget to leave a review on iTunes. Here's a couple of articles we reference in the podcast:BBC: Peter Mayhew: Harrison Ford leads tributes to Star Wars' Chewbacca actorBBC: How Peter Mayhew became ChewbaccaRolling Stone: Peter Mayhew: A Lost Interview With the Original Chewbacca

We continue our retrospective on Joe Dante, one of our favourite genre directors of the 80s and 90s, with some razor sharp reminiscences of The 'Burbs. 30 years old this year, The 'Burbs features a fresh faced Tom Hanks at the peak of his comedic prowess (fresh off of Big, The Money Pit and Splash. Convinced that the new neighbourhood family are a bunch of murderers - he and his friends embark on an investigation that will delve into the deepest depths of suburban paranoia. Let us know what you think on Facebook, Twitter, leave us a review on iTunes, follow us on Spotify, and check us out on Instagram and eBay.

We miss you at the theatre Joe Dante. We know you haven't gone anywhere. You're still here on planet earth. But boy, do we miss you at the theatre. We miss gremlins catapulting old ladies off of a stairlift. We miss Mants (that's' a guy who's part-man, part-ant) attacking a terrified cinema auditorium. And we miss your wit, charm and panache when dealing taking a delightful dump on Hollywood whenever you chose. It's been over four years since Joe's last theatrical feature, and the heady days of being given studio budgets to tear up a set and see what's still standing may be long gone - but we want to take this opportunity (the 30th anniversary of the Tom Hanks gem The Burbs) to relive some of the finest moments from Joe Dante, Hollywood Subversive. Let us know what you think on Facebook, Twitter, leave us a review on iTunes, follow us on Spotify, and check us out on Instagram and eBay.

We launch a new format for Local Trouble, our Star Wars podcast. We'll be tackling a different topic each episode. We start by looking at the origins of the Chosen One in the prequel scripts and what the new generation of filmmakers seems to be doing with it in the Disney era. Is George Lucas's six film narrative cycle dead and buried?  Let us know what you think – get in touch on Twitter, Facebook, and don’t forget to leave a review on iTunes.

You probably stayed up all night long watching the highs and lows of 2019's Academy Awards. But even if you did that already, you probably have some opinions on it, right?  Perhaps you think the winner of Best Picture didn't deserve it. Perhaps you're wondering why only the media seem to even care about it anymore. Perhaps you're wondering why YOU even care about it anymore. Or maybe you just think it's time to take it out to the nearby field and shoot it in the head. Whatever your opinion of the Oscars, we have similar things to say about it in our rant. I mean, podcast.  Let us know what you think on Facebook, Twitter, leave us a review on iTunes, follow us on Spotify, and check us out on Instagram and eBay.

When VHS was king, we weren't so proud or so wealthy or so cognisant of copyright law that we wouldn't take the opportunity to dub the rental the night before it went back to the library. Even the most sophisticated cineaste requires multiple viewings to properly parse the subtleties of the text at hand, and paying cash money to rent Mannequin Two: On the Move more than once was sufficient grounds to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act (1983). With that in mind, since comedy's Aidan McCaffery was already at O.S.S Ealing to offer his reflections on 2018, of course we held him back another hour to find out what he's looking forward to in 2019. Our business manager calls it "maximising return on investment". Aidan's legal counsel calls it "false imprisonment". While the courts take time to decide, here's what to watch at the cinema in 2019.

We preface a new season of The Evening Glass by looking back at a 12 months so impressive it took 13 just to catch up - the kinda year where it's only when you're sat post-Chrimbo adding Cold War, Hostiles, Firsts Man and Reformed, M:I:6, Spider-Verse and Leave No Trace to a top 10 of increasing numerical inaccuracy that you remember, hold on, Three Billboards and Phantom Thread were in 2018, too!Fletcher's joined once again by comedy's Aidan McCaffery to take us through this rare vintage and its subsequent Academy Award nominations. It's easy to hold the Oscars at arm's length - and we probably do - but, in fairness, an institution which has overlooked male American directors in nine of the last ten ceremonies, but which has also honoured David Lynch literally a third of the time, can't be all bad. Plus, this time Spike'll be there!

Ramis and Murray complete their magnum opus...and them promptly fall out for the rest of their lives. We consider what makes Groundhog Day so special, for better and worse. Let us know what you think. You can get in touch on Facebook, Twitter and please do leave us a review on iTunes. We’re also available to follow on Spotify now, if that’s your thing.

Has the office Christmas party left you hungover and even more jaded that you'll never get that promotion because NOW your boss has seen you dance the macarena with a half-rolled cigarette and fully vomit stained H&M shirt? Then allow yourself to nussle into the sweet bosom nostalgia, which is always calling like a siren's song. We all know the 80s and 90s were better as kids. No Christmas debt. No responsibilities. And a wealth of terrestrial Christmas movie premiers to look forward to. Films that were released theatrically almost a decade ago (E.T.) and films that you discovered for the first time and immediately imprinted with, for no reason other than it was on tele on Christmas Eve and you could STAY UP for it (Cliffhanger). We go back in time, a cruise the TV Guide to see what we were all watching, and what we had the VCR set for. A big thanks to the people at http://ukchristmastv.weebly.com/ for their exhaustive historical listings, and to all the wonderful human beings who recorded films and Christmas, and then uploaded the announcers and ads to YouTube. You are heroes. Let us know what you think on Facebook, Twitter, leave us a review on iTunes, follow us on Spotify, and check us out on Instagram and eBay. Happy Holidays. 

In the 20th year since its UK release, Fletcher is joined by comedian and Paul Thomas Anderson fan Aidan McCaffery to discuss perhaps the best Hollywood film of the '90s, Boogie Nights.Twenty minutes after turning off the mic, word reached us that Kurt Longjohn himself, the greatest sleight of hand magician in the world, Ricky Jay, had passed away aged 72. In my two decades as a cineaste, Jay's been an ever-present - first, at home, with stacks of tapes, watching and rewatching him in back-to-back pictures with Paul Thomas Anderson and, as part of David Mamet's repertory, turns in Homicide, Heist, House of Games. Soon, out at the flicks, Mystery Men and, of all things, Heartbreakers. Later, there was Gus van Sant's Last Days and, of course, a cameo in the best film Kit Nolan's ever made, The Prestige. Jay even has an episode of The X-Files devoted to him.Enjoy the issue, and let's raise a glass to Ricky and a life well-lived.

With levels of anticipation we haven't felt since some other soft reboot we were also looking forward to, Shane Black's The Predator has arrived, and gone.  We catch up on what you get for $123.3 million these days, allowing for inflation and on-going negative productivity growth worldwide. We're still not quite sure.  So naturally, we also look back to John McTiernan's 1980s commando-cum-science-fiction-cum-slasher-cum-horror-cum-muscle movie, Predator.   John McTiernan, we miss you. 

'By Any Means Necessary', we emerge from the cinema to talk about Spike Lee's latest Joint, which offers a chilling, if not darkly amusing look into white supremacy during the 70s. Or, you know, any time. In any case, Topher Grace also has a good role in it, so we've used the opportunity to launch 'TSS Watch' - a feature that allows us to keep up with the cast of one of our favourite prime time sitcoms from the 2000s. Luke continues his DVD A-Z with Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. A spoof/parody movie which predates Airplane! by two years and still gets an awful lot right. (Side note, you can hear us talk about the Zucker's classic parody pic right here). Let us know what you think. You can get in touch on Facebook, Twitter and please do leave us a review on iTunes. We’re also available to follow on Spotify now, if that’s your thing.

A sixth Mission: Impossible provides the only opportunity needed to inaugurate Moviebrat maestro Brian De Palma into the Electronic Labyrinth as Luke and Fletcher discuss the entire franchise, from its beginnings in the big budget boom of '90s television adaptations to a latest instalment which enthralls and infuriates equally. In a bumper issue, there's time also to discuss that other hardy spy perennial (yes, you guessed it, Johnny English), and the state of blockbuster franchises in general. At almost two hours, we'd wondered whether to artificially Kill Bill this sucker into a two-parter after the fact, but when we heard Empire magazine was devoting two three-hour podcasts to Chris McQuarrie alone, we thought, screw it. Enjoy!

Community is important and we take a look at some examples of how it can play out on screen, starting with the latest season of the Donald Glover-penned Atlanta - which is fast becoming one of the most creative and experimental TV shows in the past decade. Luke also takes a trip to the nineteenth century Welsh coal mines, with John Ford's 1941 classic How Green Was My Valley. Shot for shot, a beautiful movie with an evocative look at the nostalgia of the past and the loss of family. As a bonus, we also remember the often forgotten gem Akenfield, an intriguing example of 70s British cinema which crosses generations of Suffolk families and how they live and work. Let us know what you think. You can get in touch on Facebook, Twitter and please do leave us a review on iTunes. We’re also available to follow on Spotify now, if that’s your thing.

Luke regales us with tales of Cher slaying in Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again and Brad Bird killing it with his fantastic return to animation, Incredibles 2. Fletch briefs us on what to watch at the flicks before summer's end, including Paul Schrader's First Reformed and Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman. We also kick off our latest feature: "Where's Topher?" We want to know what the man is up to. And we know you do, too. Let us know what you think. You can get in touch on Facebook, Twitter and please do leave us a review on iTunes. We’re also available to follow on Spotify now, if that’s your thing.

A new season of The Evening Glass opens with a free ranging feature-length chat about this, that and the other, which around the hour mark moves into a discussion of Bonhôte & Ettedgui's powerful new documentary, McQueen.Thanks for tuning in! Hit us with your thoughts on Facebook and Twitter, and please do leave us a review on iTunes. We’re also available to follow on Spotify and you might catch us on Instagram and eBay, too.

What makes the first Jurassic work so well? We look at what Steven Spielberg does cinematically that others cannot. And despite blockbuster cinema doing such good business worldwide, we ask where are the latest takes on the franchise are lacking. And as fans of the franchise, we revisit the original Michael Crichton novels for inspiration to imagine how new creatives could iterate the films in the future. In the episode, Luke mentions an HBO documentary Steven Spielberg - which you can read about here.

We kick off a new series with something a bit different. After seeing the latest Jurassic movie, Luke and Fletch indulge their inner fanboy with a dissection of what occurred in the 128 minutes run time. More teeth! More dinosaurs! More subplot! Even more movies to be made! The 21st Century is a wonderful thing that never ceases to underwhelm. Let us know what you think. You can get in touch on Facebook, Twitter and please do leave us a review on iTunes. We’re also available to follow on Spotify now, if that’s your thing.

Ramis and Murray complete their magnum opus...and them promptly fall out for the rest of their lives. We consider what makes Groundhog Day so special, for better and worse. Let us know what you think. You can get in touch on Facebook, Twitter and please do leave us a review on iTunes. We’re also available to follow on Spotify now, if that’s your thing.

Two big players in the 1998 Oscars, Titanic and As Good as it Gets got the Academy excited with the story of an obsessive-compulsive and a boat which probably could have done with a few more obsessive-compulsives at least looking out for icebergs. James Cameron's Titanic was nominated for 14 Academy Awards and won 11. As Good as it Gets had half the nominations (still pretty darned impressive) and notably won two for best actor and actress (for The Joker and Helen Hunt respectively). Anyway, we have a look at how they may have held up. Does Cameron's love letter to a ship still justify its 3 hour running time and 3D conversion? And why did James L. Brooks suddenly go quiet on the feature film run? Let us know what you think. You can get in touch on Facebook, Twitter and please do leave us a review on iTunes. We’re also available to follow on Spotify now, if that’s your thing.

We finally bid farewell to the year that saw POTUS lie around 5.5 times a day and so we conclude our picks of 2017. In this park of the year that was, we touch on the following: Downtown '81Good Time + Robert Pattinson + Lakeith Stanfieldmother! + Jennifer LawrenceCall Me By Your NameThe SnowmanAlien: Covenant Ridley Scott Upcoming films in 2018 Let us know what you think. You can get in touch on Facebook, Twitter and please do leave us a review on iTunes. We're also available to follow on Spotify now, if that's your thing.

We all thought 2016 couldn't end soon enough. Too many Brexts and Trumps and the like. Too many dead pop stars! 2017 didn't necessarily turn fortunes around, but at least there were some decent films in the cinema so we could all hide in a darkened room waiting for the inevitable nuclear winter to come and end it all for us. In our first of two episodes looking back on the year that was, we touch on the following movies: War for the Planet of the ApesJackieThe Lost City of ZIt Comes at NightThe Big SickFree Fire + High-RiseBlade Runner 2049Get OutItThe Florida ProjectPaddington 2 -- Coda --It's a Wonderful Life Let us know what you think. You can get in touch on Facebook, Twitter and please do leave us a review on iTunes. We're also available to follow on Spotify now, if that's your bag.

Our final Evening Glass of 2017 includes a meandering chat through some of this year's TV, Mackenzie Crook's The Detectorists, Star Trek Discovery and new X-Files. We also devour the Dudley Moore one-liner extravaganza Arthur (1981). Fletch also launches our new hashtag #oscarssostraight.  In the next episode, we'll be looking at our top movie picks of 2017, so please do get in touch with your own. You can get in touch on Facebook, Twitter and please do leave us a review on iTunes. We're also available to follow on Spotify now, if that's your bag.

Just ahead of Christmas, we march through a few cinema releases towards the end of 2017. Luke enjoys the dry Kiwi humour and pulpy action/adventure of Thor: Ragnarok, thanks to director Taika Waititi, Jeff Goldblum and a cracking retro soundtrack. We also look at Film Star's Don't Die in Liverpool, a touching love story based on the true events leading up to the final days of Hollywood actress Gloria Grahame. Elsewhere, we revel in the derivative glory of Blumhouse Productions' latest horror flick Happy Death Day and Luke notes how they probably do still 'make them like they used to' as he guesses who dunnit in Kenneth Branagh' Murder on the Orient Express.  Let us know what you think of the movies and the latest podcast on Facebook, Twitterand don't forget to leave us a review on iTunes.

You can feel the wind is risin' baby, now the truth is here... Luke and Fletch celebrate 31 years of John Carpenter's classic action/Asian movie pastiche Big Trouble in Little China. We enjoy all the thrills, spills and razor sharp editing on the latest Evening Glass podcast. Luke also returns from the cinema having watched one of the best films of the year, 'The Florida Project', directed by Sean Baker (the guy who made a whole movie on an iPhone. Drawing a stark contrast between capitalist commercialism and rock bottom poverty in the sunshine state. We also cover Breathe, Andy Serkis's directoral debut, a touching portrail of family life against the background of a terminal condition. Let us know what you think of the movies and the latest podcast on Facebook, Twitter and don't forget to leave us a review on iTunes.

Met with tremendous critical acclaim and a sluggish box office return, Blade Runner 2019 has been one of the marginally more hyped titles of the year. Luke loved it and Fletcher...wasn't quite as affected. We grab a glass and chat about whether either of us has managed to see attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion recently. We also discuss It and Goodbye Christopher Robin. Many thanks to the following snippet of music we've given a nod to in this week's podcast. Harrison Ford - Darlingside

We're back in Black - with a Shane Black marathon. We indulge in 80s nostalgia as Mel Gibson and Danny Glover remind us why all the best cops are buddies, and why all the best movies have indulgent establishing shots of a desert. Luke and Fletch also do some digging to unearth the oft-forgotten gem The Monster Squad just in time for Halloween. A film for anyone who likes monsters, and 80s kids saving the world from a tree house. Please do leave us reviews on iTunes and Stitcher, and shout at us on Facebook, Twitter or the website. Many thanks to some of the following snatches of music we’ve given a nod to in this week’s podcast. My Genre [Psycho Boogie] - Aspects From Lethal Weapon:Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby HelmsMeet Martin Riggs - Lethal Weapon Soundrack (David Sanborn and Eric Clapton) From The Monster Squad:Rock Until You Drop - Michael SembelloMonster Squad Rap - The Monster Squad

We take a trip back to more idyllic pre-9/11 world to celebrate some anniversaries. It's 20 years since Grosse Pointe Blank - a film so dry, witty and affecting that it aged better than the preceding decade it pays tribute to. Luke and Fletch also look back at Men in Black and lament the loss of the great movie soundtrack single. 'From and inspired by the motion picture' indeed. Many thanks to some of the following snatches of music we've given a nod to in this week's podcast. From Grosse Pointe Blank:Rudie Can't Fail - The ClashWar Cry - Joe StrummerGo! - Tones on Tail From Godzilla (1998):Come with Me - Puff Daddy featuring Jimmy Page

Never late to the party, Luke and Fletch catch up on Nolan's Dunkirk and attempt to asses what was happening where and when and how during the plot of the movie. We also briefly catch up on Sofia Coppola's remake of the 1971 Southern drama The Beguiled and to hit two Colin Farrells with one stone, Luke also reminisces on 2016's The Lobster. Finally, Kumail Nanjiani emerges from Silicon Valley to tackle Judd Apatow's stand up green room in The Big Sick. Please do take a moment to review the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher, which is a huge help to the cause at O.S.S. Also, shout at/to us on the usual social channels to tell us about what you like and detest about the show - or the films and TV we catch up on.

"Boy, if life were only like this!". Woody Allen takes one of his first cinematic stabs at idealising real life in one of the greatest romantic comedies to grace the silver screen. 1977's Annie Hall won Best Picture over Star Wars, and Luke and Fletch enjoy devouring as much of it as possible in 'The Electronic Labyrinth' podcast. We also take a step back to Bananas from 1971, when you were more likely to see Allen get beaten up by prototype exercise equipment and chase a frozen meal around his apartment than lurch into a wistful monologue. But those were some fun times too - so we also enjoy a nod towards his earlier 'Marx Brothers' years. Best hurry up though. The revolution is in six months and we have a rented car.

We continue through Luke's DVD collection with two films that helped redefine comedy movies. Anarchic and subversive, the John Landis classic Animal House packs a huge sucker punch to the institutions of pre-Vietnam America. Fletcher spills his guts about why the film means so much to him. Anchorman started as a film about a bank heist, but through the cutting room floor and magic of re-shoots, it helped to set the tone for the string of improvised comedies throughout the 2000s (and present - for better or worse). Please do take a moment to review us on iTunes here.

Edgar Wright's latest film sets a new bar for films with songs by The Damned in. Which is obviously saying something. Luke and Fletch use The Evening Glass podcast to have a substantial chat on how they feel about this testament to synchronised sound and picture. Luke also ponders on whether Colin Trevorrow's The Book of Henry is as bad as aggrigated review scores would have you beleive. There's also a dollop of Evil Dead and Vertigo thrown in for good measure. Many thanks to the following music: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Bellbottoms Jim Steinman - Bad for Good Mint Royale - Blue Song The Damned - Neat Neat Neat

America comes of age across two seminal films from New Hollywood, made by two of the most uncompromising directors of any Hollywood. George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola bring us American Graffiti and Apocalypse Now. Pictures that show us exactly how the 1960s went out - not with a bang, but with a whimper. In this podcast, Luke and Fletcher begin discussing one of their favorite subjects; the not so humble beginnings of American Zoetrope/Lucasfilm in the early 1970s. Jump in your custom machine and take a trip back to The Hop. And then take a long trip up the river and remember - someday this war is gonna end.  

Luke and Fletch: The Return. Back from house moves and too much tequila, we launch 'The Evening Glass', a new show where we catch up on the latest things we've seen this week before handing over the more studious duties of in-depth movie analysis to sister show 'Electronic Labyrinth'. This week, we take a look at Alien: Covenant, review listener feedback, and catch up on the new Twin Peaks revival.