shooting the poo

Episode 36 - Superman   Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! No! It's a podcast about Superman!     Yes, after an extremely long break, the boys are back and recording again inside Mitch's Fortress of Solitude. Surrounded by all manner of Superman ephemera, it's almost like being inside a Kryptonian uterus. Mondy eventually stumbles onto the topic completely by accident: a lot of people argue about who Superman really is, so we set out to explore the character's history and what really constitutes his secret identity.  The set texts we've chosen for this exploration - mostly mentioned here in case you want to avoid any SPOILERS - are... Superman II Man of Steel   Batman Vs Superman Plus the comics Birthright... Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? Peace on Earth American Alien. Dave also spoils the hell out of the ending to Alan Moore's Miracleman, although he does give fair warning there.      The presence of special nerd-guest Nick Caddaye ensures that the conversation mostly remains of an unusually hight standard. He points out how people hate it when changes are made to Superman, partly because of the character's links to America itself. Thus alterations to Superman can almost feel like a patriotic attack. Mitch reveals how he had to literally brainwash himself into enjoying Man of Steel, with the MOSAIC podcast - a project so detailed it devotes two entire episodes to just the tornado scene in Man of Steel - ultimately convincing him it contains multitudes. Mondy listens to all these clever remarks and then immediately derails the conversation with a non sequitur whinge about "crap CGI" at the end of Batman Vs Superman. He is nothing if not single-minded about having his say.      Dave continues to deliver his usual pretentious arse-cake and ensures that this episode will have a VERY COARSE LANGUAGE warning just like all the others. Partly because he describes Barbra Streisand as "fucking scary", but... well, he does say worse things than that. He's a terrible man, he really is.  Anyway, Nick certainly makes the episode well worth listening to, even if Superman's not your favourite man in tights. He classes the place up yet again, like all our guests.  Maybe we should have guests more often?     Please go and tell Apple via iTunes that you love the show or provide us feedback here at shootingthepoo@gmail.com We would love to hear what you have to say.  

  This month the Poo-nauts return to reality. As Mondy put it before we began recording, "We're doing Errol Morris docos this month and Flannery O'Connor short stories next month--we're classing the place up a bit." He then opens the podcast with a description of his snot. Once that's dealt with, this month sees an enthusiastic discussion of the career of Errol Morris. Known for documentaries such as The Thin Blue Line, The Fog of War and Standard Operating Procedure, Morris has carved out a unique style of interviewing his subjects and presentation of factual material. Using the films as a jumping off point, the boys discuss the way audiences perceive reality, intellectual vanity and the importance of freedom of speech.  Mondy also hints that he may be David Irving's son and Dave finally reveals that he's black.   For those of you that are following the podcast month by month, Mitch and Dave couldn't resist going to see Anonymous (the film that alleges Shakespeare was a fraud) after Mondy's incandescent reaction to it's very existence on the previous 'cast. They thought it was quite good, albeit cobblers. What's interesting is they do not bring it up in conversation as they know that would upset Mondy. But somebody else does. Can you guess who that might be? This episode of Shooting the Poo is not for the kids. There are C-bombs, F-canisters and S-bullets galore. There is a discussion of adult themes, not least people being eaten by bears. We also talk about stuff that happens in Thin Blue Line, Mr Death, Standard Operating Procedure and First Person that you would probably be better off experiencing as orchestrated by Errol Morris. Spoilers, in other words. There is a bit of a discussion about a certain plane crash at one point, here is a link to that very incident. Oh, and Werner Herzog joins us for a bit. For some reason we felt we should warn you about that too. Note the way Mondy cannot even say "hello" after listening to him--something about his voice seems... dangerous.     Please go and tell Apple via iTunes that you love the show or provide us feedback here at shootingthepoo@gmail.com We would love to hear what you have to say.  

  This month, Shooting the Poo is honoured to welcome legendary comics creator Stan Lee onto the podcast. Stan turns Mitch and Mondy into superheroes and sets the usual high-toned conversational standard that our audience have come to expect. He also says the word "cock". This episode is the spiritual sequel to our earlier examination of the works of Grant Morrison and Alan Moore and features three authors whose names happen to end in "is": Garth Ennis, Warren Ellis and Brian Michael Bendis. Aside from their names ending in "is", they're also quite talented, although that doesn't stop Dave giving Transmetropolitan the kicking it so thoroughly deserves. Mondy also flashes his man-boobs at his fellow 'casters at one point. This has nothing to do with comics, but nevertheless remains a highlight. Lastly, a quick explanation: on our previous podcast Mondy alluded to his preferred topic being vetoed this month. It was. That preferred topic was crapping on about DC Comics' New 52 relaunch. Dave objected to this on the extremely reasonable grounds that those comics were largely written by bargain-basement hacks and he certainly wasn't going to read 52 comics that he knew were going to be arse-gravy. When Mitch struck upon the genius "is" replacement theme (ie: reading comics by writers that were actually good), Mondy was overruled and the topic of the New 52 was consigned to the dustbin, never to be spoken of again. Or so we thought. Listeners at home can play a game we like to call New 52 Bingo. The rules are that you count how many times the New 52 is mentioned in this podcast even though none of the writers we're ostensibly discussing have any involvement in it whatsoever. Then send us some feedback with a suggested punishment for Mondy for ignoring the veto.The winner will get a night on the town with Stan Lee. That wasn't a quick explanation at all, was it? Oh, and Kirstyn pops up again. Ardent feminist that she is, she gives a superlative review of a comic about a superpowered prostitute, and she and Dave have a fight about Transmetropolitan. There's hair-pulling and everything. Excelsior!!! WARNING! This episode of Shooting the Poo features extremely coarse language and spoilers for the following comics. If you've not read them - and we recommend you do - you may want to check them out before we give plot points away: Preacher (in particular stuff that happens in the first three trade paperbacks) The Authority (stuff that happens in Warren Ellis' last issue) Ultimate Comics Spider-Man (you've probably heard about it on the news, but the new relaunch by Bendis has a particularly big development that would be nifty not to know about if you're going in cold) There's also a spoiler for a major character death in Ultimate Spider-Man Stormwatch (stuff that happens towards the end of Ellis' run) and Miracleman (Alan Moore's last three issues). Please go and tell Apple via iTunes that you love the show or provide us feedback here at shootingthepoo@gmail.com We would love to hear what you have to say.

Episode 35 - Kathrine Bigelow This episode features the perkiest introduction ever. Possibly because it's Mitch rockin' the mike, but things snap back to reality very quickly as Mondy compares himself to Jesus. Just another day at a recording of Shooting the Poo... This episode sees the boys discussing the career of Kathryn Bigelow, along with frequent tangents onto whatever subjects take their fancy. The films that are MASSIVELY SPOILED (seriously, watch them if you're remotely interested in any of their plot twists) are The Loveless, Blue Steel, Strange Days and The Hurt Locker. Dave cruelly denied Mitch the chance to rewatch Near Dark and Point Break, although inevitably these get a mention as well. You just can't keep Keanu Reeves' finest performance down.  The conversation quickly devolves into Mondy's most racist and sexist ever, which is quite some achievement. He also describes a bar shooting as "*very* moderate" and contends that Citizen Kane's major cinematic innovation was "lowering the ground". Dave has a theory - have you noticed he always has one of those? - about how to make Hollywood pay attention to angry audience members, and seems oddly preoccupied with Mimi Leder for some reason. Meanwhile Mitch reaches peak happiness when Mondy uses the words "police academy" in passing and then begins humming the theme tune to the eponymous movie. Mondy immediately joins in. For a moment there it was like being in a recording studio with Pavlov's dogs.  As usual, there is a lot of swearing, puerile themes and did I mention the MASSIVE SPOILERS? You have been warned.  Please go to and tell Apple via iTunes that you love the show or provide feedback here at shootingthepoo@gmail.com.  We would love to hear what you have to say.

THRILL!!! to the Biggest Episode of Shooting the Poo Yet Recorded!!! ROAR!!! as they Discuss Blockbuster Films!!! Of This Year And... OTHER YEARS!!! MARVEL!!! at the Big Name Celebrity Guests That Have Supplanted Our Regular Hosts!!! Could One Of Them Really Be... MICHAEL BAY!!!???!!! COWER!!! as Mitch Spoils The Fast and the Furious!!! HE CLAIMS IT DOESN'T MATTER!!! AND CHEER!!! as A Mysterious Voice That Has Guided Our Poo-Casters Since Time Immemorial SPEAKS ALOUD FOR THE VERY!!! FIRST!!! TIME!!!1111!!! YOU! WILL! BE! TURNED! ON! FACT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This episode of Shooting the Poo has been rated MA for strong language and some frankly daft opinions. There was also a lot of nudity, but you'll have to imagine most of that. Below is a visual aid for one particular part of the podcast. Mitch refers to a "no-word" review for a film that we won't reveal just now. This is that review. Please go and tell Apple via iTunes that you love the show or provide us feedback here at shootingthepoo@gmail.com We would love to hear what you have to say.

This month the den of iniquity and vice that is Shooting the Poo is given a smidgen of respectability with the guest starring of Ben McKenzie, he of the long side burns and the comedy antics.  Of course, before Ben has a chance to raise the conversational bar beyond the gutter, Mondy starts on about vibrators (again) and the fact - as Dave reports - that they're actually making a movie about the invention for the cure of hsyteria. Ben, though, comes into his own when the dude-casters start talking about Game of Thrones.  He provides much insight on the TV show and the books that the average Games of Thrones fan would probably already know but which his fellow podcasters have no clue about.  Unfortunately, during the cut and thrust and parry of the conversation, everyone forgets to mention how friggin' awesome Peter Dinklage is in his role as Tyrion Lannister.  We apologise Mr Dinklage. The discussion about Doctor Who takes on a subversive tone in its exploration of diahorrea as a means to rate Doctor Who episodes.  It's not that we dislike Doctor Who (though Season 6(a) didn't really tickle our canker sores), it's more that diahorrea and poo provides critics like ourselves a means of really encapsulating how we feel about an episode.  We expect that it will catch on.  And that Peter Dinklage, who is awesome as Tyrion Lannister, would approve.  (Not that he's into diahorrea or anything... I mean... we don't think so, just that he'd approve of how we carefuly apply our new critical measure). After this we end up with an impersonation from Ben. Some people may not guess exactly who he's impersonating, but then it's that kind of episode (Dave's effort at doing Stan Lee is worse, and Mondy's new effort at a spoiler noise has to be heard to be believed). Other than that, Ben is seriously magnificent as a guest - possibly better than having on the show Peter Dinklage who plays Tyrion Lannister on Game of Thrones, who is also awesome and who would approve of diahorrea.  As a critical measure. What I'm trying to say is thank fuck Ben was there because he's the quality that STP lacks and he will be back.  If we pay him enough.  And if his name isn't tarnished for appearing on the show. Oh, and you should probably BEWARE! there definitely be spoilers ahead. Please go and tell Apple via iTunes that you love the show or provide us feedback here at shootingthepoo@gmail.com We would love to hear what you have to say.

In their continuing quest to cover all possible forms of media, this month sees the Poo-casters stride confidently into the world of classic literature. Well, two of them stride confidently. One of them--we won't say who--cheats a little bit. Oh alright, it's Mitch. First up is Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. Mondy is almost certain that discussing a book such as this is a first for a dudecast (Mitch and Dave don't know what a dudecast is--if you have any idea, please let us know via the usual address), so we're all, um, very proud of that. There's also an extremely informative tangent on ye olde medickal treatment for hysteria, and honestly, where else are you going to hear that? The second half features a discussion on Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. Dave gets slightly unhinged when talking about the iPad, Mitch is hugely impressed that the book features a man who can kill and eat a dolphin with one hand, and this gives Mondy terrible flashbacks to the previous podcast's discussion of The Cove. WARNING: For some reason, possibly because of the raunchy influence of that well-known minx Jane Austen, this episode features slightly more coarse language than usual. See if you can tell where Kirstyn finally loses it and squirts Mondy with the Punishment Water. WARNING THE SECOND: This is a pretty wide-ranging discussion, and in the process we talk about a lot of the plot twists in both books, including their endings. Consider this is your friendly neighborhood spoiler alert. Please go and tell Apple via iTunes that you love the show or provide usfeedback here at shootingthepoo@gmail.com We would love to hear what youhave to say.

What does an unconventional American family, dolphin slaughter and an unemployed Milwaukee based amateur film-maker have in common? They are all feature subjects in this edition of Shooting the Poo, as Mondy, Dave and Mitch take aim and shoot at documentaries. The films discussed are Capturing the Friedmans (2003), The Cove (2009) and American Movie (1999). For those of a delicate persuasion, as usual there's a bit of swearing going on. We're also discussing films with adult themes such as paedophilia and child molestation, so we thought we should flag that up too. The good news, however, is that Mondy debuts a brand new spoiler noise. You can hear it during the discussion on The Cove. Please go and tell Apple via iTunes that you love the show or provide us feedback here at shootingthepoo@gmail.com We would love to hear what you have to say.

And quicker than even we anticipated, here we are with part 2 of our NuWho tenth anniversary celebration! After last episode's orgy of man-tears and Mitch-grump, this one rings the changes slightly in that there's still a fair bit of weeping (the pictures on the website may give away the reason why), but this time Dave's the one wearing the snarky-pants. For his first trick he takes issue with Steven Moffat's definition of sluts and tarts. Much discussion of invisible chickens ensues.   For his second trick he mounts the longest demolition of a story featuring a robot with tiny people in its head that you've ever heard. What's more he has the temerity to object to its lack of realism. Mitch, on the other hand, merely confines himself to doing an uncanny impression of River Song. He claims to hate River, but would quite like to do unspeakable things to Clara. In public and surrounded by onlookers.  Yes, we really got that specific when we asked him. That's the kind of podcast you're dealing with here.   Mondy, for his part, just about outdoes himself in some of the sentences that fall out of his mouth. Examples include "I thought the bit where Amy was inspiring that famous Van Gogh painting Daffodils... Daisies... Eh? Sunflowers? Whatever..." and "I like all the Nazi bits."   Oh, and one of us also confesses to being scared by Doctor Who as a child. While watching a story called The Green Death he found himself crippled by a morbid fear of the Welsh. The giant fluorescent green maggots were also a concern, but when they turned into giant flies he found them considerably less frightening.  Please go and tell Apple via iTunes that you love the show or provide us feedback here at shootingthepoo@gmail.com We would love to hear what you have to say.

It's been ten years, listeners.    Sorry, we should clarify that. Not ten years since we started this podcasting lark, but a full decade since Doctor Who returned to TV. And because all three of our podcasters have actually *watched* NuWho (as opposed to classic Who), we thought this an anniversary worth celebrating.  Fair warning: Mondy and Dave are dyed in the wool Doctor Who fans, whereas Mitch is what anthropologists refer to as "a normal person". Therefore significant portions of the podcast are spent with Dave and Mondy treating Mitch like a primitive South Pacific Islander and asking him what he thinks of "fire". This means that - for some reason - we talk a lot about The Ark in Space. Which doesn't have a lot to do with NuWho or fire, but Margaret Mead would have understood perfectly.  When we finally *do* get around to talking about episodes of the modern series, Mondy attempts to justify working actors to death in the name of art. He also confesses that his favourite line of NuWho-related dialogue is "Have you ever come so hard you don't know where you are?" (If you listen carefully, Mitch actually pauses for a moment to think about whether he has or not.)     Dave is even more pompous and insulting than usual. Luckily he doesn't realise how silly he sounds in the first five minutes of the show when he attempts to demonstrate the sound Moaning Minnies make. The result ultimately emerges as something like a mouse being fed through a laser printer. His impressions of the Welsh are also likely to start a war.  Mitch, as usual, is subject to egregious levels of sexual harassment. However this time it's Mondy doing the harassing so the novelty appears to charm him. He also provides a bracing counterpoint to Dave and Mondy's blather about NuWho and demands to know the "rules" of the program, none of which they can answer properly. The results are some of the best critiques of the program you will ever hear. Dave can clearly be heard dying in the background during one of Mitch's more scathing takedowns, especially when Mondy lamely attempts to mount a defence. Usual warnings apply. Very coarse language. Attempts at intellectualism that fall ridiculously short. Jokes that misfire. Statements that haven't been fully thought through. That sort of thing. On the other hand, it's nice to be back after a fairly significant break, so we hope you enjoy this.  Please go and tell Apple via iTunes that you love the show or provide us feedback here at shootingthepoo@gmail.com We would love to hear what you have to say.

Mondy feels he has a gap in his knowledge about iconic comic creators Alan Moore and Grant Morrison. To fill this void, he's decided to ask his co-poo shooters about these two giants of the comics business. Alongside the usual superheroics, we'll discover why Moore was kicked out of high school, reveal the best panel of Superman ever printed, and applaud Morrison for his fashion sense. Well, maybe not the leather pants. So set up your snake totem, draw your sigil, loosen your pants, lay back and listen to the third episode of the podcast we like to call Shooting the Poo. Please go and tell Apple via iTunes that you love the show or provide us feedback here at shootingthepoo@gmail.com We would love to hear what you have to say.

This month the den of iniquity and vice that is Shooting the Poo is given a smidgen of respectability with the guest starring of Ben McKenzie, he of the long side burns and the comedy antics.  Of course, before Ben has a chance to raise the conversational bar beyond the gutter, Mondy starts on about vibrators (again) and the fact - as Dave reports - that they're actually making a movie about the invention for the cure of hsyteria. Ben, though, comes into his own when the dude-casters start talking about Game of Thrones.  He provides much insight on the TV show and the books that the average Games of Thrones fan would probably already know but which his fellow podcasters have no clue about.  Unfortunately, during the cut and thrust and parry of the conversation, everyone forgets to mention how friggin' awesome Peter Dinklage is in his role as Tyrion Lannister.  We apologise Mr Dinklage. The discussion about Doctor Who takes on a subversive tone in its exploration of diahorrea as a means to rate Doctor Who episodes.  It's not that we dislike Doctor Who (though Season 6(a) didn't really tickle our canker sores), it's more that diahorrea and poo provides critics like ourselves a means of really encapsulating how we feel about an episode.  We expect that it will catch on.  And that Peter Dinklage, who is awesome as Tyrion Lannister, would approve.  (Not that he's into diahorrea or anything... I mean... we don't think so, just that he'd approve of how we carefuly apply our new critical measure). After this we end up with an impersonation from Ben. Some people may not guess exactly who he's impersonating, but then it's that kind of episode (Dave's effort at doing Stan Lee is worse, and Mondy's new effort at a spoiler noise has to be heard to be believed). Other than that, Ben is seriously magnificent as a guest - possibly better than having on the show Peter Dinklage who plays Tyrion Lannister on Game of Thrones, who is also awesome and who would approve of diahorrea.  As a critical measure. What I'm trying to say is thank fuck Ben was there because he's the quality that STP lacks and he will be back.  If we pay him enough.  And if his name isn't tarnished for appearing on the show. Oh, and you should probably BEWARE! there definitely be spoilers ahead. Please go and tell Apple via iTunes that you love the show or provide us feedback here at shootingthepoo@gmail.com We would love to hear what you have to say.

Some films just never hit the sides. You know the kind we're talking about - films so generic you can't even remember watching them. Then, to be honest there's the majority of films. The vast swathe of OK - you remember the odd scene here and there, but otherwise they're mostly memorable in that you've crossed them off your list. Then there's the good films, and the great films. Even the terrible ones. We can all argue about what film should go where, although we can all agree that Wog Boys 2: Kings of Mykonos is definitely among the great.  And then there's the rarest films of all, the kind that some people may never experience at all... ...the films that actually change your life in some way.  Dave, Mitch and Mondy all hail from the generation that's shallow enough to think that movies can change your life in the way that previous generations were shaped by great novels, poetry and opera. What's more, when they were thinking about the movies that shaped their lives, they knew there was only candidate that could possibly have the intellectual heft, the artistry and the critical approbation to ward off the sneerers that would judge their choices.  Citizen Kane... ...is not that film.  Yeah, it's bloody Star Wars. Of course it is. Do you know how *old* they are? Actually, Mondy kicks against the Star Wars trend, and instead nominates The Black Hole. Clearly going for a hipster vibe there, but he's fooling no one. Just listen to him talk about his Star Wars action figures and note his conspicuous lack of chat about his VINCENT and OLD BOB toys. He also has an audible orgasm while talking about a woman disintegrating in Brazil.  Elsewhere, Dave turns into a raging proletarian revolutionary when he hears how many Star Wars action figures Mondy actually had - seriously, he had bugger all when he was a kid - and later collapses into utter despair while talking about An Inconvenient Truth. He'd probably been reading something depressing at the time, sorry.  Thankfully, Mitch retrieves things nicely by talking about how David Lynch ruined cinema for him (specifically The Dark Knight Rises) and how he almost shouted at a kid in youth group because he liked Independence Day. It's the latter that really cheered Dave up. Although he wouldn't have held back with the youth group kid.  Usual caveats apply. Very coarse language is used, there are SPOILERS for The Last Temptation of Christ (of all things), and Mondy claims that he was influenced by a film he hasn't even seen. So, er, this podcast also contains non-sequiturs. Listener discretion is advised.  Please go and tell Apple via iTunes that you love the show or provide us feedback here at shootingthepoo@gmail.com We would love to hear what you have to say.

The bitches are back. We continue our discussion of the Alien saga with possibly the most fiery exchange between Dave and Mondy to date. Regrettably you can't see the thrown punches, the tears and the leotards, but through the power of their voices they create a cinema of the mind that is truly something to behold. No, behold can't be the right word. Behear? Belisten to? Um. The bone of contention is Alien 3. One of the most famously contentious films of all time, Alien 3 went through many creative hands before finally being produced by a young David Fincher, and it's during the discussion of its development process that tempers fray and hair is pulled. In particular, Vincent Ward's weird and wonderful vision for the film is put under the microscope, with topics like wooden planets and religious androids being questioned as to whether they're really blockbuster movie material. Some of Ward's concept designs can be seen below, with more available at his website vincentwardfilms.com. Check them out--they're staggeringly good. Once Mitch has Band-Aided the scraped knees and iced the fat lips, talk turns to Alien: Resurrection. Dave does his best to insult the franchise's core fanbase, Mitch theorises that Ripley's character is based on a wrestler called The Undertaker, and Mondy tries to pretend that he doesn't like the film very much. Until he finally caves in and admits that he's wrong. There may have been another fat lip involved. Finally, we talk about Prometheus. Another fight ensues, mostly because there are duelling theories as to why the film doesn't work, and ultimately it's left up to Kirstyn to provide the tie-breaker. Cameo appearances by Bane (for some reason), Cookie Monster (providing another factual tie-breaker) and the usual amount of sweariness and spoilers (ie: a lot). You have been warned. Please go and tell Apple via iTunes that you love the show or provide us feedback here at shootingthepoo@gmail.com We would love to hear what you have to say.

In space no one can hear you scream. Unless, of course, you happen to be... the Hysterical Hamster. Some squeals are audible even in hard vacuum. This month Mitch, Dave and Mondy are tackling the Alien saga, and because they found themselves more than usually loquacious, they've decided to split their shrieking bunfight conversation into two parts. The first half covers Ridley Scott's original Alien and James Cameron's sequel. The second will cover Alien 3, Resurrection and Prometheus. For some reason, the Alien vs Predator films are not discussed. This is a form of thinly-veiled racism. In our recent lay-off the podcast has undergone what Mondy terms "a re-tooling". Whether this resulted in a higher level of quality is difficult to say, but we urge listeners to write in and tell us which new tools are their favourite. Notable incidents this month: Mondy managing to get the Punishment Spray before we'd even started the podcast, Mitch confessing to a deep-seated fear of jazz-hands, and Dave speculating on who would win in a fight between Cookie Monster and the Alien Queen. He's got a degree in Cinema Studies, you know. Usual warnings apply: extremely coarse language is used, particularly when describing James Cameron's interpersonal skills, and we spoiler the hell out of every single one of these movies. If you don't want to know who dies and how, toddle off and watch the films first. We think you'll enjoy them. Perhaps avoid Alien Vs Predator though. Just sayin'. Please go and tell Apple via iTunes that you love the show or provide us feedback here at shootingthepoo@gmail.com We would love to hear what you have to say.

We don't normally do this kind of thing, listener.  Oh, we've been tempted before. It's always tempting when someone you admire departs this vale of tears, but this time it was irresistible. Welcome to our tribute to Robin Williams.  All three of us grew up watching him, first on Mork and Mindy, and then at the movies. We watched him grow from motor-mouthed, coke-fuelled comedian to a man who grew a beard and Got Serious. Astonishingly, he was very good at both. The really tricky part was picking some representative work and keeping the podcast under two hours. We managed.  Just. Although we mention a lot of Robin's work, the main films under consideration here are Dead Poet's Society, The Fisher King, Good Will Hunting, One Hour Photo and World's Greatest Dad. Along the way, Mitch has a road to Damascus moment about GWH as he finally realises that it's good, Mondy's gets audibly sexier as it falls apart towards the end, and Dave confesses that he started a club at university inspired by The Fisher King in which nudity was mandatory.  As is usual, lots of swearing going on--we feel it's what Robin would have wanted. We also spoil the bejesus out of the films, so if you haven't watched them, we do talk about the endings, the middles and in some cases even the beginnings. That's the kind of lawless podcast that we've become over the years, so stick that in your pipe and smoke it, dad.  Adult concepts actually are discussed this time around--no really--including depression, suicide and things of that nature, and if you're suffering from anything like that, we do strongly urge you to talk to someone professional about it. It may not seem easy, but it's the smart thing to do.  And to Robin we say a heartfelt goodbye and thank you for the work. You are missed.  Please go and tell Apple via iTunes that you love the show or provide us feedback here at shootingthepoo@gmail.com We would love to hear what you have to say.

Sex. Now that we've got your attention, not to mention made ourselves hopeless targets for spambots, let us introduce you to the sexiest edition of the podcast yet recorded. Yes, even sexier than the one on Brian Michael Bendis comics. In future this will be known as The One Where They Talked About Dirty Books. Or "erotic fiction" if you're in a poncey mood. Two books are up for discussion. One is Anais Nin's collection of erotic short stories, Delta of Venus. Written for a mysterious collector who kept upbraiding her for including "too much poetry" in her stories, it's a fascinating read, if not simply for Nin's fiery letter to the collector that's included in the introduction. Finally sick of his restrictions on her artistic freedom (and implicitly her sexual freedom as well), Nin lashes him in one of the most passionate calls to literary arms it's been our pleasure to read. Her stories are pretty hot stuff too. The second book under discussion is The Fermata by Nicholson Baker. A delirious erotic fantasy in which the protagonist can stop time, The Fermata divides the members of the podcast straight down the middle. Is it a boring, repetitive, morally vacuous piece of fan-fiction, or is it a funny, mischivevous, inventive work of art? Or something else entirely? For those who were wondering, yes, this is possibly the filthiest podcast we've released, although for some reason Mondy seems to think it's kid-friendly. We suggest you tweet at him to ask why. He also goes through an extraordinary array of euphemisms in this episode, chief among them being "pippi". This leads Dave to wonder what exactly Mondy thought of Pippi Longstocking when he was little boy. Mitch, as is often the case when we do a podcast on books, has resorted to listening to them on audio. Nothing wrong with this, but sadly for The Fermata, he could only find a version that was text-to-speech and he then elected to listen to it at one-and-a-half times normal speed. Strangely, he found the book a bit underwhelming, but luckily for our listeners, he does play a little bit so you can all understand why. We think you'll enjoy that. Especially the pronunciation of the word "ass". Dave fulfills the ambition of a lifetime by reading aloud a section of a book that contains the words "trembling titfat", and is staggered when our special guest Felicity Dowker (also known as Felicity Gray) beats him to the first c-bomb. Said guest also declares her gratitude to Nicholson Baker for his willingness to invent new words for "cock", so you can tell that she's really raised the tone of the podcast quite a bit. As you may have gathered, this podcast contains very coarse language, adult themes, sniggering about sex and Mondy repeatedly using the word "spoodge". There are also spoilers for the books under discussion, and Mitch manages to get some in about the comic Sex Criminals and the movie Cashback as well. So you've been warned. No, we've never heard about Cashback either. It's got naked ladies in it, apparently. Please go and tell Apple via iTunes that you love the show or provide us feedback here at shootingthepoo@gmail.com We would love to hear what you have to say.

Dear Diary, BOB came in the window again last night (must remember to contact the glazier), but enough about him... I've discovered a fantastic new show called Twin Peaks! It's about the murder of an all-American girl just like me, and it only ran for two seasons, but I think it's one of the best programs ever made! The good thing, diary, is that lots of people agree with me. Well, I'm thinking of four in particular. I've been visited by these strange voices, and they say their names are MITCH, MONDY, DAVE and SPECIAL GUEST JOHN RICHARDS. Boy can they talk! MONDY never seems to shut up about creamed corn! JOHN comes up with a spinoff for Twin Peaks called A Touch of Horne! MITCH confesses to torturing his wife with music! And DAVE is apparently petrified of denim! There's a lot of squabbling between these spirits, diary, and at times it gets a bit violent. At one point, when they're discussing a film called Fire Walk With Me it got very contentious indeed. I think MITCH might have killed somebody, but it's hard to remember. I think I was naked when he did it too. And talking backwards. The last thing the spirits told me was that this podcast won't be for everyone. They said that because it's so artistically daring (sweary/adult-themey) some people would be put off, and that they give away pretty much every secret there is to know about Twin Peaks. SPECIAL GUEST JOHN RICHARDS kissed me and sashayed off into the night. And then they were gone like a turnkey in the corn. Gobble gobble gobble. Love, Laura Please go and tell Apple via iTunes that you love the show or provide us feedback here at shootingthepoo@gmail.com We would love to hear what you have to say.

There's one name that defines modern cinema like no other: Steven Spielberg. For Generation X, he's the man that wove their dreams on the silver screen, creating a film grammar that still holds sway today, and after more than forty years in the business, is still going strong. But Spielberg didn't always bestride Hollywood like a colossus. Where did he get his start? What was his very first film? Did he even *start* in film? All of these questions will be answered (mostly because Mondy didn't do his research) in this examination of Steven Spielberg: The Early Years. Mitch and Dave tracked down a decent chunk of Spielberg's early TV work--Night Gallery, The Name of the Game, Something Evil--and watched it for signs of budding genius. Sometimes it was there, sometimes it wasn't, but by the time they got to Duel (and Mondy joined them), it was clear that Spielberg had arrived. From there, discussion moves to Spielberg's cinematic career. Mitch is given a piece of rusk. Dave talks about how Jaws ruined cinema. And Mondy demands to know whether it really is possible to put a cylinder of compressed air in a shark's mouth, shoot it and make the shark explode. He's very disappointed in the answer. Not to give *too* much away... As usual in a podcast of this intellectual heft, spoilers are legion. Dave essentially retells the plot of "Eyes", Spielberg's debut episode of Night Gallery, including the twist. We're not quite as bad on the movies, but we do talk about the endings of Sugarland Express, Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. They're pretty old news by now, but as the films are well worth seeing, we urge you to check them out before we wreck them for you. Duel mostly emerges unscathed, but it's still a good 'un. Check that out too. Our other warnings also apply. Lots of swearing. Adult concepts (well, this is basically code for more creative swearing, but still). Grown men squabbling. Oh, and Mondy reveals that he's never seen the cinematic masterpiece Mac and Me. Mitch and Dave would like it if everyone hassled him until he rectifies this terrible oversight. It's bad enough that he hasn't seen E.T., but Mac and Me is ten times as worse in our opinion. Please go and tell Apple via iTunes that you love the show or provide us feedback here at shootingthepoo@gmail.com We would love to hear what you have to say.

***NOTE*** This is a re-upload of an older episode. Keep your eye on this site as we will eventually make all our older episodes available for your listening pleasure. And they said we wouldn't make it but here we are, Episode 2 of the Shooting the poo podcast, or in Friends speak, the one where talk about TV shows. This episode Mondy, Dave and Mitch discuss some of our favourite shows from the box including  discussions about Oz, the Sopranos, Nurse jackie and the BBC's drama Bodies. *WARNING* This episode may contain more than the recommended amount of Emmanuel Lewis. If you love this podcast, please go and tell Apple via iTunes or, better yet, provide us feedback here shootingthepoo@gmail.com