Save Yourselves! is an alien invasion dramedy with touches of horror starring Sunita Mani (from Glow, much-missed in this parish) and John Reynolds (Search Party) as a couple who escape to the country just as society starts to fall apart. 

And they've just cut themselves off from the internet so for a number of days the couple remain blissfully unaware of their impending doom. 

Emmet and Stevie discuss Save Yourselves as an unlikely response to COVID-pandemic and quarantine boredom, and its indie-feature budget inventiveness. 

Also:

• Emmet delivers some bad news to Stevie.
• The Eileen Jones article on John Carpenter can be found here.

Just to note as well, this episode was pre-recorded before the latest lockdown in Victoria. 

"Die Hard is a Xmas movie? You don't say!"

Insert Willy Wonka meme here. 

Stevie and Emmet missed the boat on their planned 'unexpected Xmas movie run-down', but no matter! They're going to talk about Die Hard anyway. Because, as Stevie says, it's a good film anyway. 

Also she has thoughts about Batman Returns she wants to share. 

Emmet also raises examples of Die Hard-likes, such as Dwayne Johnson's Skyscraper (which we reviewed here) and the bloody good fun of Steven Yeun and Samara Weaving going on an office-workplace rampage in Mayhem. 

Also mentioned:

• 2020 highlights, Heavn by Jamila Woods and in books, Francesca Wade's excellent history Square Haunting: Five Women, Freedom and London Between the Wars
• Emmet's new comic The Beating of Wings, with Jeferson Sadzinski, Thomas Mauer, Tim Molloy, Laura Renfrew, Aisling King-Macklin and Sarah Winifred Searle is available from Comixology now

Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street is a horror film documentary with a lot to say. 

Focusing on the experience of actor Mark Patton, who starred as Jesse in A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, it explores the impact on the actor of the gay panic response to the homoerotic themes and imagery of the film. 

Patton's candid and pained reflections on homophobia in Hollywood, and the wider world, in the era of AIDS and religious lobbyists targeting gay rights, form the spine of this emotional film. 

Directors Roman Chimienti and Tyler Jensen also features the contrast of 'Freddy fans' who mock the perceived gay content of the film with advocates reclaiming both Freddy's Revenge, and Mark Patton, as an icon for queer cinema. 

Stevie and Emmet discuss the film and the emotional highs and lows of this sensitive subject matter. 

Also:

• Stevie's piece Strangeberries as featured in Polly Borland's Wundergym exhibition
• Emmet recommends listening to Tear Them Apart, with Paul M Yellovich and co-host Beasts of Burden/Blackwood creator Evan Dorkin, and their recent whistle-stop tour of the Friday the 13th franchise
• Emmet and Tim Molloy have an 'ecological horror story' featured in The Hierograph, which has a Kickstarter campaign
• Scream, Queen! is available to view on Shudder and on DVD from Umbrella Entertainment in Australia. 

Eurovision, a heady brew of camp and pop music, has finally landed in the consciousness of American pop culture zeitgeist thanks to this Netflix film starring Will Ferrell, Rachel McAdams and Dan Stevens. 

Stevie and Emmet discuss the film, their connections to Eurovision, and throw in a nod to John C. Reilly flick Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. 

Alejandro Landes's film Monos has screened to rave reviews around the world. Our roving reviewer Neevon Mohtaji attended a screening back in March. In this episode, Emmet challenges Neevon to try and remember a film he saw two months ago, in the before-COVID-19 times!

For digital release details, Australian listeners should check Madman for updates. Stay safe folks! 

Oh why oh why did we agree to this!

In the last episode Emmet joked about watching the sequence of films that led to Alien Versus Predator in 2004 - and a listener thought that was a great idea. Apparently this was more a geas than a simple request, so Stevie and Emmet watched:

• Predator
• Predator 2
• Alien Versus Predator
• Aliens Versus Predator: Requiem

Phew!

The credit due to Randy Stradley, Phil Norwood, Chris Warner, as well as Mark Verheiden's comics work in setting this franchise in motion, published by Dark Horse, is also discussed. 

Also discussed:

• Walt Williams's Significant Zero
• Dirty Money on Netflix
• coronavirus and capitalism
• Watts River Brewery (buy local kids!)
• Aliens: Dead Orbit by James Stokoe
• Aliens: Labyrinth by Jim Woodring and Kilian Plunkett

Handily collected on Netflix, the Jurassic Park franchise has been a blockbuster staple for almost thirty years. 

Stevie and Emmet discuss the first, third and most recent 'Jurassic' flicks, the underrated Jurassic Park III, the overall theme of capitalism and science being turned to deadly or humanist ends - and just how creepy was Jeff Goldblum's Dr Ian Malcolm? 

Also in this episode:

• those annoying Zach Braff podcast promos
• Finna by Nino Cipri
• Ghil Dirthalen, a Dragon Age Youtube channel's review of Blue Wraith (and a nod to Emmet's interview with Christina Weir/Nunzio DeFilipis)
• making a Dolly Varden cake
• Tiny Tim's The Ice Caps Are Melting
• the origins of Alien Versus Predator

We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often being in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.

Ursula K. Le Guin

Belatedly we catch up with the critical furore around Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of one Harley Quinn (...now rebranded as Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey). 

After wading through all of ...that... we cover Queen & Slim, out in Australia this week.

Written by Lena Waithe and directed by Melina Matsoukas, this film takes head on the themes of 'black lives matter' and police violence head on. Emmet argues Waithe's screenply juxtaposes the figures of Slim (Daniel Kaluuya) and Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith), with the idea of the outlaw so precious to American folklore. Full of sudden bursts of violence and artfully staged sequences that point to Matsoukas' history as a music video director, Queen & Slim is a provocative and rich picture for our times. 

Also mentioned:

• Soda and Telecast's Anthony Pollack interviews Emmet 
• Emmet interviews Dr Brian Cremins on Shazam!
• And the What's in my Bag Flea ep.

Stevie attended the premiere for Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears and interviewed stars Essie Davis and Nathan Page, as well as author Kerry Greenwood. 

This cinematic outing for Miss Fisher, out in Australian cinemas this week, follows a successful crowdfunding campaign, a testament to passionate fans of the television series. Stevie got to meet some of them in person at the 1920s costume themed event at the (appropriately art deco) Rivoli cinema in Camberwell. 

In part two of Stevie and Emmet's chat about films they relate to in particular - and it's a long 'un - you can hear discussed:

• The popularity of The Castle
• Priscilla Queen of the Desert
• Australian film and cultural cringe
• The Dish
• Romper Stomper
• Hugh Sullivan's The Infinite Man
• Shirley Temple's The Blue Bird
• Trading Places
• Wayne's World
• Hackers
• Scully from the X-Files as a role model
• Morgan Freeman in Seven
• Tea With The Dames
• Pontypool
• The Godfather
• Raging Bull
• David Harbour
• Maggie Gyllenhaal
• Luc Besson's Lockout
• Jurassic Park
• Arnold Schwarzenegger movies - The Last Action Hero, Kindergarten Cop, Terminator: Dark Fate and Maggie

Phew!

Tip of the hat to Brett Goldstein's Films to be Buried With.  We borrowed his structure of an interview on film based around the premise that the subject has died and is looking back on their favourite flicks. 

We in turn asked one another a series of questions about the films that make us who we are. 

So join us on this trip at times nostalgic, sometimes regretful, and listen as we learn a bit more about one another. 

Part one of two episodes. 

Making a welcome appeal to kindness and care for others, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood follows on from last year's documentary on Fred Rogers Won't You Be My Neighbor. 

Impressively this fictionalised account of a journalist (Matthew Rhys) encountering Rogers when his life is at a low-point manages to combine the needs of narrative and a genuine impression of the television entertainer's life. 

As a complement to Heller's film, we also discuss John Mulaney And The Sack Lunch Bunch. (available on Netflix) While the approach is not the same as Mr Rogers, the sincere interest in what children are thinking allows for the comparison. 

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is out in Australia from January 23. 

We are not reviewing Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. And that's because, well, we've already said everything we needed to.

While this household is a The Last Jedi is good household, two years ago in episodes 44 and 45 of this podcast we had already discussed how narrow the focus of Star Wars as a franchise had become. 

So here are extracts from those episodes highlighting concerns we already had with the franchise, which The Rise of Skywalker...let's say it leaned into them and leave it at that. 

Jake Kasdan and cast return to Jumanji for the sequel that provves if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Then a change of pace for Scarlett Johansson vehicles Marriage Story and Jojo Rabbit.

We're taking a trip back to 1980. 

That is, we're revisiting the worlds of The Shining and The Empire Strikes Back, courtesy of Mike Flanagan's Doctor Sleep and The Mandalorian from Disney+. 

Also discussed, Diane Johnson's account from 2018 on adapting the Shining with Stanley Kubrick.  https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/2018/01/08/writing-the-shining-by-diane-johnson/

Are these films plumbing the nostalgia dollar? Where's left to go after recycling elements of works that were themselves recycled versions of 1950s pop culture? 

Finally Emmet plugs his story Kill Screen, w/ Jeferson Sadzinski and Colin Bell, which was published in The Art of Hate http://centrala.org.uk/shop/the-art-of-hate/

It's Halloween, so we've got zombies, satanists, space necromancers - and killer robots from the future. 

In this episode we discuss:

• the deliberately repetitive zombie humour of the sequel to 2009's Zombieland
• Samara Weaving vehicle Ready or Not, an Eat the Rich fable for our time
• Tamsyn Muir's Gideon the Ninth (with a tip of the hat to the author interview on Death//Sentence)
• and Linda Hamilton's triumphant return in Terminator: Dark Fate. 

So something spooky and ooky for everyone. 

What two episodes in one week!

Well we do like to spoil you. 

This episode sees the return of guest, film-maker Tanzeal Rahim, to discuss all things The Joker. 

Now in something of a change of format, here Tanzeal has been asked to *convince* Emmet to go see the film. Listen to find out if he was successful. 

This week we try to look past the Ad Astra hot takes (daddy issues in space, Apocalypse Now in space, Space Cowboys 2....did we miss one?).

Is this a film loved by critics, but not by the punters? 

On an entirely unrelated note, we also review Dark Phoenix...let's get it over with. 

20 years on we take a look at The Matrix, its influence on the broader pop culture and the reported return of the franchise courtesy of Lana Wachowski. 

Plus we oo and aah over the ageless Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss. 

In addition:

• The Matrix as a gateway to cyberpunk
• The changing meaning of 'red pilling'
• That time Grant Morrison thought The Invisibles was ripped off
• And when Australia was the site of film culture in 1999!

Our recommendations this episode –

High Weirdness by Erik Davis
https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/high-weirdness

Television by City Calm Down
https://youtu.be/alws83lvELM
http://smarturl.it/CCDTelevision

This episode, director Tanzeal Rahim – who previously appeared on episode 39: Urine Aid – returns to discuss Quentin Tarantino's latest Once Upon A Time in Hollywood. 

The discussion takes in the use of violence, Tarantino's essential convervative vision, the choice to cast the Manson family with the daughters of Hollywood actors and directors – as well as Tarantino's own critic-proof reputation as a cinematic genius.

How do you have a world without the Beatles and the Rolling Stones are exactly the same!

Well Yesterday doesn't trouble itself with such questions. 

We discuss Richard Curtis and Danny Boyle's Beatlemania 'Mandela effect' movie Yesterday. 

Then we round out the episode with Men in Black: International which powers along thanks to the combined charm of Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth. 

Here we are folks, a movie franchise about a man who is on an unstoppable rampage of revenge, full of bloody violence - and we love it. We want more!

In this film, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is stripped of all protections by the mysterious High Table and is forced to go on the rule, while his former allies are investigated by the Adjudicator (Asia Kate Dillon). 

Also lots of dudes die. 

Stevie and Emmet talk director Chad Stahelski's emphasis on stuntcraft, connections with other films - and the appearance of the one, the only, Jason Mantzoukas.

(For more of Priscilla Page's writing on John Wick, see her Twitter account, e.g. https://twitter.com/BBW_BFF/status/1129895235876581376 ).

*SPOILERS* *SPOILERS* *SPOILERS*

Well everyone else was doing one, so we did too. 

A review of Avengers: Endgame that is. 

So what did we make of this closing chapter to a series of 22 films? And is this the death of cinema, or just a good time at the movies that will in all likelihood make you cry? Listen to find out. 

 (Also we talk Hellboy...yes the new one). 

We review Marvel's Captain Marvel and DC"s Shazam!, who used to be Captain Marvel....confused yet?

First up Brie Larson's turn as the galactic superhero who lands in the 90s. How does this character introduction in a film that acts as a bridging chapter between Avengers movies pan out? And what did Stevie make of the use of chart music from the mid-90s (spoiler - not a fan). 

Then Warner/DC's Shazam! veers into a happier, sunnier superhero flick for that fictional universe (with occasional flashes of David F. Sandberg's horror credentials). 

Where Captain Marvel has to introduce a new character, Shazam! feels like a tonal course correction for a studio. We were big fans. 

Also if you are in Sydney on 26 April, check out the Ledger Awards ceremony at the State Library NSW for a celebration of all things Australian comics. For more information visit http://ledgerawards.org/

Speculating about the Oscars is clearly more fun *than* the Oscars. But the 2019 promises to be something of a shambles. 

From missing presenters, to nominee controversy, there's a lot to shake one's head at. 

But certain nominations - and snubs - have really got Emmet and Stevie's goat up. So that's what this episode is mostly about (also, Avengers Endgame and sad Steve Rogers, but that's more an aperatif).