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). 

The marketers have declared - seniors at the cinema means big dollars. 

But while this commercial push for films aimed at older cinemagoers has produced some regrettable flicks - Last Vegas... - there are quite a few films about aging and reflection that are enjoyable. 

Stevie and Emmet talk Tea With The Dames and Last Orders, two films that capture a generation of British acting talent. 

This episode is also dedicated to the memory of Albert Finney. 

*Nice

Apologies for the late review, but Xmas descended suddenly and well - we didn't do it. 

So here is part one of a bumper episode, with part two discussing how Netflix dominated the holiday season. 

Mortal Engines is adapted from Philip Reeve's inventive fantasy series by the team behind the Tolkien films - but did they show the same grasp of how to play to the source material's strengths and invent more cinematic sequences? 

Next up - Bird Box and Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. 

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is the perfect Xmas present - a superhero film that is unashamedly comic book-y. 

A coming of age story that nails each and every emotional beat. 

Oh and it has Nicholas Cage!

Stevie raves about a whole bunch of films, instead of sticking to the 5*5 rule! Grrr. Arrg. 

While the reputation of this film has been coloured slightly by the loss of director Michael Reeves at a young age, it remains a cult classic. 

First off - happy birthday Stevie!

And here's her review of Shaun of the Dead. 

A flop on its release - and apparently used as roadfill! - The Wicker Man is a pagan folk horror curiousity that has endured over the years.

It is easy to understand why the film remained one of Christopher Lee's personal career favourites.  

It's the Exorcist - what more do you want!

Stevie revisits Friedkin's classic for her latest Halloween Horror Bite. 

Jordan Peele's Get Out feels like a horror chamber piece Shirley Jackson and Ralph Ellison maybe put together during the writing of The Invisible Man. It is timely, brilliantly unnerving and heralds the arrival of a new horror director with a vision. 

It's also Emmet's third Halloween horror pick. 

Before bringing about the downfall of Asgard in Thor: Ragnarok, Taika Waititi gave us - Wellington. Or Vellington, as this Kiwi horror comedy depicts the town as being overflowing with supernatural creatures. Stevie explains her love of What We Do In The Shadows.