At the Flicks

There is a saying that the At The Flicks management live by – it’s “better late than never”.  Actually, it’s more of a reality than a motto!

Take this show.  We were lucky enough to get Tessa to join us to give us her views on the Academy Awards and her impressions of this year’s Glasgow Film Festival.  And then what happened – we took our time in releasing it!

However, it might be late, but it’s still great. It’s a show of two halves.  In the first part we dissect the Oscar winners and talk about what gems from 2024 were left out or ignored.   In the second half Tessa speaks about some of the impressive films she saw at the Glasgow Film Festival.  Movies such as The Return, On Falling, Ebony And Ivory and the very powerful From Hilde, With Love.

Check it out, we think you’ll enjoy it.

Until next time, see you At The Flicks

Welcome to the latest edition of At The Flicks. Back by popular demand is another of our Carry On Streaming episodes, hosted by the very knowledgeable Declan (and his two bickering assistants Jeff and Graham).

So, if you plan to spend Easter in front of the TV catching up on what you’ve missed since Christmas or looking for something new, then this is the show for you. And what an exciting line up Declan reveals.

You can catch up with such recommendations as:

Adolescence – As this is the show everyone from the Prime Minister down is talking about, we have to have our say.

Wolf Hall: The Mirror And The Light – A handsomely mounted BBC production – but was it underfunded?

Toxic Town – Another powerful Netflix series and Jeff and Graham reveal a connection to the real story which is set in Corby

While coming soon:

The Studio – Love movies – then this Seth Rogan show is for you

The Last Of Us Season 2 – Will it be as good as the first season?

Murderbot – Graham goes on and on and on about this one – clearly he’s a fan, but will you be?

Something for everyone there. Also, Declan reveals some of his movie highlights of the year so far.

All that remains for us to say is have a very happy Easter. Relax and enjoy and we look forward to seeing you At The Flicks.

Welcome to At The Flicks and another in our cinema memories series.

If you haven’t caught up with this series yet, check out episodes 260, where Jeff and Graham talk about their favourite picture palaces and episode 264, where Declan reminisces.

For this episode we chat to another team member. This time it’s Darren. From first films, to his local cinemas and along the way there’s a very surprising revelation. Darren also takes the conversation in a fascinating direction with his memories of video stores and the wild west that was video rental in the 1980’s. We go from classics to those must-see cult movies that found a life thanks to the wonders of the now long gone video cassette.

So, sit back and wallow in the nostalgia of double bill cinema features and trips to the mecca that was the video store.

Enjoy.

We are currently planning a show where we talk to a cinema manager from that era – coming soon as they say. Until then we look forward to seeing you At The Flicks.

Bye for now.

It’s one of those shows again! Phil and Jeff meet for a review face off.

Regular listeners to the show will know by now that Phil and Jeff have very different tastes in films and constantly clash on these pop up reviews.  In fact we have been told it’s why some people listen to the show, to hear these two bicker! This one, true to form, will be brutal.  In fact, it is The Brutalist, that epic about life in America for immigrants just after World War 2.  It’s an epic in all senses, from length, to the the themes and a remarkable use of Vistavision.  

For once Graham hasn’t seen the film in advance.  His plan, so he revealed to us, was to listen to the two very opposing views and then decide if he would watch the film or not.  Who is he kidding?  There is no way that Graham is going to listen to Jeff’s view, he will follow whatever Phil says.  After all, we still have Graham denying Thank God It’s Friday for the masterpiece it truly is because Jeff likes it.

As the two dissect The Brutalist, they cover such topics as:

·        The film’s length and themes

·        Comparing to another story of power in America – the James Dean film Giant

·        The performances – who stood out for whom

·        Daniel Blumberg’s music score

An epic chat for an epic film.  

And that’s not all! 

Recently all three of the team have seen Captain America: Brave New World, so we round out this show with a brief movie review.  Yes, it’s the Marvel fan boys against the serious film watcher (as long as it’s not subtitled).

More pop up reviews – probably pitting Phil against Jeff, are coming soon.

Until then, we will see you at the flicks – and if we do, please forgive us for yelling at one another when the movie starts!

Welcome to a different At The Flicks.

In this show Graham, Jeff and Phil give their predictions for the 2025 Academy Awards.  Hang on I hear you say, that event is now in the past.  Quite correct, and we held back on this so that you can laugh at their floundering or be amazed at how mystic they believe they were.  

Don’t worry, we don’t cover every award.  The team talk about the top six awards – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress. After that each of them talked about another award they are especially interested in.  These are:  

Graham : Visual Effects

Jeff : Music

Phil: Cinematography

Of course it wouldn’t be an At The Flicks podcast without at least one bizarre rant from Jeff.  There were two, but one, around the lack of representation for A Real Pain had to be removed for legal reasons.  The other we will leave you to discover as the show progresses.

Awards season is over for 2025 (although we have another show on the subject coming shortly) and we hope you enjoy this one.

Until next time see you At The Flicks where you may well catch at least one of the team recapping the Oscar movies.

Bye For Now

Welcome to the At The Flicks archive. This one is a real blast from the past! 

Recently Graham was rummaging around in the At The Flicks vault and fell over some old recording cans that had been left on the floor.  Luckily Graham had been drinking that day, or he might have swerved passed them by and this show would still be sitting there! After swearing and moaning about his now sore leg, Graham checked the cans and realised it was an unreleased edition of our very popular Rediscovering the classic with Elijah series.  It is our discussion about the classic historical epic El Cid (1961).

Apart from Jeff and Graham, the team for this episode comprised, of course Elijah, and a voice we miss on the show.  Neil.

For those of you not familiar with the film, it stars Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren and is a bio pic about legendary Spanish hero Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (aka El Cid), a knight who lived in the 11th Century.  Normally it is Elijah who is discovering the film for the first time.  Not here, this time it’s Jeff and Graham who are seeing it with fresh eyes for the first time (although both have seen it before – don’t worry it’s all explained in the show).

Other things discussed in this podcast:

- Why the main stars didn’t like each other

- What film director Anthony Mann got fired from just before this (and also Jeff initially getting his facts wrong)

- Miklos Rozsa’s score and the use of trumpets

- Herbert Lom not being politically correct 

- Correlation to Dune

It’s fascinating to hear the old team back together again.  Who knows, there may be more life in rediscovering the classics to come.

Until then bye for now and see you At The Flicks.

Welcome to an exciting show for Graham.  Yes, it’s the latest from The Mel.

Sadly, Mel Gibson is only behind the camera for this one, but that’s enough for Graham.

For such a special event, Niall Browne from Movies In Focus joins to discuss the action thriller Flight Risk.  Now most reviews have put down this exciting movie.  Not here, here you will find a discussion which includes our thoughts on:

- Were there religious reasons behind Mel Gibson selecting this project?

- Would this work as a theatre piece? 

- Is this one for the fans of Downton Abbey? 

- Is there a Trumpian dislike of authority on show here? 

All of these, and many other questions you haven’t thought of are answered in this show.  Niall also talks about his recent interview with Michael Polish about his film Alarum.  A jammed packed and exciting show – just like Flight Risk itself! 

We hope you enjoy and look forward to seeing you At The Flicks 

Bye for now.

Welcome to an At The Flicks pop up review show.

Listeners will know that the best way to annoy Jeff is to make him watch a subtitled film. And that’s exactly what we do here.

While there were legitimate reasons for picking this feature, upsetting Jeff is always an added bonus. The film in question, Declan’s suggestion. Is director Hirokazu Koreeda’s follow up to Shoplifters called Monster. No, this is not a horror film (at least not in the conventional sense), it’s a powerful study of prejudice, abuse and misunderstanding. In our discussion we cover:

- The Rashomon film making style employed

- How the different perspectives of the characters fit together to a cohesive whole

- Ryuichi Sakamoto’s wonderful music score (his final one). We use a very brief selection from it for our intro and outro music to the show.

- What the ending means (so it is advisable to watch the film before listening to the show)

- Why Dec believes this is a film we all should be watching

One final comment. The film deals with domestic abuse, so it is important that you are aware of that fact before deciding to watch Monster (in part where the title comes from).

If you have seen Monster please let us know what you think. As always, we are look forward to your comments.

Until next time, see you At The Flicks.

Well, At The Flicks episode 260 certainly made an impression with you guys.

Our reflection on the cinemas that moulded Graham and Jeff generated much comment from listeners, and we hope to bring some of those stories to your attention in the future.  One listener who wanted to talk about his cinematic experiences was At The Flicks team member Declan. As a result we have devoted this whole show to him to tell us about the cinemas of his youth (starting with his sneaking in, underage, to what has now become a Christmas classic), up to his current favourite cinemas.

These favourite cinemas are very special.  They are independently run by people who have a love of movies and want to give that extra special something to their patrons.  After all, if you have a bad experience, especially in your youth, are you more likely to go back to a movie palace?  These cinemas (and see the links below for their names – please try to visit if they are local to you) do go that extra mile, from membership deals, to special seating to event movies.  Dec reveals some fascinating insights into these wonderful places.

As if that isn’t enough, Dec also tells us what films have impressed him so far in 2025.  We are deep in awards season to thankfully superhero films are in short supply as the adults (briefly) take over.  What have been your standout films of the year so far? Please let us know.

If you are a regular filmgoer, I am sure we will see you, during this special time of year, At The Flicks.

Bye for now.

Welcome to the second of our shows looking at key franchise films from the Summer of 2024.  This episode we go all dark, scaring Graham along the way, as we discuss Alien Romulus.

The team of Graham, Jeff and Phil don their spacesuits and boldly go into foreboding places to talk in hushed tones about the latest Alien film. Amongst the aspects of the film they talk about:

-         The original plan Disney had to make this for their streaming service 

-         Is Fede Alvarez the right director for the job?

-         The controversial use of the likeness of an actor from the very first Alien film

-         The actor in the cast who impressed everyone in the review team

-         How Alien Romulus fits into the overall Alien series

Surprisingly, the reviewers (with minor carping from one of the team and I am sure you can guess who that pedantic person is) all enjoyed the film.  Sorry about that Phil’s brother!!! 

What did you think of Alien Romulus?  Please let us know.

Until the next time, see you At The Flicks