Best Film Ever

Best Film Ever

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Best Film Ever episodes

  • Episode 317 - American History X (feat. an Interview with Director Tony Kaye - Brought to us by BFF of the BFE: Hermes Auslander)

    “Has anything you’ve done made your life better?”

    Join Ian, Liam, Megs & Kev for our 317th episode as we confront anger, ideology, consequence, and redemption in Tony Kaye’s incendiary and unforgettable American History X (1998). This week, we’re also joined by BFF of the BFE: Hermes Auslander, and — in a huge moment for the podcast — we sit down for a special interview with director Tony Kaye himself.

    This one is heavy. Necessary. Complicated.

    This week we discuss:

    • Edward Norton’s blistering performance — charismatic, terrifying, magnetic. Is this one of the great transformations of the 1990s?
    • The black-and-white vs colour structure — memory, myth, and moral framing. How does the visual language shape our understanding of Derek’s journey?
    • The film’s central question — can hate be unlearned, and if so, what does it cost?
    • Hermes joins us to unpack the film’s cultural and political legacy — why it still resonates, and why it remains controversial.
    • The prison sequence — brutal, pivotal, and narratively dangerous. Does the film handle trauma responsibly?
    • We examine the fine line between depiction and endorsement — does the film risk glamorising the ideology it condemns?
    • The ending — inevitable, devastating, and still capable of knocking the wind out of an audience. What does it ultimately say about cycles of violence?
    • Our special interview with Tony Kaye — reflections on authorship, conflict over the final cut, working with Edward Norton, and how he views the film now, decades later.
    • The legacy question — has the film aged well? Has it been misunderstood? Has it been weaponised?
    • And finally, whether American History X is the Best Film Ever — or one of the most important and confronting films we’ve ever covered.

      • Become a Patron of this podcast and support the BFE at

      https://www.patreon.com/BFE

      We are extremely thankful to our following Patrons for their most generous support:

      • Juleen from It Goes Down In The PM
      • Hermes Auslander
      • James DeGuzman
      • Synthia
      • Shai Bergerfroind
      • Ariannah Who Loves BFE The Most
      • Paul Komoroski
      • Andy Dickson
      • Chris Pedersen
      • Duane Smith (Duane Smith!)
      • Randal Silva
      • Nate The Great
      • Rev Bruce
      • Cheezy (with a fish on a bike)
      • Richard
      • Ryan Kuketz
      • Dirk Diggler
      • Stew from the Stew World Order podcast
      • NorfolkDomus
      • John Humphrey's Right Foot
      • Timmy Tim Tim
      • Aashrey
      • Youth Hosteling with Chris Eubank

        • Buy some BFE merch at https://my-store-b4e4d4.creator-spring.com/.

        Massive thanks to Lex Van Den Berghe for the use of Mistake by Luckydog. Catch more from Lex's new band, The Maids of Honor, at https://soundcloud.com/themaidsofhonor

        Also, massive thanks to Moonlight Social for our age game theme song. You can catch more from them at https://www.moonlightsocialmusic.com/

        4 hr 37 min
      • Media Madness #4 - Best Disney Animated Classics -

        Frozen or Tangled? Lion King or Snow White? Robin Hood or The Jungle Book?  Aladdin or The Emperor's New Groove?   People have been debating which is the best of the best since Snow White opined that some day her prince will come and even today the best of us can't Let It Go.  Joined by some of our Friends of the Podcast: Ariannah, JDG & his horseshoe, Hermes Auslander, Andy Dickson, and Sythia. We've determined to Be Prepared as we're setting up all 64 Disney Animated Classics in a single knockout tournament.  We've got massive upsets, Cinderella runs (literally?) and much debate as we crown the Best Disney Animated Classic of all time.

        2 hr 2 min
      • Episode 316 - The Cabin in the Woods

        “You think this is just a story?”

        Join Ian, Liam, Megs & Kev for our 316th episode as we descend into the basement, start pressing buttons we absolutely shouldn’t, and dismantle the horror genre piece by piece with Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods (2011). This week is less about jump scares and more about systems, sacrifice, and whether sometimes… you really should just play the hits.

        This week we discuss:

        • The central divide — why some viewers desperately wish this film had played it straight, and whether subversion automatically improves a genre story.
        • The two-year delay — why The Cabin in the Woods sat finished but unreleased, and how that limbo shaped its eventual reception.
        • Ian’s major life milestone this week — and why it weirdly mirrors one of the film’s themes about control and agency.
        • Who really enjoys the metaphor — and whether reading the film as an allegory enhances the experience or drains the fun out of it entirely.
        • Liam’s unstoppable TV digression — the show he simply will not stop referencing, regardless of relevance.
        • We spend some well-earned time talking about Catherine O’Hara — authority, timing, and why she elevates everything she touches.
        • The mechanics of the horror machine — archetypes, rituals, and the illusion of choice.
        • Megs breaks down the film’s gender politics — subversion, exploitation, and how knowingly the film handles both.
        • Kev weighs in on the concept of gatekeeping and who gets to make all these rules anyway?
        • The elevator scene — catharsis, overload, or glorious anarchy?
        • The ending — nihilistic, freeing, or just pulling the plug on the whole genre.
        • And finally, whether The Cabin in the Woods is the Best Film Ever — or simply the most elaborate middle finger horror ever aimed at its own audience.

          • Become a Patron of this podcast and support the BFE at

          https://www.patreon.com/BFE

          We are extremely thankful to our following Patrons for their most generous support:

          • Juleen from It Goes Down In The PM
          • Hermes Auslander
          • James DeGuzman
          • Synthia
          • Shai Bergerfroind
          • Ariannah Who Loves BFE The Most
          • Paul Komoroski
          • Andy Dickson
          • Chris Pedersen
          • Duane Smith (Duane Smith!)
          • Randal Silva
          • Nate The Great
          • Rev Bruce
          • Cheezy (with a fish on a bike)
          • Richard
          • Ryan Kuketz
          • Dirk Diggler
          • Stew from the Stew World Order podcast
          • NorfolkDomus
          • John Humphrey's Right Foot
          • Timmy Tim Tim
          • Aashrey

            • Buy some BFE merch at https://my-store-b4e4d4.creator-spring.com/.

            Massive thanks to Lex Van Den Berghe for the use of Mistake by Luckydog. Catch more from Lex's new band, The Maids of Honor, at https://soundcloud.com/themaidsofhonor

            Also, massive thanks to Moonlight Social for our age game theme song. You can catch more from them at https://www.moonlightsocialmusic.com/

            3 hr 29 min
          • BFE Fantasy Box Office Competition (2K26)

            The Fantasy Box Office League begins.

            Ian is joined by Friends of the Podcast Aashrey, “The Horseshoe” James de Guzman, and Paul Komoroski as 4 of the 10 competitors reveal their thinking ahead of a high-stakes draft:

            five films each, one year, most money wins.

            This is a draft built on instinct, spreadsheets, vibes, and blind confidence. We talk draft strategy, risk tolerance, franchise trust, and how quickly one bad pick can torpedo an entire season.  We also talk copious smack about those who couldn't join us.

            Hovering over the conversation are the big 2026 questions:

            • Event franchise dominance vs. prestige spectacle (**Avengers energy vs. Dune ambition)

            • Reliable nostalgia vs. bold cinematic swings (**Toy Story safety vs. The Odyssey risk)

            • Proven animation gold vs. superhero reinvention (**Super Mario confidence vs. Supergirl potential)

              No box office numbers yet — just claims, confidence, and future receipts waiting to happen.

              The draft hasn’t even finished… and the rivalries have already started.

              59 min
            • WWE Royal Rumble (2026) - Review & Reflections

              Join Ian from Best Film Ever and Stew from The Stew World Order podcast as we break the BFE format by counting down to chaos at WWE Royal Rumble 2025 from Riyadh Season Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We discuss whether the Rumble matches delivered on surprises and storytelling—or if they were just a numbers game. Did WWE make the right call in crowning their Rumble winners? How did the Universal Championship match shake up the road to WrestleMania and is AJ Styles still on the road or has he taken the off ramp? We discuss how many kip-ups is too many for a show and what wrestlers do when their Super Mario stars wear off. We'll answer all these questions and hand out post-event superlatives celebrating the night's best (and worst).

              Catch more of Stew on his own podcast: Stew World Order at

              https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stew-world-order/id1559913522

              You can also catch him at his website where he writes about all sorts of fun things:

              https://swoproductions.com/

              2 hr 14 min
            • Episode 315 - Starship Troopers (w/ BFF of the BFE: Synthia)

              “We're doing our part”

              Join Ian, Liam, Megs & Kev for our 315th episode as we suit up, grab the propaganda reel, and drop feet-first into Paul Verhoeven’s gloriously misunderstood sci-fi satire Starship Troopers (1997). It’s bugs, blood, and bare-faced ideology this week as we try to work out whether this film knew exactly what it was doing all along. Do you want to know more?

              This week we discuss:

              • The tone problem (or lack thereof) — is Starship Troopers a dumb action movie, a razor-sharp satire, or both at the same time?
              • Paul Verhoeven’s intent — does the film critique fascism so hard that some audiences miss the joke entirely?
              • The performances — intentionally wooden propaganda archetypes, or just bad acting elevated by context?
              • The aesthetics of fascism — uniforms, slogans, and spectacle. Why does the film make authoritarianism look so seductive?
              • Ian breaks down the film’s satirical mechanics — how exaggeration, repetition, and irony do the heavy lifting.
              • Liam explores audience reception — why the film was misunderstood on release and reclaimed years later.
              • Megs looks at gender and violence — equal-opportunity brutality, shower scenes, and the illusion of empowerment.
              • Kev weighs in on the action — but don't get him started on the never-ending rounds of bullets
              • The enemy — are the Arachnids monsters, victims, or an invented threat to justify endless war?
              • The propaganda interstitials — world-building masterstrokes or narrative interruptions?
              • Synthia joins us for The Endgame — helping us unpack the film’s legacy, its political bite, and why it feels even more relevant now than it did in 1997.
              • The ending — triumphant, horrifying, or both? What are we actually meant to cheer for?
              • And finally, whether Starship Troopers is the Best Film Ever — or one of the smartest films ever disguised as a stupid one.

                • Become a Patron of this podcast and support the BFE at

                https://www.patreon.com/BFE

                We are extremely thankful to our following Patrons for their most generous support:

                • Juleen from It Goes Down In The PM
                • Hermes Auslander
                • James DeGuzman
                • Synthia
                • Shai Bergerfroind
                • Ariannah Who Loves BFE The Most
                • Andy Dickson
                • Chris Pedersen
                • Duane Smith (Duane Smith!)
                • Randal Silva
                • Nate The Great
                • Rev Bruce
                • Cheezy (with a fish on a bike)
                • Richard
                • Ryan Kuketz
                • Dirk Diggler
                • Stew from the Stew World Order podcast
                • NorfolkDomus
                • John Humphrey's Right Foot
                • Timmy Tim Tim
                • Aashrey
                • Paul Komoroski

                  • Buy some BFE merch at https://my-store-b4e4d4.creator-spring.com/.

                  Massive thanks to Lex Van Den Berghe for the use of Mistake by Luckydog. Catch more from Lex's new band, The Maids of Honor, at https://soundcloud.com/themaidsofhonor

                  Also, massive thanks to Moonlight Social for our age game theme song. You can catch more from them at https://www.moonlightsocialmusic.com/

                  3 hr 48 min
                • Episode 314 - From Dusk till Dawn

                  “Everybody be cool.”

                  Join Ian & Liam for our 314th episode as we cross the border, miss the last turn-off to sanity, and crash headlong into Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s genre-shredding cult classic From Dusk Till Dawn (1996). Megs isn’t with us this week — she took a job managing the Titty Twister and immediately exercised her right to not be around for what happened next. Kev? Last seen arguing with a biker about tequila and quietly backing away when things started growing fangs.

                  This week we discuss:

                  • The hard genre pivot — crime thriller to vampire splatterfest. Is this one of cinema’s boldest structural swings or an act of deliberate sabotage?
                  • The first half vs. the second half — which film do we actually prefer, and should they ever have been stitched together in the first place?
                  • George Clooney’s breakout performance — cool, controlled, and shockingly confident. Did this film secretly create a movie star?
                  • Quentin Tarantino the actor — indulgent, uncomfortable, and deeply divisive. Does his presence add anything, or actively derail the film?
                  • Ian questions the film’s tonal discipline — is chaos the point, or does excess eventually become exhaustion?
                  • Liam explores the film’s grindhouse DNA — exploitation homage, midnight-movie energy, and why this works better at 11:30pm than 2:00pm.
                  • Salma Hayek’s iconic sequence — empowerment, objectification, or pure genre spectacle? We unpack why this moment still sparks debate.
                  • The violence escalation — gleeful, grotesque, and increasingly cartoonish. Where does fun end and numbness begin?
                  • The rules of the vampires and the timing of when characters turn  — clear, flexible, or completely improvised depending on the scene?
                  • You won't believe the piece of literature that Ian wants to compare this to
                  • The ending — aftermath, absurdity, and the sudden return to moral quiet after absolute carnage.
                  • And finally, whether From Dusk Till Dawn is the Best Film Ever — or simply the wildest left turn ever taken by a mainstream ’90s movie.

                    • Become a Patron of this podcast and support the BFE at

                    https://www.patreon.com/BFE


                    We are extremely thankful to our following Patrons for their most generous support:

                    • Juleen from It Goes Down In The PM
                    • Hermes Auslander
                    • James DeGuzman
                    • Synthia
                    • Shai Bergerfroind
                    • Ariannah Who Loves BFE The Most
                    • Andy Dickson
                    • Chris Pedersen
                    • Duane Smith (Duane Smith!)
                    • Randal Silva
                    • Nate The Great
                    • Rev Bruce
                    • Cheezy (with a fish on a bike)
                    • Richard
                    • Ryan Kuketz
                    • Dirk Diggler
                    • Stew from the Stew World Order podcast
                    • NorfolkDomus
                    • John Humphrey's Right Foot
                    • Timmy Tim Tim
                    • Aashrey
                    • Paul Komoroski

                      • Buy some BFE merch at https://my-store-b4e4d4.creator-spring.com/.

                      Massive thanks to Lex Van Den Berghe for the use of Mistake by Luckydog. Catch more from Lex's new band, The Maids of Honor, at https://soundcloud.com/themaidsofhonor

                      Also, massive thanks to Moonlight Social for our age game theme song. You can catch more from them at https://www.moonlightsocialmusic.com/

                      3 hr 47 min
                    • Episode 313 - A Few Good Men

                      “You can’t handle the truth.”

                      Join Ian & Liam for our 313th episode as we step into the pressurised courtroom, moral brinkmanship, and razor-sharp dialogue of Rob Reiner’s A Few Good Men (1992). Button up the dress whites, take your seats, and prepare for a film obsessed with duty, power, and the stories institutions tell themselves to survive.

                      This week we discuss:

                      • Aaron Sorkin’s dialogue as a weapon — rhythm, repetition, and confrontation. Is this peak Sorkin, or the moment his style becomes unmistakably dominant?
                      • Tom Cruise as Lt. Kaffee — charming, evasive, underestimated. Is this Cruise’s most interesting performance precisely because he starts behind the power curve?
                      • Jack Nicholson’s Colonel Jessup — operatic, terrifying, magnetic. Does the film become his the moment he enters it?
                      • The courtroom structure — how the film drip-feeds information, builds pressure, and engineers one of the most famous climaxes in cinema history.
                      • The ethics at the heart of the story — where does responsibility lie: with the men who carried out orders, or the system that created them?
                      • Ian talks about criticisms of the ending and if they're reading the film correctly 
                      • We explores how masculinity functions in the film — honour, obedience, pride, and camaraderie
                      • The supporting cast — Demi Moore’s steely professionalism, Kevin Bacon’s moral slipperiness, and who almost got Kevin Pollak's role
                      • That scene — inevitability versus surprise. Does the famous monologue work because it’s shocking, or because it feels unavoidable?
                      • The ending — justice served, or merely order restored? What actually changes once the truth is out?
                      • And finally, whether A Few Good Men is the Best Film Ever — or simply one of the most watchable, endlessly quotable courtroom dramas ever made.

                        • Become a Patron of this podcast and support the BFE at

                        https://www.patreon.com/BFE


                        We are extremely thankful to our following Patrons for their most generous support:

                        • Juleen from It Goes Down In The PM
                        • Hermes Auslander
                        • James DeGuzman
                        • Synthia
                        • Shai Bergerfroind
                        • Ariannah Who Loves BFE The Most
                        • Andy Dickson
                        • Chris Pedersen
                        • Duane Smith (Duane Smith!)
                        • Randal Silva
                        • Nate The Great
                        • Rev Bruce
                        • Cheezy (with a fish on a bike)
                        • Richard
                        • Ryan Kuketz
                        • Dirk Diggler
                        • Stew from the Stew World Order podcast
                        • NorfolkDomus
                        • John Humphrey's Right Foot
                        • Timmy Tim Tim
                        • Aashrey
                        • Paul Komoroski

                          • Buy some BFE merch at https://my-store-b4e4d4.creator-spring.com/.

                          Massive thanks to Lex Van Den Berghe for the use of Mistake by Luckydog. Catch more from Lex's new band, The Maids of Honor, at https://soundcloud.com/themaidsofhonor

                          Also, massive thanks to Moonlight Social for our age game theme song. You can catch more from them at https://www.moonlightsocialmusic.com/

                          3 hr 40 min
                        • Episode 312 - For Colored Girls (w/ BFF of the BFE: Juleen)

                          “Somebody almost walked off wiith all my stuff.”

                          Join Ian & Liam for our 312th episode as we step into the emotionally raw, confrontational, and fiercely theatrical world of For Colored Girls (2010) — a film that asks big questions about pain, survival, and voice, and demands we sit with the discomfort of its delivery. We’re later joined by BFF of the BFE: Juleen for The Endgame, as we try to make sense of what hits hardest… and what doesn’t land at all.

                          This week we discuss:

                          • Whether For Colored Girls successfully translates from stage to screen — or if something vital is lost in the move from choreopoem to cinema.
                          • The central tension — is it possible to fully agree with a film’s message and still believe it’s not a well-made film?
                          • The sheer level of star power — and why the performances feel wildly disparate. Which ones moved us, which ones frustrated us, and which ones actively pulled us out of the film.
                          • Who unexpectedly steals the show — emerging from the ensemble to deliver a performance that cuts through everything else.
                          • The question of tone — is there simply too much poetry here, even when it’s beautifully spoken and powerfully performed?
                          • How close this film came to being worse — and how an originally cast actress’s pregnancy may have unintentionally saved the film from an even harsher imbalance.
                          • Ian questions the film’s direction and framing — does Tyler Perry trust the material enough, or does the camera overemphasise emotion that should be allowed to breathe?
                          • Liam explores the film’s confrontational style — is the lack of subtlety a flaw, or is subtlety beside the point entirely?
                          • The emotional toll — is the film asking us to witness pain, process it, or simply endure it?
                          • Juleen joins us for The Endgame — bringing insight, perspective, and lived context to the discussion, and helping us unpack what the film is reaching for, even when it misses.
                          • The ending — cathartic, overwhelming, or emotionally blunt? We unpack whether the final moments feel earned.
                          • And finally, whether For Colored Girls is the Best Film Ever — or a deeply important work whose ambition outpaces its execution.

                            • Become a Patron of this podcast and support the BFE at

                            https://www.patreon.com/BFE


                            We are extremely thankful to our following Patrons for their most generous support:

                            • Juleen from It Goes Down In The PM
                            • Hermes Auslander
                            • James DeGuzman
                            • Synthia
                            • Shai Bergerfroind
                            • Ariannah Who Loves BFE The Most
                            • Andy Dickson
                            • Chris Pedersen
                            • Duane Smith (Duane Smith!)
                            • Randal Silva
                            • Nate The Great
                            • Rev Bruce
                            • Cheezy (with a fish on a bike)
                            • Richard
                            • Ryan Kuketz
                            • Dirk Diggler
                            • Stew from the Stew World Order podcast
                            • NorfolkDomus
                            • John Humphrey's Right Foot
                            • Timmy Tim Tim
                            • Aashrey
                            • Paul Komoroski

                              • Buy some BFE merch at https://my-store-b4e4d4.creator-spring.com/.

                              Massive thanks to Lex Van Den Berghe for the use of Mistake by Luckydog. Catch more from Lex's new band, The Maids of Honor, at https://soundcloud.com/themaidsofhonor

                              Also, massive thanks to Moonlight Social for our age game theme song. You can catch more from them at https://www.moonlightsocialmusic.com/



                              3 hr 54 min
                            • See It or Skip It? - Wicked: For Good

                              It’s another edition of See It or Skip It, and this time Ian is joined by Kev and Megs as they click their heels, defy gravity (again), and head back to Oz for Wicked: For Good — the second chapter of the long-awaited big-screen adaptation of the Broadway phenomenon.

                              But does Wicked: For Good stick the landing, or does splitting the story in two finally come back to haunt it? Ian, Kev, and Megs unpack whether this concluding chapter delivers the emotional payoff fans have been promised — or whether it buckles under the weight of expectation, spectacle, and inevitability.

                              Is the heart still there? Do Elphaba and Glinda’s journeys feel earned, devastating, and cathartic — or overly polished and pre-packaged? The trio dig into performances, musical moments, and whether the film earns its big themes about power, friendship, compromise, and legacy.

                              Can a story everyone knows still surprise you? Does For Good justify its existence as a standalone film, or does it feel like the second act stretched to breaking point?

                              All this and more in this week’s See It or Skip It review of Wicked: For Good — and of course, Ian, Kev, and Megs will let you know if you should SEE IT or SKIP IT.

                              1 hr 5 min

                            About Best Film Ever

                            From the publisher's feed

                            Your new favourite transatlantic film review podcast, trawling through the blockbusters and critical darlings in search of the best film ever.

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