Tales From Beyond the Sofa

In which we discuss Pixar's movie 'Soul' starring Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), also known as Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey or simply Birds of Prey is out and since we were unable to see it in theatres we thought we would revisit the 2002 WB series, Birds of Prey developed by Laeta Kalogridis for The WB and VERY loosely based on the DC Comics series of the same name. The series takes place in a Gotham City abandoned by Batman.

The series is set in New Gotham City, several years after it has been apparently abandoned by Batman. In his absence, Oracle (Barbara Gordon) and the Huntress (Helena Kyle) have taken over his war on crime. The two are joined by Dinah Redmond, a telepath (after she assists them in defeating Larry Ketterly); Alfred Pennyworth, who serves Helena as she is heir to the Wayne estate; and Detective Jesse Reese, a police officer confronted with crimes and abilities he cannot explain.

 

See our Star Trek: First Contact Video here

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This week, in celebration of the new Picard series, we sat down to watch one of THE BEST Star Trek films; Star Trek: First Contact.

Star Trek: First Contact is a 1996 American science fiction film directed by Jonathan Frakes (in his motion picture directorial debut) and based on the franchise Star Trek. It is the eighth film in the Star Trek film series, as well as the second to star the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. In the film, the crew of the USS Enterprise-E travel back in time from the 24th century to the mid 21st-century in order to stop the Borg from conquering Earth by changing their past.

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We're back to talk about Netflix's The Witcher and we're exhausted!

The Witcher is an American fantasy drama series produced by Lauren Schmidt Hissrich. It is based on the book series of the same name by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. The first season, consisting of eight episodes, was released on Netflix in its entirety on December 20, 2019.

Set in a medieval fictional world on a landmass known as "the Continent", The Witcher follows the story of solitary monster hunter Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill), sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra) and Cintran princess Ciri (Freya Allan), who find their destinies tied together. The first season is based on The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny, a collection of short stories which precede the main Witcher saga. It explores formative events that shaped the three lead characters, prior to their first encounters with each other.

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We just had Christmas which means only one thing; STAR WARS! So we sit down to discuss Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the third instalment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, following The Force Awakens (2015) and The Last Jedi (2017), and the final episode of the nine-part "Skywalker saga".[a] The Rise of Skywalker follows Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron as they lead the Resistance's final stand against Kylo Ren and the First Order, who are now aided by the return of the deceased galactic emperor, Palpatine.

Full spoiler talk at 00:19:48

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We had some bad news after the last episode so we took some time to make sure that we, and the family, are okay but during that time, we discovered a great little show on Netflix called Daybreak: The series follows the story of 17-year-old Canadian high school outcast Josh Wheeler searching for his missing British girlfriend Sam Dean in post-apocalyptic Glendale, California. Joined by a ragtag group of misfits; a 10 year old pyromaniac Angelica and Josh's former high school bully Wesley, now turned pacifist would-be samurai, Josh tries to survive amongst the horde of Mad Max-style gangs (evil jocks, cheerleaders turned Amazonian warriors), zombie-like creatures called Ghoulies, and everything else this brave new world throws at him. 

00:00:00 - Intro and chat

00:01:44 - ‘Daybreak’ NON SPOILERS section

00:18:46 - Full spoilers: We go full detail into our favourite characters and favourite moments and why we liked this series so much. The series explores toxic relationships, sexuality and youth culture and how some things are universal, no matter your age.

00:53:51 - Favourite Narrator

01:11:36 - Wrap up and Outro

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Twitter: Tom

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With this week's release of Terminator: Dark Fate we thought we could look back at the first and last Terminator movies; the Terminator (1984) and Terminator: Genisys, or as they've come to be known on our sofa as the First Terminator and the Worst Terminator.

00:00 - Intro: a quick catch up and a little look at the Terminator franchise as a whole

04:03 - Let’s talk Terminator Genisys; its boring story and forgettable cast

34:06 - Let’s talk about the Terminator (1984); Now with added Arnie Dong and tiny butt

44:23 - Quick baby break and back into talking about the Terminator, phone sex and whether or not Kyle Reece is in fact John Connor’s father?

58:04 - How often does Arnold Schwarzenegger acknowledge that he’s making a bad movie?

59:29 - What would you do if you were Sarah Connor?

01:05:34 - Wrap up; Are we looking forward to Terminator: Dark Fate?

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Welcome to Episode 1 of Tales From Beyond the Sofa; a podcast in which a husband and wife talk movies, television shows, fandom and family.

With Todd Phillips' The Joker out this month we thought we could visit the film cited as the biggest influence on the makers of DC Comics adaptation.

The King of Comedy is a 1983 American psychological satirical black comedy film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, and Sandra Bernhard.

00:00 - Intro chat and and a brief explanation of the show change

03:07 - Let's talk about 'the King if Comedy'

57:00 - Let's talk about the controversy surrounding the Joker movie and gun violence

Two Guys, One Comic: Tom's new podcast

Dee's Twitter

Tom's Twitter

What an emotional last couple of days it's been!

The Infinity Saga is finally over and boy howdy! Do we have some thoughts. But before we get into that we discuss the trailers for Ang Lee's 'Gemini Man' starring Will Smith and Will Smith and also the trailer for 'Men in Black International' NOT starring Will Smith but instead Thor and Valkyrie themselves, Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson.

00:00 – Intro and chat: Tom’s a grump and Dee’s a ray of sunshine

03:00 – Tom’s school-run misadventures

03:52 – Let’s talk nerdy stuff: Gemini Man trailer – Will Smith versus Will Smith, clone versus original in an Ang Lee sci-fi spectacular.

09:56 – Speaking of Will Smith circa 1997, let’s talk about the trailer for Men in Black International and also briefly talk about the original Men in Black trilogy

14:40 – Avengers: Endgame review (NO SPOILERS)

24:33 – Spoiler Talk – in which Tom repeatedly calls characters by their wrong name such as calling Nebula Gamorah and even calling Tony Stark, TONY FREAKING STARK, Howard! Alcohol… It’s a hell of a thing.

01:36:49 – Outro: No Homework this week because we’re prepping for our guests in the next episode

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We've all been sick but we managed to claw ourselves out of bed and into the studio. After last episode's discussion of 90's-set Captain Marvel we decided to revisit the 90's, the era of 'girl power' and look at some kickass women of 90's cinema. Turns out we were in for quite a culture shock.

Tom goes on some of his usual social rants so be warned.

00:00 – Intro and sickly chat; Dee’s not well this week but it’s been a calamitous period for the whole family

02:49 – Avengers Endgame leaks and ACCIDENTALLY tripping on spoilers

06:20 – TRAILER: Star Wars; the Rise of Skywalker (with a sprinkling of trolling from Tom). What does the title mean? Does Luke return or does ‘Skywalker’ refer to something else?

13:19 – Let’s talk the female action heroes and the scarcity of female action heroes in the 90’s. The rule is that it the movie had to be a vehicle for the Female Action Hero.

16:06 – Film No. 1: Tank Girl starring Lori Petty, Malcolm McDowell and Naomi Watts. Is it as good as Tom remembers and is it as good as Dee was expecting? Nope! Overall it is a very problematic film but for the time is kind of ground-breaking which is kind of sad when you think about it .

40:06 – That time Tom was in the test audience for an embarrassing film

41:09 – Film No. 2: The Quick and the Dead starring Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Russel Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio. Again, is it as good as Tom remembers and is it as good as Dee was expecting? Double Nope! Sharon Stone is essentially relegated to B-Plot in her own film.

58:26 – Let’s move on and talk about a film we really love: Film No. 3: The Long Kiss Goodnight starring Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson, written by Shane Black and Directed by Renny Harlin. It is one of our favourite films, it’s as good and as camp and as cheesy as we always remember it.

01:11:00 – A quick aside about Cat-Calling because of something that happens in the film

01:14:03 – Back to The Long Kiss Goodnight

01:22:26 – The Long Kiss Goodnight’s legacy and the shape of female lead action movies today

01:28:10 – Dee’s homework: Captain Marvel; the 2014 run of comics.

01:35:20 – Tom’s Homework: A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman

01:40:47 – This week’s homework assignment: Tracy Queen and the Oneshi Press Annual

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker except it's 'What's Up Danger'

Do your usual Amazon shop while helping us at no extra cost to yourself!

Support us on Patreon and be our new best friend! (Coming Soon)

Find us on twitter: Tom or Dee

Find us on YouTube: The French-Patels or Tom's Channel

Join us for Couple's Consoling Game Streams and Creative Stream on Twitch