You Never Forget Your First

SOME-BODY once told us to get making some waffles and rewatch Shrek. We’re so glad we did, as the amount of adult jokes in this film that flew over our heads as kids makes it worth a rewatch almost 20 years later.

On the surface, Shrek really should not have worked as a film. It (literally) shits on the classic fairytale genre, is full of (somehow not dated?) pop culture references, and at last minute had the whole of Shreks lines re-recorded with a Scottish accent. Yet directors Andrew Adamson & Vicky Jensen knew exactly what they were doing, as the final result was not only hilarious and wildy entertaining, but went on to win the first ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature (beating out Pixar’s Monsters Inc by the way). Also, the internet is actually obsessed with it. Google Shrek meme and you’re met with a mix of hilarious and worrying results (Shrek is Love, Shrek is Life being the latter). Though in all honestly, Shrek and the inhabitants of Duloc wouldn’t want it any other way. 

Joining us all the way from NYC for this one is Dylan. He’s back by popular demand after laying down the pizza law on our Nightcrawler ep (Joes Pizza in Greenwich if you’re asking). Here D switches out crispy crusts for some crispy commentary on our green friend and all things Duloc. 

We also have a short of the week, Commute by Scott Lazer. This ones based in NYC, in case there wasn’t already enough New Yorker attitude on this episode. 

Link in bio. Enjoy. 

When it comes to special effects, you need hundreds of specialist people to create them, right? Well, if you’re Gareth Edwards, all you need is your bedroom and a laptop from 2009. In one of the most inspiring “budget to magic on screen” ratios we’ve seen on YNFYF, Gareth Edwards both wrote, shot and created ALL the special effects seen in his directorial debut, Monsters. This is independent filmmaking at its most essential; most of the actors were members of the public, and the film was shot on the fly in South America. Not only that, but fast forward to present day and Gareth here directed what’s probably your favourite Star Wars in recent years, Rogue One. 

Have you ever thrown your hands up in the air and just shouted “YOU’RE TEARING ME APART LISA!” No? Then fear not, because Tommy Wiseau has you covered, and also has a whole host of other bizarre and hilarious things covered in his directorial debut (really his only film) The Room.

Made in 2003 for a staggering 6 million dollars, The Room has cultivated such a cult following, that it still plays in cinemas to this very day. It makes you wonder, how many other films can claim that? Only a handful of classics. But it also makes you wonder, how many other films can claim to ask about your sex life? Well…there’s only one.

The Room holds the award for the best/worst film of all time, intended to be a dramatic story, that ended up being a full on accidental comedy. Crew members have even tried it come forward and claim they directed it. But once you watch The Room, you understand there really is only one person who could have made such a film…

We also have our SOTW, Don’t Sell The Tiger, directed by Ben Wylson and written and produced by Joanne Oatts and Mark Winter. This ones a good one, so get your Vimeo fingertips going.

We also hope everyone is doing well during this troubling time, and that you’re all safe. Hopefully this episode (and all other quarantined eps) will distract you from the everyday quarantine life. Luckily, we’ve found a way of still being able to podcast, because films still need to be talked about! (And are probably being watched now more than ever, at home, not in the cinema, but thats another thing,,,)

Enjoy!

“Wait, you’re giving us the usual first films, but then throwing in a few one one-off special episodes every now and then, about topics you feel you can add some value to and have a good chat about for our listening pleasure?” Uh, yeah. That is literally what we are doing. That’s weird you know that. 

So for our first special episode, we decided to shoot for the stars YNFYF style, and corner ourselves into the biggest corner you’ve ever heard by tackling the unconquerable challenge of reviewing the decade. Which was actually unconquerable. 

So to break this down into GSCE bitesize chunks, we decided to split this episode into a few key big broad topics from the decade, that we felt we could have some fun with and add some meaning to; the rise of streaming, originals vs reboots, indie film, camera tech and debating the impact of Superhero films this decade. 

We also each reveal our 10 favourite films of the decade, which in itself was also an unconquerable task (as you will hear when Louis has a breakdown choosing his favourite).

As usual, strap those headphones in and get ready to remember how silly you looked wearing 3D headphones in 2010 when you went to see Avatar.

Happy listening. 

American Beauty is one of those films every always agrees is “pretty damn good”. You’d be hard pushed to find someone who doesn’t like it, and isn’t wowed by the fact this DEBUT FILM won Best Picture and Best Director at the Oscars. Imagine that? Well, if you’re Sam Mendes, you don’t have to. 

Happy New Year from YNFYF! We’re kicking off 2020 with a look back at another decade, 2003, when an unknown Patty Jenkins somehow managed to get Charlize Theron to play Aileen Wuornos, a prolific female serial killer who lived in Florida. With a virtually unrecognisable Charlize Theron in the main role, as well as a high level of craft and storytelling, this debut is moving, tough watch that cemented Patty as a force to be reckoned with. We had to wait a whole 14 years before another cinema experience from Patty, this time in the form of a superhero film called Wonder Woman. Worlds away from Monster, this was well worth the wait. In-between she directed popular TV shows, such as The Killing. We’re big fans of Patty and are looking forward to her next film Wonder Woman 1984 (which is out this year…). But thats not all! We have our very good friend of the pod and fellow cinephile Ella on this weeks episode. Not only does she expertly break down this dense, tricky movie into such lovely conversation we can all enjoy, but she’s vowed to see more films in the actual cinema this year. You know, that place you go to other than your sofa to watch movies? We’re holding you to your New Years resolution Ella. Expect to hear her back on the pod in the future, telling us about all those films she saw at that place called “the cinema”. On our SOTW we cover greg by Will Denis. A New York subway based short that follows a man who loses his phone on the train tracks. Loads of film fun to come this year. Enjoy.

If you thought you could escape Christmas without watching Love Actually, you’d ACTUALLY be mistaken. Because no one can get to Christmas Day without at least shedding a tear that Emma Thompson never gets given that necklace. Every. Single. Year. Merry Christmas!

Our motto is that if you want to record a podcast, you gotta do the research to sound like you know what you’re talking about. And while we’re at it, your performance review is coming up. You’ve shown some real initiative downloading our episodes, as well as having an enthusiastic attitude to our posts. But if you ever miss an episode again, make no mistake. We will terminate you.

Of course we won’t! Because we’re too busy laughing at all the self-help management talk in Dan Gilroys stand out debut film, Nightcrawler (2014). We’re also too busy spending some of it completely frightened at Jake Gyllenhaals unforgettable performance as Lou Bloom, a man who becomes obsessed with capturing the horrific accidents and murders in Los Angeles for local news networks.  We also have to shout out to Riz Ahmed, who also nailed it with his performance as Rick (the interview scene with “hire rick” is a particular pod favourite moment). In our SOTW section, we’ll be covering Rachel Stubbings short, Mum of the Year, which we all had a good laugh at indeed.

This episode is extra special as joining us all the way from Brooklyn, as well as having us convinced he is actually the real Bruce Wayne, it’s Dylan! A special friend of the NYFYF community, he holds it down for our American market, whilst also advising us that if we ever go public on the stock exchange, he’ll make sure to “take care of all the details”. Dylan practically schooled us all on American history and its media landscape, which sounded twice as cool through his thick take-no-bullshit Brooklyn accent. If you ever find yourself in New York, he’ll take you down to the guys at Joes Pizza in Greenwich, demanding you eat a slice whilst educating you on what a real slice of pizza is. (also shout out to Joes Pizza in Greenwich. We know the score).

Happy listening. 

It’s been claimed by those film nerds that 1999 was one of the best years for original movies. We got given Fight Club. The Matrix. American Beauty. The Sixth Sense. Eyes Wide Shut. The Blair Witch Project. The Iron Giant. Nottinghill. Being John Malkovich. Toy Story 2. The Green Mile. Just to name a few. And then one movie came along that penetrated culture (and pies) with its outrageousness. That film is American Pie.

The directorial debut of Paul Weitz (his brother Chris Weitz is an uncredited director) saw this movie reboot and retool the teen comedy genre, skyrocketing it to a truly global status. Made on a budget of $10 million, and going on to reap over $250 million at the box office - as well as ruining everyones favourite homemade pie -  it’s clear that the film did something right. Tune in to find out.

Our SOTW is Hillside DIY by Ben Ericsson. A fun little homemade film about skating that is a welcome change from all the pie chat.

Enjoy.

If you ever find yourself needing to look up synonyms for the word “zombie”, the first suggestion will in fact be “George A Romero”. Thats because our friend George virtually invented the zombie genre with his 1968 groundbreaking first film, “Night of The Living Dead”. 

This first film didn’t just launch a career though, it launched an entire GENRE. Popular modern entertainment like The Walking Dead, 28 Days Later, and even everyones favourite ITV2 re-run Shaun of the Dead, all wouldn’t exist without the path George blazed. And ironically, he did it all without a single utterance of the word zombie. He just used ham for guts and chocolate sauce for blood instead.

George went on to create every single possible film title that could come from his original like “Dawn of The Dead”, “Day of The Dead”, “Land of The Dead”, “Diary of The Dead”, and “Survival of The Dead”. Thats commitment and we very much like that here on YNFYF. 

The good news on this ep is Louis is back, bringing fan-favourite wheezey laughs and such deep insightful critique you’d wonder why a major news publication hasn’t yet hired him to review BBC mini-series. The bad news is Sparrow was unavailable for this episode, and we very much felt the hole created by his absence. We mention it many, many, many times. He’s back on next weeks film. 

Also, In our short of the week section, Benas gets deep discovering the meaning of life as we cover “My Boy” by Charlotte Reagan. 

Anyway, that’s enough from us. Happy listening.