118 - REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2023

Jeremy is joined by Chris Arnsby for a comprehensive review of 2023 in film, covering the ten best and five worst films, and touching on such matters as difficult third acts, John Deacon, disappointing perfumes, the Nose Film and the menace of an empty space.

Below are playlists of trailers for all this year’s Best Film nominees, all the Best Film winners since 1963 and previews of some of 2024’s upcoming releases, as well as the mentioned visual effects reel for Godzilla Minus One and the Saturday Night Live sketch of Adam Driver as a baby on a plane, while here is the Twitter thread listing all this year’s nominees across all categories.

117 - HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN

Jeremy is joined by perennial guest Chris Arnsby for a belated Christmas episode, as they experience Jason Eisener's 2011 darkly comic exploitation homage Hobo with a Shotgun, starring Rutger Hauer, Molly Dunsworth and Brian Downey. Their conversation covers such topics as living in a real-life Mad Max world, clods of drugs, the original Mars Attacks trading cards and Jeremy's Canadian accent.

Below are the trailer, the original competition-winning trailer starring David Brunt, the piece of music from the end credits of The Hitcher, which is used in a crucial scene, and the end credits song - Lisa Lougheed’s Run with Us.

116 - THE LAST WAVE

Jeremy is accompanied by author Simon Guerrier for a study of The Last Wave, Peter Weir's 1977 Australian mythological urban thriller, with their conversation covering such topics as white saviour narratives, the Australian New Wave, storytelling through contrast and Papa Lazarou.

Simon’s book, David Whitaker in an Exciting Adventure in Television, is available from Ten Acre Books here.

Below are a viewable copy of the film, a short commentary by Peter Weir, a playlist of Charles Wain’s score and the story of David Burton in Doctor Who.

115 - EQUILIBRIUM

Jeremy is joined in the first of a new run of the podcast by Paul Morris, podcaster and scriptwriter, to discuss 2002's sci-fi action Equilibrium, with their conversation covering such matters as stimulating statues, insufficient purity of concept, the word "phenomenological" and the world's most surprising cameo.

Below are the original trailer and a playlist of the pilot and first series of The Grimleys, the ITV sitcom that briefly comes under discussion for spoiler reasons.

114 - AMSTERDAMNED

Jeremy is joined by Chris Arnsby for a discussion of 1988's Dutch action thriller Amsterdamned, written and directed by Dick Maas. Their conversation covers a range of topics including ITV's overnight schedule, a real-life kidnapping, The Quizmaster Murders, the Godzilla threshold and Keeping Up Appearances.

Below are the original trailer, the music video of the theme song and a clip of the infamous boat chase. I wanted to link to something from The Nightmare Man, but it’s been thoroughly scrubbed from the internet. Try looking “elsewhere”.

113 - SUPERGIRL

Joined once again by writer and podcaster Paul Morris, he and Jeremy discuss the 1984 comic book adventure and superhero spinoff Supergirl, directed by Jeannot Szwarc and starring Helen Slater, Faye Dunaway, Peter Cook and Peter O'Toole. Their discussion covers broad range of topics including illegal hockey play, Jaws heresy, mundane motivations, the Super-Universe and Billy Jor-El.

Below are the original trailer, and videos of the opening titles and original score by Jerry Goldsmith, while here are links to the two other episodes of Cinema Limbo referred to, on Santa Claus: The Movie and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.

112 - ORCA

Jeremy is once again joined by fellow podcaster Ed Bloomer for a study of 1977 nature-based dramatic thriller Orca, directed by Michael Anderson and starring Richard Harris, Charlotte Rampling, Will Sampson and Bo Derek. Their investigation covers such topics as the elasticity of time, unlikely twist endings, a story without heroes, the aquatic equivalent of Michael Myers and the great white shark in the room.

Below are the original trailer, and two videos mentioned in the podcast - a guide to the many, many Jaws knockoffs and Ed Wood’s classic Plan 9 from Outer Space.

111 - REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2022

Jeremy and Chris Arnsby look back on the last year in movies, exploring the ten best and five worst pictures of 2022, with such topics being covered as toilet strategies, in-cinema naps, yacht rock, the end of Inspector Morse and why Avatar is successful.

Below are a playlist of trailers of this year’s top 10, arranged alphabetically, and here are some previews of releases coming up in 2023.

110 - ONE HOUR PHOTO

Jeremy is joined once again by Chris Arnsby to examine One Hour Photo, the 2002 psychological thriller written and directed by Mark Romanek, and starring Robin Williams, Connie Nielsen, Michael Vartan and Gary Cole, with their seminar covering such broad topics as the wonders of Ikea, plagiarism lawsuits, pornocrats and the Carnival of Souls.

Below are the original trailer, the original soundtrack and footage of the actors in rehearsal, as well as a breakdown of the terrible editing in Bohemian Rhapsody.

109 - THE COMIC

Jeremy is joined by podcaster and Goon Pod host Tyler Adams to discuss The Comic, the 1969 drama written, directed and featuring Carl Reiner and starring Dick van Dyke. Their conversation covers such topics as Ray Bradbury, Samuel Beckett, Olivia Wilde, Kevin Feige, Jim Henson and Supertrain.

Below are a free copy of the film, both fire safety public information films mentioned during the podcast, Van Dyke talking about his alcoholism on the Dick Cavett Show and Gilbert Gottfried entertaining the man himself with his Andrew Dice Clay impression.

108 - CLOUD ATLAS

Jeremy is joined once again by Chris Arnsby to discuss Cloud Atlas, the 2012 adaptation of David Mitchell's novel, written and directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski and Tom Tykwer and starring an all-star cast led by Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Ben Wishaw, Susan Sarandon and Hugh Grant. Their all-encompassing conversation covers topics from sense triggers, standing ovations and brawling writers to Leonard Nimoy, David Hasselhoff and failing the world's easiest job interview.

Below are the epic trailer discussed in the podcast, as well as an excerpt from Maidstone, the misremembered film in which Norman Mailer fights with Rip Torn rather than Gore Vidal, an interview featuring the actual Mailer/Vidal feud and the moment Michael Knight saved Europe.

107 - GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROAD STREET

Jeremy is joined again by author and scriptwriter Simon Guerrier to investigate Paul McCartney's 1984 musical drama Give My Regards to Broad Street, also starring Bryan Brown, Tracey Ullman and Ralph Richardson. Their conversation covers such vital subjects as the Beatles filmography, Thomas the Funk Engine, dream-storming, alternative storylines and Blame It on Ringo.

Simon’s latest book, The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Great War, is available here, while Very Naughty Boys: The Amazing True Story of HandMade Films, mentioned during podcast, is available here.

Below is a viewable version of the film, its trailer and some supplimentary sources.

106 - PSYCHO (1998)

Jeremy is joined by writer and podcaster Paul Morris to discuss the 1998 remake of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, starring Vince Vaughn, Julianne Moore, Viggo Mortensen, Willliam H Macy and Anne Heche. Their discussion covers such ground as the Psycho franchise opportunities, the Invisible Christmas, cover versions, a stage adaptation and when men stopped wearing hats all the time.

Below are trailers for some of the other entries in the series.

105 - THE TWO JAKES

Jeremy is joined by Ed Bloomer on the hottest evening of the year to investigate The Two Jakes, the 1990 neo-noir suspense drama, a sequel to the 1974 classic Chinatown, directed by and starring Jack Nicholson, with Harvey Keitel, Madeleine Stowe, Meg Tilly and Eli Wallach. Their sweltering conversation covers such topics as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, unfilmed areas of Los Angeles, Tom Jones playing a mummy and encouraging the listener to take up crime.

104 - GIORGIO MORODER'S METROPOLIS

Jeremy is joined once again by Chris Arnsby to examine the 1984 alternate cut by Giorgio Moroder of Fritz Lang's Metropolis. Their discussion covers such topics as post-WWI cinema, the ethics of edits, ivory backscratchers, early optical effects and statue therapy.

Below are a copy of the full-length restoration of the film discussed during the podcast, and a video version of Pat Benatar’s Here’s My Heart, about which Jeremy keeps eulogising.

103 - REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2021 PART 2

Jeremy is joined by Chris Arnsby for the second half of a retrospective of the best and worst films of the last year, with such subjects as ageism, writers' block, children as plot tokens, strip-mining the franchises you love and the joys and dangers of drinking.

Below is a playlist of coming attractions for 2022, as well as the nominees for the Best Film of the Year, while the full nominees in other categories can be found here.

102 - REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2021 PART 1

Jeremy is joined by Chris Arnsby for the first half of a retrospective of the best and worst films of the last year, with such subjects as thought bubbles, climate change, poisonous nostalgia and big lizard robots coming under scrutiny.

Below is a playlist of the nominees for the Best Film of the Year, while the full nominees in other categories can be found here.

101 - CARRY ON COLUMBUS

Jeremy is joined for the Christmas edition of the podcast by fellow podcaster Tyler Adams for the latter-day pantomine that is 1992 historical comedy Carry On Columbus, with a conversation that takes in A View to a Kill, how to write for The Simpsons, buried sitcoms, Frankie Howerd's oscillating career and Curb Your Foot in the Grave.

Below are a selection of the comedy items mentioned in the podcast. Tyler’s excellent podcast, GoonPod, is available here and is highly recommended.

100 - FAHRENHEIT 451

Chris Arnsby join Jeremy for the final instalment of the run of special episodes outside the regular remit, celebrating the podcast's centenary with an edition on his favourite film, Francois Truffaut's adaptation of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.

Their lengthy discussion covers a range of topics, including Britain's most influential filmmaker, a world without written language, modernist composers, the abolition of empathy, Ready Player One, The Space Sentinels and the early days of Channel 5.

Apologies for the sound quality, this was due to a fault in the main recording, requiring the backup to be used.

In the absence of a decent trailer - the original one spends too long salivating over Julie Christie - below is a selection of scenes from the film, and a suite of Bernard Herrmann’s score.

099 - THE WICKER MAN (2006)

Simon Guerrier returns to the podcast for a further instalment in the special series covering films outside the regular remit, in this case the notorious 2006 remake of The Wicker Man, adapted and directed by Neil LaBute, starring Nicholas Cage and Ellen Burstyn.

Their discussion of this famous disaster covers bigoted directors, children as plot tokens, the concept of suspense, the critic as pathologist and angry cycling.

Below are a trailer, Radiohead’s Wicker Man-inspired video for Burn the Witch and Andrew Ellard’s Video Notes on Quantum of Solace, as mentioned by Simon.