Hell of a Picture

Had enough Dune, yet? You have? Well, too bad cause we haven’t. The guys went purposely long last week in their discussion of Dune, parts one and two, so this week we wrap up our own two-parter with the finale of that talk. As everyone knows, the superior part of any to-be-continued episode of television was the second half, which means today we present you with the best of the rest of Dune: colon...

Strap on your stillsuit and brush up on your sandwalk ‘cause it’s Dune time, baby! That’s right, the boys sit down together for a long talk on the 2021 and 2024 films, Dune part one and Dune part two. Dave opens the show with a record setting rundown and tells us about Frank Herbert, author of Dune and all-around interesting dude. Andrew notes that HOAP seems to have a type, and that type is novel...

Arachnophobes beware, this week on HOAP the guys are talking about the 2013 Denis Villeneuve surrealist picture, Enemy. Andrew and Dave open by talking about the rarity of surrealism in feature films and why a movie sometimes shouldn’t give us what we want. They discuss the cyclical nature of despotism, the penchant we all have for repeating our mistakes, and how all that relates to giant spiders...

You thought we were done questioning what’s real? Pffft, get real. Andrew and Dave enjoyed talking Blade Runner so much last week they decided to get right back on the unicorn with the 2017 sequel, Blade Runner 2049. They open the show talking about the burden of the original and the thin line a legacy picture must walk. Andrew gushes over the cinematographer he never knew was always his favourite...

Hell of a Picture is coming to the end of this rabbit hole. But no discussion on what is real would be complete without a dip into the 2007 final cut of the 1982 Ridley Scott classic, Blade Runner. Confused yet? The guys open by giving some background on cyberpunk and how Blade Runner became the visual benchmark of the genre. Andrew lays out the painstaking efforts of the prop and set team forced...

Continuing on their mind bender, Andrew and Dave are off to Mars with the 1990 Paul ver Hoeven and Arnold Schwarzenegger picture, Total Recall. They talk about the film as a last bastion of (almost) pure practicals, with heaps of praise lauded on the character effects team. Dave tells us about the vast network of tunnels connecting the soundstages, and goes big on the film’s use of miniatures. And...

Get ready for a soft turn as the boys ease out of 90’s summer blockbusters and into reality-benders with the blockbusting, reality bending, 90’s classic The Matrix. The guys discuss the ways in which the movie has evolved since its release, with Andrew talking about how the film’s comments on identity have expanded, and Dave lamenting the misappropriation of its ideas and imagery. They opine on wh...

Hold on to your cows and let go of your damn doors ‘cause it’s Twister time, baby! That’s right, with Twisters hitting theatres, Andrew and Dave figured there was no better time to talk Twister, the 1996 Jan de Bont disaster flick (as if there’s any other kind of Jan de Bont flick). The guys open with some clarifying thoughts on last week’s decision regarding the Rock, admitting to some misgivings...

The boys are back in town! Well, one of them is. The other one actually lives in the town in question, and the one who doesn’t is home for a holiday and - forget it. It doesn’t matter. Andrew and Dave are in the same room this week and they’re talking about The Rock. That’s right. Rock talk!  Andrew drops a bomb on us about who was initially slated to play the role of Stanley Goodspeed, Chemical W...

The boys of summer are back and so are their movies. This week, Hell of a Picture kicks off a series of 90’s summer blockbusters, and we’re busting the block wide open with the 1996 mega-hit, Independence Day. The guys reminisce on the VHS days of yore and don’t even try to hide their sentimental relationship with the movie. We are treated yet again to a dose of the craft as both Andrew and Dave g...

This week Andrew and Dave conclude their three act examination of Greta Gerwig with the 2017 film Lady Bird. The guys lavish praise on our lead character played by the extraordinary (and finally pronounceable) Saoirse Ronan. They laud her performance as a refreshing contrast to the usual archetypes of teen movies and place the film’s depiction of adolescence among the all time greats. Andrew looks...

After the sensory overload that was Barbie, the boys take a sharp turn on the Gerwig superhighway with the comparatively muted, Little Women. Dave laments his reticence to watch this type of movie and finds an odd joy in a period piece that isn’t entirely British, while Andrew gives masterclasses in both Meryl Streep impersonation and the pronunciation of Saoirse (Sur-shuh).  The boys talk about m...

With Nolan in the books, Andrew and Dave start a new directorial series with Greta Gerwig and the 2023 phenomenon, Barbie. Like the rest of the internet, the guys can’t help but discuss the movie as a contrasting piece to Oppenheimer, noting the wild disparity in tone, colour, as well as bespoke song and dance numbers. Dave goes wild for the unrelenting satire of the film, and finds a lot of himse...

This week Andrew and Dave round out the Nolan trio with the 2023 film Oppenheimer. Andrew tells us about the lengths Nolan went to in shaping the technical mould of the film and, in doing so, reveals that Kodak still exists. Dave wishes that Oppenheimer had listened to his wife, Kitty, and told people to piss off (like Tiger should have) while lamenting what could-have-been with the performance of...

This week, after the claustrophobic grit of Following, Andrew and Dave find themselves in a whole different dimensional bookshelf with Interstellar. Dave opens talking about how his experience with the movie has changed since he last saw it based on shifting cultural tides, while Andrew speaks candidly and shares a moving personal story about why, for him, Interstellar will never change. The guys...

After the thrilling conclusion of their Spielberg trio, the guys get into a treble from the director many consider the heir apparent: Christopher Nolan. To get to the heart, they start from the start (shoutout to rock legends Loverboy) with Nolan’s first feature film “Following”. Andrew and Dave ask if a despicable lead character can still be sympathetic, wonder to what extent this film is based o...

This week Dave and Andrew round out their three-part Spielberg series with the semi-autobiographical film The Fabelmans. They revel in the joy of a young man making his first movies, talk about life as a series of pictures in motion, and wonder “what’s the deal” with sexy Jesus? The guys pontificate on the power of film, its ability to say what we sometimes can’t; its truth, its lies, and its awes...

In episode two, Andrew and Dave tour Jurassic Park. They take opposing views on its merits as a companion piece to Jaws, talk about who Spielberg is in 1993 versus 1975 and how that informs his choices as a filmmaker; and wonder who the real villain in all this is. Spoiler alert, for once it’s not peer pressure.  The guys give props to the practical effects and opine on the movie as a commentary o...

This week the guys are watching Jaws. They praise a mechanical shark and deride the real ones; discuss the impact of Jaws on how, and when, movies are released; and ruminate on what the shark means to each of us. It’s like a Secret Garden thing, we think.  Andrew lauds Spielberg’s manipulation of tension and slow reveal of the monster, whilst Dave blows the whistle on fake harmonica playing in fil...

Have you ever wondered what makes a Hell of a Picture? No? We’re willing to bet that you have, just probably not in those terms. A Hell of a Picture is a movie or film that is truly unforgettable. But what makes them that way? Why do they stand out amongst the panoply of cinematic history? Why do we love them so much? And is there really any distinction between a picture, a movie, and a film? Toug...