Shoot The Hostage

In the penultimate episode of the season, we're diving headfirst into the dark fantasy movie that defined 80s childhoods (for some of us, Dan included, maybe?) but was a complete box-office flop: Labyrinth (1986). Settle in for spoilers, swearing, and probably a tangent or two about where babies go when Jareth steals them. Was it just a logistical nightmare with all those puppets, animals, and bab...

Buckle up because this week on Shoot The Hostage, we're hitting the track with a film that definitely ran out of gas at the box office! Dan and Sarah dive headfirst into the glorious box-office flop that is Driven (2001) We brake down the bewildering plot involving characters played by Kip Pardue, Burt Reynolds, Estella Warren, Gina Gershon (making her second appearance on the podcast) and Robert...

This week on Shoot the Hostage, Dan and Sarah brave the wasteland of cinema history to grapple with the undisputed heavy artillery of our big old floppy flop season, Tank Girl (1995). Be warned, as is tradition, we swear and spoil. Sarah chose this one and frankly, it feels like some kind of revenge after Battlefield Earth.  Released in 1995 this film doesn't just qualify as a flop, it lives in th...

Alright, film fanatics, gather round your audio devices! Dan and Sarah are back on Shoot the Hostage, and this week we’ve finally braved a cinematic experience that’s less blockbuster and more… well, block-bust. We're talking about Martin Scorsese’s 1982 gem (that the world collectively ignored), The King of Comedy. Settle in as we dissect this certified box office flop, a movie so unloved by init...

Damn the man! Save the Nightbreed! This week on Shoot the Hostage Dan and Sarah dive headfirst into the gloriously bonkers world of Clive Barker’s 1990 cinematic oddity, Nightbreed! Based on Barker's own 1988 novella, Cabal, Nightbreed throws us into a world where the real monsters might not be the ones with the gnarly prosthetics. Speaking of gnarly, this film certainly delivers on the creature f...

Get ready folks, because this week on Shoot the Hostage, Dan and Sarah bravely (or stupidly) sat through the cinematic turd known as Battlefield Earth (2000). Yes, that's right, we're diving headfirst into what many consider to be not just a box office flop, but a serious contender for the title of worst movie of all time. If you've ever wondered what happens when you try to adapt roughly 40% of a...

Get ready to "Damn the man! Save the Empire!" because this week on Shoot The Hostage, Dan and Sarah are diving deep into the gloriously messy, utterly 90s, and undeniably flopped cinematic experience that is Empire Records (1995). It’s not quite Rex Manning Day just yet, depending on when you're listening, but we're close enough to celebrate this box-office flop that holds a special, possibly emba...

All aboard the Battle Cat! Dan and Sarah don their Power Swords (which look suspiciously like oversized letter openers) to champion another cinematic misfire! On this day, we tackle the 1987 cinematic flop, Masters of the Universe in another instalment looking at movies that flopped at the box-office! Join us as we take on our first Dolph Lundgren movie and give a standing ovation (from a safe dis...

We’re back for another season of themed movies where this time, we’re focusing on “Flops”! Get ready to lock your doors and check your blood, because this week on Shoot The Hostage, Dan and Sarah are diving deep into the icy paranoia of John Carpenter's 1982 masterpiece, The Thing! After 12 years of podcasting, Sarah's finally talking about what she calls her favourite movie of all time. No pressu...

Before we begin the new season on March 24th, it's time for our bonus show.   We went to see Bong Joon-ho's latest offering, Mickey 17. Join us as we discuss the director, the cast and Mark Ruffalo's teeth. We keep this one pretty spoiler-lite but as always, we recommend watching it before listening. Season 10 runs until May 26th with 10 episodes this time Would you like to see the full lineup for...

Relive the highlights of our Nicolas Cage movie deep dive in this special compilation episode! We're revisiting the best (and weirdest) bits from our discussions on films like Vampire's Kiss, Face Off, the infamous Wicker Man remake, and the surprisingly moving Pig. Expect peak "coming of cage" moments, our takes on Nicolas Cage's filmography, his two-headed snake, and vampire theories. Perfect fo...

Calling all Cage aficionados and connoisseurs of cinematic chaos! Face/Off with us one last time this season as we put a bow on Nicolas Cage with our end of season wrap show. Lend us your ears for a run-down of the eight movies covered this season which were: Vampire’s Kiss The Rock Face/Off Snake Eyes The Wicker Man Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans Mandy Pig We discuss our favourites and...

Shoot the Hostage concludes its Nicolas Cage-a-thon with Pig (2021), a film that proves Nic Cage can do subtle, heartbreaking, and filthy all at once. Join Dan and Sarah as they wade through the truffle-scented forest of Michael Sarnoski's directorial debut, discussing whether this is an anti-revenge movie or Cage: Pig in the City. Expect spoilers as we discuss the film's themes, from grief and lo...

Hello, fellow Cage-o-philes! This week, we're almost at the end of our Nicolas Cage season with Panos Cosmatos’s 2018 hallucinatory masterpiece, Mandy.... Sarah was pushing hard for this one, and Dan caved, so buckle up! In this episode, we're diving deep into the gory, stylized world of Mandy (2018). Expect plenty of Nicolas Cage appreciation, Andrea Riseborough stanning, and Richard Brake love.....

Get ready for another dive into the weird and wonderful world of Nicolas Cage. This time with a bonus Werner Herzog to bring Nic Cage crashing back down to Earth in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009). Is this a remake of the Abel Ferrara movie or was it just a cynical attempt to cash in on a well-known title? What is the plot of this film? IS THERE a plot to this film? Why is Nic Cage...

This week on Shoot a Hostage, Dan and Sarah are diving headfirst into the cinematic mess that is Neil Labute's 2006 remake of The Wicker Man, starring everyone's favorite wild card, Nicolas Cage. You might be asking yourself why we would subject ourselves (and you, dear listener) to such a film, and frankly, so were we. But curiosity, as they say, killed the cat, and in this case, nearly killed ou...

Welcome back for another episode in Dan’s “Coming of Cage” season. This week we’re taking a gamble with Brian De Palma’s 1998 neo-noir thriller Snake Eyes, starring, of course, everybody’s favourite national treasure, Nicolas Cage. Strap in for a ride through Atlantic City as we witness Cage’s charismatic but corrupt detective, Rick Santoro, unravel a sinister conspiracy that goes all the way to t...

This week Dan and Sarah take a deep dive into John Woo's 1997 masterpiece of mayhem, Face/Off. Strap yourselves in as they dissect the film's ludicrous plot, gravity-defying action sequences, and the career-defining performances of Nicolas Cage and John Travolta. Dan makes a valiant attempt to untangle the film's convoluted science while Sarah ponders the logistical nightmare of swapping all body...

Welcome to The Rock! This week Dan is making Sarah watch one of his childhood favourite movies, The Rock (1996) for the second instalment in his “Coming of Cage” season. Tune in to see if Sarah agrees with Dan on this being peak Michael Bay and whether Alcatraz does indeed have a subway underneath. We also talk about the huge cast of actors including Sean Connery, Ed Harris, William Forsythe, Tony...

Coming of Cage! This week on Shoot The Hostage, Dan and Sarah sink their teeth into the batshit world of Vampire's Kiss (1988) starring Nicolas Cage. Is he a vampire? Is he insane? Does he like bats, plastic fangs, and cockroaches? (Yes, he eats a real one). Is Jennifer Beals a figment of his imagination? And did this movie directly inspire Bret Easton Ellis and Christian Bale for American Psycho?...

We started a tradition last year and today we continue that tradition. Yes we're back to talk about the best films of 2024.  Make yourself a drink and strap in for our 2024 end of year show. In a similar format to last year, we talk about the year in film, offer our separate top 5 lists, attempt to come up with a combined top 5 and talk about some of the worst films of 2024. We also take a look at...

As we have reached the end of another year, we thought it would be fun to release a whole episode with some of our favourite moments from recording in 2024.  We covered 5 themes over the year and a total 42 movies. If you avoided any of the episodes for fear of spoilers, fear not, there are no spoilers here. Just a bunch of clips from moments that made us laugh.  We'll be back with our new season...

We will be back with a brand new season very shortly. Join us on January 6th where we begin our journey through 8 Nicolas Cage movies. This here is a little teaser to get you in the mood. The first movie we're covering is Vampires Kiss and in a slight change of format, this time we're going chronological.  Would you like to see the full lineup for season 9? The only place we announce our schedule...

We did it. We made another themed season of movie choices. This time Sarah came up with a list of 8 coming of age movies which we covered over 8 weeks. In the wrap show we discuss the movies we covered, some that almost made the cut, others we watched and the season as a whole. Dan has also prepared some coming of age questions based on the films we watched.  This episode as a preview of our seaso...

For the final episode of our coming-of-age season we dive into the world of rock ‘n’ roll excess, teen angst and 1970’s fashion. Join us as we talk about Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous (2000). We chat about the semi-autobiographical nature and explore it’s coming of age themes, the character complexities and particularly the portrayal of women. We also look at some of Cameron Crowe’s other films in...