Shoot The Hostage

It’s the penultimate episode in Sarah’s Coming of Age season of movies and as we inch closer to the finish line, Sarah thought it was high time for a British drama. This week we’re talking Shane Meadows This is England (2006.) We get into the context of the film, the cultural happenings of the 70’s and 80’s in the UK which caused the divides depicted in the film. We talk about the cast including S...

In the latest episode in our Coming of Age season, we’re diving into the wildly chaotic world of teenagers with Thirteen (2003). Directed by Catherine Hardwicke and co-written with then 14-year-old Nikki Reed, who also stars alongside Evan Rachel Wood. We chat about the themes of identity, family dynamics, addiction and why Jeremy Sisto has a chicken. Would you like to see the full lineup for seas...

We’re sticking with Coming of Age movies for a few more weeks yet and this time, we turn to Elem Klimov’s disturbing war film, Come and See (1985). Exploring the atrocities that occurred in WW2 Belarus through the eyes of a young boy, this could be the most important coming of age movie ever made. We talk about some of the things that could lead to the kind of brutality depicted in this film and h...

We hath returneth for the fourth episode in our coming of age season with Moonlight (2016). We talk Barry Jenkins, Tarell Alvin McCraney, coming of age (obviously) and the cast. This isn’t the first A24 movie we’ve covered on the show and it will certainly not be our last. Mahersherala Ali’s Taste The Revolution Would you like to see the full lineup for season 8? The only place we announce our sch...

Coming of Age season continues with Ginger Snaps (2000). It’s very important to note that we are discussing the film Ginger Snaps and not the snack Ginger Snaps. Mistakes were made. Our third Coming Of Age film finds us discussing director John Fawcett, writer Karen Walton and the development of the Ginger Snaps film. We touch briefly (but don’t spoil) the two sequels where Dan has an Earth-shatte...

Join us for our second week of Coming-of-Age films, as we discuss Rob Reiner’s Stand By Me (1986). The second episode also happens to be another Stephen King adaptation after covering Carrie last time. This week we talk about the horror writer/dreamweaver himself Stephen King and some of his adaptations (of which there are about 4 million). We also discuss Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman...

We are back with a brand new season. The theme this time is of Sarah's choosing and she's gone for Coming of Age. What's the first film we're covering you ask? Well, it's Brian De Palma's classic teen coming of age horror, Carrie (1976). We talk about other interpretations of Stephen King's original (and first) novel and some of the reasons behind the creative decisions. We also wonder if this was...

Last week we released our thoughts on Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis over on our Patreon feed. But as it's time for our traditional between season bonus show, we thought we'd post it on the main feed too.  We do spoil this one (if you can) and recommend (but not really) seeing it before listening to the episode.  Would you like to see the full lineup for season 8? The only place we announce ou...

On October 21st we begin our brand new season with the theme, this time, being Sarah's choice. The first film we're talking is Carrie (1976) in Sarah's season of Coming of Age films. As usual, we'll be covering 8 movies that Sarah thinks fit into that theme.  Would you like to see the full lineup for season 8? The only place we announce our schedule is over on Patreon and you don't even need to be...

We concluded Dan's season of films about dreams with A Nightmare on Elm St 3. What did we think of the season? Was Dan happy with his selection? Was Sarah happy with Dan's choices? Would we swap any? These are a few things we pondered on our season 7 wrap show, which is available in full over on our £3.00 a month Patreon tier.  We'll be back on October 21st with a brand new theme. Look out for the...

We’re back for one last episode in our season of movies about dreams and what better way to cap the season than with an Elm St movie. This week we’re talking A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987). We dig into the creatives behind the production and make connections with previous episodes (we’re looking at you Dreamscape ). We also discuss Wes Craven, the effects, killer lines and why...

Welcome back to another episode of Shoot The Hostage! This week, we dive into the labyrinthine world of Christopher Nolan’s Inception. Join us as we dissect the dreamscape and the dream within a dream within a dream. We also talk story development, production, and why you should always listen to Ken Watanabe. Dan might also have some wild fan theories about how Inception could share a universe wit...

This season we’re covering movies about dreams and has we had 2 movies on the bounce that had the word dream in the title, this week Dan’s choice is a little more tenuous. To divulge any other information on that would be to veer into spoiler territory, and we wouldn’t want that. These are our thoughts on The Thirteenth Floor. We talk a little about the source material and how that has influenced...

Welcome back to another episode in our season about films and dreams. Sometimes those two things have been loosely connected this season but there is no ambiguity this time. Today we’re discussing our 2nd David Patrick Kelly movie (check out our The Warriors show), Dreamscape from the glorious year of 1984. The year that bought us so many of our favourite films. Is Dreamscape one of them?! We disc...

We’re back with another episode in our season of films about dreams. This week we’re turning once again to Nicolas Cage in the Kristoffer Borgli film, Dream Scenario. The last time we spoke about Cage was for our Con Air episode and his turn as Paul Matthews in Dream Scenario couldn’t be more different than Cameron Poe. Not a furry bunny in sight in Dream Scenario. We talk about our first impressi...

For the third episode in our line-up of movies about dreaming, we take it back to the 1990's with the Alex Proyas written and directed Dark City (1998).  Did we mean to cover two William Hurt movies in a row? Is Lost in Space next? How did he get that Accordion? What did we think of the performances? Does the Neo-noir element of Dark City still hold up? Did Richard O'Brien let Alex Proyas have 30...

Sticking with our season of films about dreams, we turn our head to Ken Russell for the 1980 Sci-Fi/Horror Altered States.  What do we think the visual elements of this film mean? Did John C. Lilly talk to Dolphins? Why did Paddy Chayefsky and Ken Russell fall out? How did a pair of Betty Boop socks convince the cast to be in the film? Why is this in a season of films about dreams? All will be rev...

Come True (2020) is a Horror/Sci-Fi written and directed by Anthony Scott Burns and is the first movie in Dan's season of movies about dreams.  Find out what we think it means, hear us gush about the sound and question if slippers are hard wearing enough for miles of walking on tarmac. Actually we don't discuss footwear at all, that's just one of the notes we didn't talk about. To be fair, there a...

It's that time again. Yes, it's just 1 week before we begin our brand new season so it must be time for a bonus show. This time we thought we would release our Twisters show on the main feed which we dropped over on our Patreon last week.  We go a little spoilery on this one although some would argue that there really isn't that much to spoil. Find out what we thought of Twisters and what was unde...

On August 5th we begin our brand new season with a theme chosen by Dan. This time he's gone for dreams. There are a number of ways to interpret the theme and we have an eclectic mix of movies to talk about over the 8 weeks. We begin with Come True (2020) which drops on 5th August.  Would you like to see the full lineup for season 7? The only place we announce our schedule is over on Patreon and yo...

Our Barbarian show marked the end of Sarah's season of trapped films. But fear not, we still have our wrap show which is available in full over on our Patreon . We'll be back on August 5th with a brand new theme. Look out for the season 7 trailer coming next week and at the same time, we'll drop our season lineup for free members of our Patreon. So make sure you sign up for that to stay up to date...

This week we're covering our most recent movie yet. We sit down to talk about Zach Cregger's Barbarian (2020). We talk about the Writer/Director's inspiration for Barbarian, the unusual changes in tone and how it all fits together.  Sadly, this is the last episode of the season but we'll be back on the main feed with a brand new season on August 5th. If you can't wait until then, check out our Pat...

The Breakfast club is considered by many to be the peak of the John Hughes gold rush of the 80s. Everyone has a favorite John Hughes movie. But where does The Breakfast Club stand in our opinion? Come and find out. We also talk about why Andrew is taping buns together (Dan learns what buns are), Bender’s unacceptable behavior and the fan theory that suggests the entire movie takes place in Allison...

This week we're talking Dogtooth (2009) from Writer/Director Yorgos Lanthimos. In an uncommon scheduling coincidence, this episode ties in with the release of his latest film, Kinds of Kindness, which we'll no doubt cover on our Patreon feed.  But for now, come listen to us discuss what it all means. Why does Yorgos insist on making his audience feel uncomfortable? Is that the point? Why is Rex? S...

This week we delve into Brandon Cronenberg's film Possessor (2020).  We discuss the complex themes, brilliant visual effects and motivations of the main characters.   Season 6  runs until 8th July 2024. For the full season line-up head over to our  Patreon  page and become a free member.  If you like what you hear, please rate and review us on your podcast player of choice. It can be as easy as ra...