Cinema Effect

For our first episode covering a TV show, we discuss Season 3 of HBO's Westworld. We've been fans of the series since its inception in 2016, but now this latest season has taken a major shift in setting, away from the park itself and to the real world. To no one's surprise, this season once again loves to confuse and surprise its viewership, by exploring philosophical concepts with our favourite c...

Federico Fellini's 8½ is an incredibly well regarded film which follows a film director struggling to create his next project, while dealing with other personal distractions. The movie is rather abstract in the way in which it explores Fellini's own experiences. It's safe to say that we each felt a little different about this one. Plus, we have some Tenet and Star Wars updates to discuss, complete...

To kick off our monthly franchise episodes, we'll be going through The Matrix movies. Released in 1999, the first film in the series has become a classic in cinema thanks to its iconic visual style and premise. But why would you listen to this show if it isn't real? Isn't it pointless if we are all merely existing within the confines of a computer simulation forced upon us by our A.I. overlords? W...

The Coen brothers' highly acclaimed No Country For Old Men is a film that we are essentially obliged to discuss being a film podcast. Based on Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel, the story centres around characters who are in different ways connected to a simple drug run gone wrong. What follows is certainly memorable. So sit back, relax on the couch, and grab yourself a glass of milk, as we discuss the...

There is no better man to create the ultimate anti-western than Clint Eastwood. After being synonymous with the genre for decades, the director and star of Unforgiven was on a mission to helm a film which challenges how we look at the traditional cowboy adventure. But was old mate Clint successful back in 1992? The answer may not be black or white.

Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is commonly known as one of the most iconic and influential movies ever. Thus, it seemed an obvious choice to discuss it, especially since two of us had never seen the film. So join us as we begin our journey into the realm of Westerns, and debate who amongst us are, in fact, weebs.

Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the most highly regarded directors of our time (Liam forced me to write that!) and his latest film, Phantom Thread, released in 2017. The film showcases a rather twisted romantic relationship between an obsessed dressmaker, and some random waitress. Despite featuring a naturally terrific Daniel Day-Lewis performance, perhaps we think "it's just not very good" (we jus...

Welcome to our second episode. This is usually when shows get a bit of a budget and gain some direction. That probably isn't the case for us. This week we're talking about the 2006 reboot of the James Bond franchise, Casino Royale. Daniel Craig's portrayal of the iconic character launched a new era for the 007 films, which was very much inspired by other attempts to ground franchises in realism at...

In our pilot episode, if you will, we discuss the 2004 film Collateral. Directed by Michael Mann, and starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx, the movie follows a cab driver who gets caught up in a contract killer's one night murder spree. But did we like it? There's only one way to find out.