Film Fives

After an extended delay, Russ and Phil are finally back (better late than never!) to give you their takes on the vast array of new films released in the UK in the last calendar year. It’s not quite an impossible mission but I swear it took quite some hours of viewing and we are no sinners and nobody’s fools when it comes to reviewing. So weapons at the ready as we launch one battle after another i...

Well it’s been a while (sorry about that!!!) but we are BACK! and it’s a return also to our decade by decade look at the great film music of the time, which has reached the era of hairspray and synthesisers! So settle in, get your pause button and music streaming services ready and hear what we have to say about the corkers the decade has produced. Film Fives will be back with… …the films of David...

It’s been a while but we are back and as it’s the new year we’ve postponed our film scores by the decade episode until after we’ve had a look back at our favourite films from a busy last year of quality releases. And here they are, courtesy of your hosts Phil and Russ. Film Fives will return with…..Film Scores of the 1980s (we promise it’s true this time!!).

“Have you ever picked your feet in Poughkeepsie?!” That’’s what Gene Hackman wants to know but what about our top picks from the Hackman film canon? Make the Connections, join in The Conversation, decide which are Super and have a Royal old time, otherwise you’ll be Unforgiven! Film Fives will be back with…..Film Scores of the 1980s

Russ and Phil sift through the films that made their fives (and some others that came close) from the episodes covering screwball comedies through to Studio Ghibli inclusive, bestowing their gold, silver and bronze standards to those seminal films deserving of the feted awards gradings, including some awards for music. Film Fives will be back with….the films of Gene Hackman  @FilmFives1 @FilmFives...

Are you talking to me?!  Do I amuse you? Ever since I can remember I’ve always wanted to be a [podcaster 😉] Yes I t’s time for another big one! Phil and Russ take in the lifetime works of the legendary and hugely influential AND INFLUENCED director Martin Scorsese. Heavily inspired by his native New York, Italian-American filmmaker ‘Marty’ has given us some of the great gangster / crime stories o...

Russ and Phil are back and this time they are going Latin to delve into the under-valued but richly served world of South American cinema.  Gangsters, slum culture, imprisonment, shady politics and brutal military regimes all feature heavily in the cinema from this continent and the standard is high! So get on your samba shoes for our first venture into a national cinema theme. Film Fives will bac...

Yes it’s time for Russ and Phil to run the rule over all that cinema (and streaming) had to offer us in 2023 and to reveal their favourite fives from a long and strong list of delights! Film Fives will be back with….. ……South American Cinema @filmfives @filmfives1 

Ho ho ho! Yippee kayay Merry Festives! It’s finally time to get our turkey-tearing teeth into the most distinctive of all sub genres, the Christmas film. What exactly IS a Christmas flick and which deserves to sit atop our respective Christmas trees.  So turn on the fairy lights, heat up the mulled wine (but do NOT try that horrendous eggnog nonsense!) and listen in to our hymns to festive cinema...

John Williams, Nino Rota, Jerry Goldsmith. Some of the greats of film music amongst those under the spotlight and under discussion in Russ and Phil’s latest Film Fives countdown. Galaxies far, far away, gangster dynasties, disco dancing devils, eavesdroppers, duke box boy racers, cut-nosed private eyes, bridges too far and ticking-time-bomb Vietnam vets!?! Film Fives will be back with…… …..Christm...

“Whadya hear, whadya say!?! Don’t be a sucker, big an’ good lookin’!” Have a listen to this our latest FF episode, focusing on the acting colossus  that was the late, great James Cagney…he of the great gangster flicks, but also entertaining screwball comedies and musical stories.  Find out which films and in which order Russ and Phil have selected as their fives for the man the great Orson Welles...

So here we are! The countdown to Russ and Phil’s top Kubrick flicks continues. Which of the great man’s masterpieces will top their lists? Whether you use the password ‘fidelio’, axe your way through the door or simply call up Mandrake in The War Room to find a solution, enter within! Film Fives will be back with…. …..James Cagney @FilmFives1 @FilmFivesPod

Russ and Phil are back to tackle one of cinema’s true titans: Stanley Kubrick. A technical and creative master, a perfectionist and a true auteur, Kubrick produced an incredible body of technically proficient and brilliantly realised work across a number of genres and rightly takes his place amongst the true greats of the visual arts! So how did your intrepid film pod pair eventually settle on the...

Russ and Phil have watched scores of films released in the UK in 2022 (according to IMDB) and here’s what they reckon to it all!  They count down their top fives and give honourable mention to those that just missed the mark.  Film Fives will be back with….Stanley Kubrick 👍 🎥 🎙️

Phil and Russ are rejoined by guest Robin Woolley to turn their collective slapstick gaze towards the longer of Stan and Ollie’s classic pictures - the feature film. More japes, collapsing props and long stares abound, this time complemented by cases of mistaken identity, escape to the French Foreign Legion and scrapes with gangsters, amongst other shenanigans.  Film Fives will be back with…Films...

“Well that’s another nice mess you’ve got me into!”. Yes it’s time for collapsing beds, cars, roofs, hats and boats plus eye-poking, butt-kicking, nose-twisting, face-caking and water-drenching antics galore as we welcome first rate slapstick comedy duo Stan and Ollie to our attentions in the first of two episodes focusing on the enduring legends of early Hollywood comedy. In this 18th countdown o...

Doeful-eyed young protagonists, high adventure, aviation-based shenanigans, craggy-faced crones of various motivations, Bogartian pigs, airborne pirates, giant mechanical bagpipe-shaped walking castles, mysterious creatures of various descriptions and an array of princesses. Yes it’s the wonderful world of Ghibli! Thanks largely to chief animators Miyazaki and Takahata, audiences / viewers have fo...

Phil and Russ are back after a bit of a break to pick up on the Film Scores of the Decade theme, this time focusing on the 1960s. Spaghetti westerns, Bond films, biblical or desert-based epics, war films, thrillers, Italian cinema or a bit of Henry Mancini! Who knows what’s made the Top 5s? One way to find out! @filmfives1 @FilmFivesPod Film Fives will be back with…. ….Studio Ghibli films

We have a plan, we’ve assembled a crew, we are ready for the double crosses and snags, now let’s do the job! Yes it’s time for our 15th podcast outing (pouting?) and time to turn our attentions to our latest ‘mark’…the heist movie. Russ and Phil talk through their top 5s amidst furious debate on the finer details of the stipulated defining criteria. Which pics will crack the safes and get away wit...

Phil and Russ are back with another director focus, counting down their favourite fives from the works of legendary classical Hollywood auteur Billy Wilder, the maker of some of the studio system era’s greatest ever productions. There’s 4 nailed on masterpieces but in which order will they fall and which other quality picture(s) will make the cut?! Lights, microphones….action! Film Fives will be b...

This time around it’s time to focus on the career of American actor Frances McDormand. “Yaaa? Yaaa!”. So as soon as you’ve passed those three billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri, park up your vee-hicle and settle back for a couple of hours in the company of your regular film nomads Russ and Phil as they count down their top 5s, in the usual style. “You alright, Marge?” “Nope, think I’m gonna barf!...

It’s time for our second soirée into the films of a calendar year with our look back to the best of UK releases in 2021. Amidst the return to widespread blockbuster releases post pandemic lockdowns, such as Dune and Bond, there were many more lesser profiled titles which made their way onto cinema screens and streaming services that thrilled, delighted, engrossed and enthralled film viewers and he...

After an enforced break due to a madly busy period across the turn of the year, the boys are back Zooming and quaffing as they work their way through their respective top 5s on the theme of, well, themes (and scores). Yes it’s Film Scores of the 1950s and what a densely rich feast of tunesmanship there is to peruse. It hasn’t been easy but Russ and Phil have fine-TUNED their fives after much delib...

Innuendos, quips, gadgets, beautiful ladies, iconic title sequences and songs, a great theme tune, great scores, stunts, padded double doors in MI6 interiors, vodka martinis (shaken, not stirred), classic opening scenes, closing scenes, throwing hats on coat hooks, flirting with secretaries, card tables, arch villains and henchmen and then there’s those stunning Ken Adams sets for good measure. Ye...

Get ready to be knocked into a cocked hat by the chaos of a Katherine Hepburn character and overwhelmed by rocket speed repartee as we delve this time into the sub genre world of the magnificent classic screwballs of the 30s and 40s. Cary Grant, Frank Capra, Preston Sturges, William Powell, Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable, Howard Hawks and leopards. It’s all here and more! Film Fives will be back with…...