Flixwatcher: A Netflix Film Review Podcast

Emma Kathryn and Paul Costello from The Yearbook Committee Podcast join Flixwatcher to review Emma’s choice Spirited Away. Spirited Away (2001) is an animated Japanese fantasy adventure from Studio Ghibli written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Spirited Away tells the story of 10-year-old Chihiro who enters an enormous bathhouse for Japanese spirits (kami) after taking a short cut on her way to he...

Natalie Jamieson (Bestsellers podcast, BBC Radio 1 & 2) and Genevieve Hassan (Celebrity Catch Up: Life After That Thing I Did podcast) return to to Flixwatcher to review Natalie’s choice In the Heights. In the Heights (2021) is a musical directed by Jon (Crazy Rich Asians) M. Chu and is based on the stage musical of the same name written by Quiara Alegría Hudes and Lin-Manuel (Hamilton) Miranda. I...

Becky Darke (The Evolution of Horror, Don’t Point That Horror At Me and Return to Eerie, Indiana podcasts) and Joshua Tonks (actor and screenwriter, The Latent Image (2022)) join Flixwatcher to review Becky’s choice Cam. Cam (2018) is a psychological horror thriller directed by Daniel (How to Blow Up a Pipeline) Goldhaber. It stars Madeline Brewer as Alice, AKA Lola, a cam girl with ambitions of b...

George Wood and Charlotte Sometimes (freelance film writers) return to Flixwatcher to review Georges’s choice Pom Poko. Pom Poko (1994) is a Studio Ghibli animation written and directed by Isao (Grave of the Fireflies) Takahata. Pom Poko is the story of tanuki, which in Japanese folk lore are magical shape shifting creatures, also referred to as Japanese raccoon dogs which has led to the incorrect...

Neel Bhatt (Empire Podcast) and Lizzie Swindells return to Flixwatcher to review Neel’s choice Crazy Stupid Love. Crazy Stupid Love (2011) is a romantic comedy drama written by Dan (This is Us) Fogelman and directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. It stars Steve Carell as Cal Weaver. A middle-aged man who suddenly finds himself single after his wife Emily, played by Julianne Moore, says she has h...

Rafa Sales Ross (Sight & Sound, i_D, BFI, Total Film, Little White Lies) and Marshall Shaffer (Slant Magazine, Decider, /Film, Marshall at the Movies Substack) join Flixwatcher to review Rafa’s choice Nine Days. Nine Days (2020) is a fantasy drama written and directed by Edson Oda. It explores themes of the meaning of life, existentialism, morality and spirituality. It stars Winston Duke as Will,...

Sarah Collier and Meg Waters (Glamour, Stylist and Little White Lies) return to Flixwatcher to review Sarah’s choice Human Traffic. Human Traffic (1999) is a British-Irish coming of age comedy drama set in Cardiff. It revolves around the lives and specifically one big night out for a group of five twenty-somethings. It launched the careers of John Simm and Danny Dyer and was written and directed b...

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It’s Episode 105! Sam and Louise from the Picturehouse and 90 Minutes or Less Film Fest podcasts return for Sam’s choice The Holiday. The Holiday is a 2006 Nancy Meyers (What Women Want, Something’s Gotta Give) romantic drama/comedy starring Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet as pre-Airbnb home swappers and Jude Law and Jack Black as their respective if not wholly convincing love interests. Set at Chri...

Stephen Carty (BBC Radio Scotland, Radio Times, Empire Magazine) and Simon Williams (You’re Going to Need a Bigger Boat film quiz) return to Flixwatcher to review Stephen’s choice Extraction 2. ​ Extraction 2 (2023) is the sequel to the Netflix 2020 film Extraction. Directed by Sam (Extraction) Hargrave and based on the graphic novel Ciudad by Ande Parks, Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, Fernando León Go...

Genevieve Hassan (Celebrity Catch Up: Life After That Thing I Did podcast) and Natalie Jamieson (Bestsellers podcast, BBC Radio 1 & 2) join Flixwatcher to review Genevieve’s choice Bros: After the Screaming Stops. Bros: After the Screaming Stops (2018) documents the rehearsals for their 2017 reunion shows, 28 years after their last performance. It also gives an insight into their relationship and...

Charlotte Sometimes and George Wood (freelance film writers) join Flixwatcher to review Charlotte’s choice Sicario. Sicario (2015) is the seventh feature film from director Denis Villeneuve. It stars Emily Blunt as Kate Macer, an FBI Special Agent recruited by Josh Brolin’s Matt Graver, a CIA officer, as a technical necessity so the CIA can operate in Mexico, outside the US border. Benicio del Tor...

Lizzie Swindells and Neel Bhatt (Empire Podcast) join Flixwatcher to review Lizzie’s choice Paddington 2. Paddington 2 (2017) sees Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishlaw) having settled into London life with the Brown family, framed for theft and sent to prison (on fairly shaky evidence). While Paddington is in prison, impressing the imposing Knuckles (Brendan Gleeson) with marmalade, the Brown family...

Sean Wilson and Andy Williams from Frame to Frame podcast return to Flixwatcher to review Sean’s choice Young Adult. Young Adult (2011) is a comedy-drama from director Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody, their second collaboration after Juno (2007), who would go onto to make a third film together in 2018 with Tully. Charlize Theron plays Mavis Gary, a 37-year-old divorced alcoholic, she works as...

Meg Waters (Glamour, Stylist and Little White Lies) and Sarah Collier join Flixwatcher to review Meg’s choice Last Night in Soho. Last Night in Soho (2021) is a psychological horror from director Edgar (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) Wright. 1960s obsessed Eloise/Ellie (Thomasin McKenzie) moves to London from sleepy Cornwall to follow her dreams and study fashion at London College of Fashion. She fa...

Stephen Carty (BBC Radio Scotland, Radio Times, Empire Magazine) and Simon Williams (You’re Going to Need a Bigger Boat film quiz) join Flixwatcher to review Stephen’s choice The Equalizer. The Equalizer (2014) directed by Antoine (Training Day) Fuqua stars Denzel Washington as Robert McCall, a former US Marine and DIA officer, now retired and working in an hardware store. On one of his late night...

David Llong and Neil Gregory from We Needed Roads podcast join Flixwatcher to review David’s choice Scream. Scream is the first film in the Scream franchise, released in 1996 it was written by Kevin (Dawsons Creek) Williamson and directed by horror legend Wes (A Nightmare on Elm Street) Craven. It stars Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott, a high school senior who receives threatening phone calls fro...

Sean Higgins (The Sofa Cinema) and Lucy Buglass (Tea-V-Time podcast) join Flixwatcher remotely for a spooky special to review Sean’s choice Halloween. Halloween is the 1978 John Carpenter slasher classic starring Jamie Lee Curtis (in her film debut) as Laurie Strode who is terrorised on Halloween by mental patient on the loose Michael Myers. That is basically the plot! It has inexplicably spawned...

Midsommar is the 2019 second feature film from writer and director Ari Aster. Starring Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor William Jackson Harper and Will Poulter as a group a friends invited to visit Sweden to experience an exclusive midsummer festival. After a family tragedy, the tensions in the relationship between Dani and her boyfriend Christian are out in the open. Despite her obvious fragile mental...

Pravina Rudra (online editor and writer at the New Statesman) and Megan Agnew (news features writer at The Sunday Times) return to Flixwatcher to review Pravina’s choice She’s the Man. She’s the Man (2006) is an American teen romantic comedy. Inspired by Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, in this version Viola (Amanda Bynes), who is pretending to be her twin brother Sebastian so she can play soccer (foo...

Kate Cocker (Everyday Positivity podcast) and Anni Hood (Well Intel Daily podcast) return to Flixwatcher to review Kate’s choice Game On: The Unstoppable Rise of Women’s Sport. Game On: The Unstoppable Rise of Women’s Sport (2023) is a Netflix documentary directed by women’s sport activist Sue Anstiss MBE and Jack Tompkins. The documentary explores the recent growth and population of women’s sport...

Rosie Wilby (The Breakup Monologues podcast) and Sasha Bates (Shrink the Box podcast) return to Flixwatcher to review Rosie’s choice Marriage Story. Marriage Story (2019) is an American drama film written and directed by Noah Baumbach. It stars Scarlett Johansson as Nicole and Adam Driver as Charlie, a married couple brought together by their creative passions but presently experiencing martial di...

Dee and Randa from the Switchblade Sisters Social Club podcast return to Flixwatcher to review Dee’s choice Bridesmaids. Bridesmaids (2011) is an American comedy written by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, and directed by Paul Feig. It stars Kristen Wiig as Annie, Maya Rudolph as Lillian, Rose Byrne as Helen, Melissa McCarthy as Megan, Wendi McLendon-Covey as Rita, Ellie Kemper as Becca, Chris O'Dow...

Elaine and Mark from The Honeymoon Period podcast return to Flixwatcher to review Elaine’s choice Heat. Heat (1995) is a heist drama written and directed by Michael Mann. Its ensemble cast features Al Pacino as Lieutenant Vincent Hanna, LAPD, Robert De Niro as Neil McCauley, Val Kilmer as Chris Shiherlis, Jon Voight as Nate, Tom Sizemore as Michael Cheritto, Diane Venora as Justine Hanna, Amy Bren...

Andy Williams and Sean Wilson from Frame to Frame podcast join Flixwatcher to review Andy’s choice Son of Rambow. Son of Rambow (2007) is a British comedy coming of age film written and directed by Garth (Sing) Jennings. Set over a summer in the 1980s, Will (Bill Milner) is a quiet and shy 11-year-old who lives with his religious family where TV is banned. He meets Lee (Will Poulter), an older and...