Forever Movie Boys

This week the Nicholas (Magellan) and the resident Saw franchise expert Tobias discuss the highly unanticipated Saw X

The FMB have a chinwag about this late 90's Aussie classic starring a fresh-faced Heath Ledger and leather-faced Bryan Brown. Topics covered on the Aussie checklist this episode include: the sincere usage of fair dinkum, memorable Sydney locales and the Yahoo Serious Trilogy. next ep: Saw X

Is it simply the murder that's most foul in Kenneth Branagh's third outing as Inspector Hercule Poirot? Or is it also the fundamental mishandling of the fundamental concepts behind constructing a film that is both coherent and entertaining for the audience? Some mysteries even Poirot cannot solve. next episode: Two Hands

Our hosts, game for some spooky cinema, settle in to watch George C. Scott get harassed by a malevolent ghost and walk away feeling a little underwhelmed. next: A Haunting in Venice

Years after being tremendously impressed with his contributions to the Universal Soldier franchise, the FMB pull out the file on John Hyams and see what the man has been up to.  next ep. The Changeling (1980)

Ben Wheatley's films are back in the hot seat (third time this year!) as two of our usual three hosts sit down and draw some comparisons to last episode's Midsommar and folk/weird horror in general.  next ep: John Hyams' Alone 

Four (four??) years after it's initial release; Ari Aster's Midsommar has crawled its way into the FMB watchlist-  almost as if it was inevitable. Does this apparently foregone conclusion dampen our hosts thoughts about the film? In a manner of speaking, yes. Did any of that just make sense? I doubt it. 

The mere mention of Ben Wheatley having directed the sequel to 2018's underwhelming The Meg is enough chum for the FMB to come sniffing around and see if there's anything to be gleaned from this intriguing union. 

It seems like everyone loves Ken in Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie - but is Ryan Gosling's scene stealing performance truly Kenough? Or could it even Kendanger the stability of the film itself?

The Most Important Movie In The History Of The World is here so the FMB lather themselves in SPF 1000, slap on a pair of Oakleys and sit back to watch the fireworks. 

Ethan Hunt defies death, biological age and the algorithm in the first volume of Tom Cruise's final [citation needed] adventure for the Impossible Mission Force. Does it stand on it's own two feet? Or does it lean too much on its inevitable, hypothetical counterpart to deliver some satisfying storytelling? next ep: Oppenheimer

The FMB summon their collective willpower in order to drag themselves to the cinema and see Disney's latest attempt at flogging some life into a dormant franchise. 

Corbucci gets another lap around the FMB studio as our hosts tuck into arguably his most iconic contribution to the spaghetti western genre, 1966's Django.  Plenty to talk about with this one: loose connections to Yojimbo, medieval aesthetics and a possibly criminal discrepancy concerning the age of our hero's lost love.  next: Indy 5

The energy is always a little different when the FMB are in the same room, and the same goes for when the FMB have a unanimous distaste for the film being discussed - those effects become compounded in this week's episode as our hosts get together and talk Sam Hargrave, Joe Russo and Chris Hemsworth's overblown sequel to 2020's overblown Netflix title, Extraction. 

With a trio of Mario Bava titles now under their belt, our hosts pivot to Sergio Corbucci in their gallavant through Italian genre cinema. Having endured a tepid Spaghetti Western last week, the FMB set their sights on one of the greatest in order to cleanse their palette - The Great Silence. 

They can't all be winners, and the third entry into the FMB's sampling of Mario Bava's career is a bumpy one. He couldn't crack the Western, but the hearts of the FMB have still been marked. 

Part 2 in the FMB's MarioBavathon see's them ponder the ecology of crime with Bava's proto-slasher giallo classic.  

Our hosts, having occasionally dallied into the realm of Italian genre cinema, set their sights on filmmaker Mario Bava in an attempt to deepen their appreciation. First on the table is his 1965 sci-fi horror - "Planet of the Vampires". A good chunk of this episode has the boys attempting to recast the film with Charlton Heston in the lead role. 

The boys + Phil tune back into the Fast and Furious franchise and discuss the first-installment-of-the-possibly-three-part-finale that's bringing this gasoline opera to a close. 

Devon Sawa and the guy that directed Leprachaun 2 give teen movies (and coherent storytelling) the middle finger and a good ol' pantsing with this slapstick stoner comedy that lands almost nothing but has a fun time trying.  next ep: Fast X

As is tradition with the FMB, they just can't seem to stay on task; so in an attempt to continue their hazily-defined venture into 2000's horror they've ended up with experimental filmmaker E. Elias Merhidge's alternate-history vampire flick Shadow of The Vampire on the table. next episode the boys attempts to steer things back with Idle Hands.

Continuing their nebulous foray into 2000's horror, the FMB pivot to another werewolf flick helmed by noted film and tv director Neil Marshall - 2002's Dog Soldiers.  next ep; Shadow of the Vampire

The FMB have decided to embark on an impromptu exploration of late 90's/early 2000's horror and first on the list is 2000's Ginger Snaps. Plenty of verbiage is given to the edgy werewolf horror comedy, but fear not FMBuffs, there's also enough time in the episode for our hosts to slide into some talk about Eric Roberts' Stalked By My Doctor quadrilogy. next episode: Dog Soldiers

Not unlike the titular Donkey at the centre of the Polish film being discussed in the first half of this episode, the FMB cut a wild, meandering conversational path starting with Skolimowski's enigmatic donkey film, leading through Independence Day: Resurgence and finishing up with a spontaneous review of the new All Quiet on The Western Front.  next episode: Ginger Snaps 

The FMB step into the game-to-screen adaptation conversation by talking about the latest attempt to adapt TTRPG giant, Dungeons and Dragons, to the big screen. Some of our hosts walked away pleasantly surprised- others not so much. (insert dice-rolling metaphor here) next ep: EO