Verbal Diorama

Once upon a time, there was a prince. His name was Neil Gaiman. He wrote a book called Stardust. He wished upon a fallen star for it to be excellent, be directed by the extremely talented Matthew Vaughn and star some of Hollywood's all time greats plus a league of British comedic talent and a young up-and-coming actor called Charlie Cox. His wish came true. He lived happily ever after. The end. St...

2016's Passengers, starring Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence and Hollywood heartthrob Chris Pratt should have had an easy journey to sci-fi greatness. Its script was championed in the 2007 Hollywood Black List, it enticed an Oscar nominated director and Sony believed in it so much they upped the budget to $120 million. There was a lot riding on the success of the Starship Avalon's 120-year voyage to...

"When you doubt your powers, you give power to your doubts." I'm joined by the mysterious and manly Andy from Geek Salad to discuss whoever smelled it dealt it, disco not being dead and clouds of radically fluctuating deviant chaotrons. With a huge and established cast of great 90s comedians and character actors as the Six Very Nearly Dead Guys With a Temporary Reprieve, 1999's Mystery Men had eve...

Can't even shout, can't even cry The Gentlemen are coming by Looking in windows, knocking on doors They need to take seven and they might take yours Can't call to mom, can't say a word You're gonna die screaming but you won't be heard. Happy Halloween! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podscribe - https://p...

Never judge a book by its cover. We're told that as children and throughout life, and yet we all still do it. We all revert to those tired stereotypes that blondes are dumb, ice-cold or overtly sexual bombshells who steal husbands. The truth is, although those tropes have been around in movies since the 1930s, change is coming. And whilst that change didn't start with Legally Blonde, it was defini...

Edge of Tomorrow is not just your typical action sci-fi Edge of Tomorrow is not just your typical Tom Cruise action sci-fi Edge of Tomorrow is not just your typical Tom Cruise action sci-fi with time loops Edge of Tomorrow is not just your typical Tom Cruise action sci-fi with time loops where he dies spectacularly and hilariously every single time. Edge of Tomorrow is an Emily Blunt action sci-fi...

Hugh Jackman's swansong as Wolverine is nothing like any superhero comic book movie ever. It's a brutal, gory, painful look at the life of an ageing hero, a man whose life consists of numbing his pain with booze whilst caring for a frail, elderly, dementia suffering Charles Xavier. You feel every inch of their suffering and vulnerability in a world where mutants are no longer born and where Charle...

Have you seen that movie by Edgar Wright? Shaun of the Dead? I love that movie. No, the other one. Hot Fuzz - I always quote it! No, neither of those, the one with the young lad as the lead Baby Driver! Oh my god, such a cool movie, great soundtrack None of those! The other other other other Edgar Wright movie! The World's End? Get out! If this conversation has happened to you, you're not alone. S...

If you've downloaded this because you've seen The Iron Giant - big pat on the back and well done for doing so! Take a listen as I go on an almighty rant about why people under-appreciate animation and why The Iron Giant contradicts the myth that animation is just for children, whilst also being a master-class in animation, theme, characters and voice talent. If you've downloaded this because you h...

There were lots of fantasy movies which came out in the 80s. Flash Gordon, The Dark Crystal, Krull, The Neverending Story, Legend and Labyrinth to name a few. None were, however, as sweet-natured, innocent and kind as Willow, with a marvellous central performance from a mature beyond his years teenage Warwick Davis. (He was actually 17 during filming, not 18 like I say in the episode.... ooops!) Y...

Jarsoomians! Welcome to Barsoom Airlines. Exits are here, here, here and here. Please fasten your seat belts, there's a lot of turbulence on our journey and honestly we're all in for a bumpy ride to visit John Carter (of Mars). John Carter, fictional hero of the American Civil War and of Edgar Rice Burroughs' popular Barsoom series of novels should have had an easy road to Hollywood glory. His nam...

What is The Matrix? No one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. I would love to hear your thoughts on The Matrix! You can get in touch on Twitter  @verbaldiorama Instagram  @verbaldiorama Facebook  @verbaldiorama or you can email me general hellos, feedback or suggestions: verbaldiorama@gmail.com You can rate or review the show in iTunes or at  Apple...

 I... I may not be an explorer, or, or an adventurer, or a treasure-seeker, or a gunfighter, Mr. O'Connell, but I am proud of what I am! I….. am the girl who really really loves The Mummy. Wholly, completely, absolutely despite its flaws, I love it. I can watch it every damn day. It's the perfect mix of action, adventure, romance, comedy and horror, with peak Brendan Fraser and perfect Rachel...

Good morning Angels. Good morning Charlie! Three, is the magic number. You have three blind mice, three little pigs and you always, always have three Angels. Three extraordinary women who work for one man, Charles Townsend, played by three extraordinary actresses. Drew Barrymore and her production company Flower Films had a vision for a Charlie's Angels movie; she wanted it to be fun, campy and in...

The Phoenix will rise..... But will she, though? I'm joined by ChinLin from The Bingeables Podcast to talk about the final part of Fox's landmark X-Men franchise, which started in 2000 and all but kicked off the modern fascination with superheroes. There's been sequels, prequels, spin-offs and now this, an(other) adaptation of one of the X-Men's most well known and loved story lines: The Dark Phoe...

Yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for us. Gaaaah me hearties! Ahoy there! This be Em and I be joined by me co-captain for this voyage across the seven seas, Sade from Offscreen Babble. It might be trifle bad luck to have women aboard yer ship, but avast! We batten down the hatches to reach that horizon, stoppin' off on islands filled with Aztec gold and copious amounts of rum, where we will always remem...

So, this is a little bonus episode I did after watching 2019's Aladdin and inevitably compared it to 1992's Aladdin; the movie I watched the most as a child. Spoilers for the new 2019 Aladdin (although to be honest, if you know the 1992 movie, you should really know the rough plot - it's very similar!) I also go into the production history of 1992's Aladdin, and the legacy of Robin Williams incred...

Pop quiz hotshot. There’s a podcast in your ears. Once that podcast reaches 8 episodes a guest is introduced. If that guest chooses the best action thriller movie, this podcast blows up (and by that we mean figuratively rather than literally!) What do you do? What do you do? Turns out you do a lot, for a long time and then take ages to get it out of the door. Trust me, I understand the irony of a...

So, you have this girl, probably a virgin but always beautiful and occasionally really stupid. She's in a slasher movie, so you know she's going to run towards danger, ignore all the signs of the monster and probably witness all her friends being slaughtered. She's the final girl. She'll probably survive to star in your sequel. But what if there was a movie that wanted to deconstruct all the trope...

Ahh, the 1950s. A time of tradition; where fathers were the breadwinners and worked the 9 to 5, mothers were homemakers and caregivers and children were obedient. Men ruled the roost, women ruled the kitchen and children were seen and not heard. Are you looking for the ideal place to raise your nuclear family? Choose Pleasantville! An idyllic black and white utopia with no sex, drugs, rock and rol...

Most movies contain some blue screen in some way (some, green!). If your movie is full of complex special effects, or set on some vast, wholly imagined alien world, you need that blue (or green) screen to be able to insert those computer generated backdrops, with your actors in the foreground pretending to be in that world. In the early 2000s, brothers Kerry and Kevin Conran had an idea..... what...

Miracles don't happen every day, especially in Hollywood. If something is too complicated, they'll make it easier. If something goes over budget, they'll cancel it. If it's too raunchy, they'll tone it down. You get the picture. Making a movie; a good movie, is hard in any town, but especially in Toontown. This ain't no fairy-tale; it's a story of sex, violence, murder and patty cake. Why don't yo...

It's not every day that you see a movie described as "a glorious ballad of bloodshed". Yeah, that's how I would describe Dredd and I did on this very podcast! I bet you're thinking of Stallone right now.... well get Sly out of your head because this Dredd is better, bloodier and more faithful to the source material than the 1995 version, and all the better for it. It's got a great score, great per...

SURPRISE! This is not episode 2. Well it is, but it also isn't, because episode 2 is about [redacted] and this is about Captain Marvel. I did a little minisode on Captain Marvel and how I felt about it after seeing it. The "real" episode 2 will be out shortly, but in the meantime have a listen to why I loved Captain Marvel so much. Let me know your thoughts on Captain Marvel too: Twitter @verbaldi...

Welcome to the first episode of Verbal Diorama! In this inaugural episode, I discuss the movie that literally sunk Fox Animation Studios; the groundbreaking and risk-taking Titan A.E.; a movie that's rich in history and legacy, as well as infamous for being one of the biggest financial flops of all time. *Hint* It's actually not a bad movie, I liked it, but it does have issues! I also briefly talk...