Julian is joined by Matt Tworek to review 'Alien: Romulus', the latest installment in the long running space-horror franchise. A film that returns to the roots of the franchise, with a much stronger focus on the suspense and atmospheric horror of the 1979 original. But any good Alien movie today isn't complete without at least a little bit of action, ala 'Aliens' and this movie doesn't disappoint in that regard either. All-in-all this is a strong outing in a franchise that has seen a lot of ups and downs over the years. And yes, realizing that this all comes a bit late considering the movie released last month, to make up for the missed time, the guys have also brought a list of their favourite movies featuring aliens (any alien will do, we aren't picky here).
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ToB Interlude - Deadpool & Wolverine
There haven't been many Marvel movies of late that have had the level of anticipation of 'Deadpool & Wolverine'. Not only is it capping of a Deadpool trilogy, it is introducing Deadpool to the MCU, AND it it's bringing back who else but Hugh Jackman as Wolverine for the cherry on top. Plus, with the less than ideal reception to the direction the MCU has taken of late, the expectations were very high for this movie, to say the least. And though we typically preach keeping expectations in check when going into a movie like this, even we had a hard time containing it. Julian and Jeremy unpack every spoilery detail in an in-depth review that covers everything from THAT cameo (you know which one), to whether the movie "saved the MCU", and everything in between.
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ToB Interlude - 2024 Oscars Preview Show
Last year, Julian was forced to look back at the Oscar alone. This was back when Twitter was still called Twitter and they still had a feature called "Spaces". He wondered aloud at that time, "what would next year's Oscars show look like?". Well Fast-forward one year and you have your answer. Things are quite different, for one thing Twitter is now called "X" for some stupid reason, and more importantly Julian is no longer alone. In the spirit of this year's ToB effort to expand the cast and bring more people into the show, he's instead joined by long time friend of the show, Axel Foley from the 'Daily DVR Podcast'. The original format returns as the two hosts take a look at each of the Best Picture nominees before moving into predictions for who they think will take home the hardware, as well as who they think SHOULD win the awards.
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ToB Interlude - The Flash
In what is a somewhat new format for ToB, Julian starts off this episode solo, and is joined by Jeremy mid-stream. Julian, and then also Jeremy, unpack the absolute mess that has been left in the wake of DC's latest box-office bomb. With so much weight of expectations resting on the shoulders of 'The Flash' (thanks a lot Tom Cruise and Stephen King) it may not be a surprise that it wasn't able to reach those lofty heights, but it doesn't make the situation any rosier for WB executives who backed a chaotic lead, shelved 'Batgirl', and spurned Snyder fans, for this flop. The guys discuss the film itself (was it actually any good?), possible reasons it failed financially, and what it means for the future of the DCU.
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ToB Interlude - The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
After the disaster that was the 1993 'Super Mario Bros' feature film it seemed like Nintendo had zero appetite for ever trying that again. Fast forward 30 years and the future of Nintendo franchises making the leap to cinema once again hangs on the hopes of Illumination Studio's 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie'. However, unlike in 1993, the reception to this movie has been much more positive, and even more importantly, it's bringing in the box office revenue, ranking as the most successful animated feature release of all time. But is the movie any good? Julian and Jeremy attempt to answer that question in this week's Tower of Babble Podcast. With decades of internalized Nintendo knowledge and a keen ability to sniff out the good and the bad for this type of adaption, you're in good hands for this spoiler-filled review.
Read MoreToB Interlude - Oscars 2023 + Best Picture Nomination Reviews
The Tower of Babble Podcast has always kept at least one eye trained on the biggest movie awards show of the year. The coverage has come in a variety of forms over the years. We've done round table previews with friends of the show. We've done smaller more intimate affairs with just a 2 movie lovers talking about their favorites from the nominees. We've even done live sessions on Twitter spaces. This year we return to the Twitter spaces format with Julian doing a solo show in which he gives his thoughts on the ceremony itself, before getting into each of the Best Picture nominees with thoughts on the winners from each category sprinkled throughout. What will next year's converge look like?
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ToB Interlude - Avatar: The Way of Water
It’s been over 10 years since we first visited Pandora (I.e. Not-Kansas), but its been worth the wait. Visionary director, James Cameron, has put together an epic sequel that rivals some of his best. Not only have the visuals taken another leap forward, with nearly photo real effects, but the action and story have also taken a big step forward. This is a complete movie (you’d hope so, considering it comes in at over 3 hours long), full of character exploration, in depth world building, family drama, action on a massive scale, and a strong heart and core message. It’s a movie that deserves to be seen on as big of a screen as possible, and yea even the 3D is good. Needless to say, we liked the movie, so please join Julian and Jeremy as they break it all down!
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ToB Interlude - Top Gun: Maverick
We've known about this movie for what seems like a millenium. We got the trailer for it before we knew what a "COVID" even was. Then it all fell apart. 'Top Gun: Maverick', was pushed, and then pushed again, and now finally it's in theatres. And you know what? All those delays were worth it. They must have known they had something good on their hands to wait this long to finally release it in theatres, YEARS after it's original scheduled release. 'Top Gun: Maverick' not only lives up to the original cult classic but rockets right past it. It may very well have the same staying power that the original 1986 film had, and in this modern "content" world we live in, that's saying something. It was a movie 30-something-years in the making and the modern filming technology available to Tom Cruise, and team, today make for something that begs to be seen on the largest screen possible. Join Jeremy and Julian as they absolutely gush over this film. Enjoy!
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ToB Interlude - Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Julian and Jeremy sit down to discuss the first Marvel movie of the year with 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness', which kicks off the summer movie season (hallelujah!). Doctor Strange 2 continues what was started in 'Spider-Man: No Way Home ' and takes us even deeper into the mulitverse (which incidentally also continued Marvel's ability to completely lap DC at these ideas o the big screen). This inevitably brings some mind bending action brought to you by non-other than the legend himself, Sam Rami, with music from Danny Elfman! It's a match made in heaven, that largely delivers on the hype. You could argue that the pacing was a little quick, and it could have done with probably another 30 min of runtime, but when all said and done, Marvel's undefeated streak continued (I guess maybe discounting 'Eternals' for those haters out there), with another very solid entry into their cinematic universe (616!).
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ToB Interlude - The Batman (2022)
It feels like we've been waiting a lifetime for 'The Batman'. It's gone through so many iterations, starting as a solo Batman movie that was to be written, directed and starring Ben Affleck. Next it was Ben Affleck starring with Matt Reeves directing, before eventually Ben stepped away entirely. After that things really started to take a turn, we learned that the sparkling vampire himself, Robert Pattinson, would be putting on the cape and cowl, and that it would stand apart from the DCEU. There were a lot of question marks but once that first trailer premiered at 'DC Fandome' way back in Feb 2020, the wait for the release of this film has been unbearable. Following a few COVID related delays, making the wait even harder, 'The Batman' finally arrived and boy did it deliver! You would be hard pressed to argue that Robert Pattinson's Batman isn't the most comic accurate live-action version of the character we've ever seen. Plus the supporting cast of Alfred, Gordon and Catwoman all feel spot on and fresh. Paul Dano's Riddler is equally as fresh, going as far the other direction from Jim Carrey's interpretation as possible, while bringing a very real and scary menace to the role. Even Colin Farrell's Penguin is amazing! The mystery plot, being driven by a Batman that is for once a great detective, certainly draws from films like 'Seven' or 'Zodiac', but the tone couldn't be a better fit. This is truly a masterpiece of comic book filmmaking. Join Julian and Jeremy as they break it all down and gush over the brilliance.
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