ToB Interlude - Alien: Romulus

Julian Meush September 5, 2024

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).

SSSW - The Mandalorian S3 Premiere + The Bad Batch S2E11 "Metamorphosis"

Julian Meush March 6, 2023

The big brains at Disney have decided that for the next 4 weeks, Wednesdays will be Star Wars double-header day, with episodes of season 3 of "The Mandalorian" premiering alongside the ongoing season 2 of "The Bad Batch". It certainly makes for a very fun double-feature for Star Wars fans, but also makes covering those shows on the podcast slightly more complicated. As such, Julian and Rachel will be reviewing both series simultaneously. So look for more 2-part episodes of "Small Screen Star Wars" over the next few weeks. The episodes themselves lacked much of any connecting through-lines (except the inclusion of large space monsters). Mando kicks off with a reset episodes that brings some fun adventure, and The Batch is seemingly back on track with an "Alien" inspired episode that starts the process of looping the main cast back into the wider story.

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Episode 155 - Dune , Godfather 3, and Resident Evil

Julian Meush September 10, 2020

As theatres start to re-open, and production resumes on our most anticipated movies, it could almost feel normal again. That is until you look at the box office numbers for Tenet, or that Matt Reeves’ ‘The Batman’ had to halt production after Robert Pattinson came down with COVID. So in this continually crazy world, Julian, Dan, and Jeremy attempt to make sense out of the latest film and television news. Not the least of which being the exciting trailer for Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’, as well as a live action ‘Resident Evil’ series in the works at Netflix, Ben Affleck returning to the role of Batman, and the ‘The Godfather: Pt 3’ is being recut. The guys also discuss the first few episodes of Amazon’s ‘The Boys’ and look forward at 2021’s DC animated movies. All that and so much more (including an exciting announcement for Patron supporters) on this week’s Tower of Babble Podcast.

Episode 126 - Goodbye Stan Lee

Julian Meush November 19, 2018

On this week’s show the guys unpack the Detective Pikachu trailer, discuss the official name and lineup of Disney’s streaming service, Disney+, dive into episode six of Titans and so much more. But unfortunately, it’s not all fun and games, as Julian, Daniel and Jeremy also look back on the legacy of Stan Lee after his passing.

Episode 101 - Comic-Con and More

Julian Meush July 27, 2017

What a crazy time of year. With D23 leading directly into San Diego Comic-Con the news just pours in. Luckily Julian, Daniel and Jeremy are all back together to unpack it all for you. Starting with the Emmy nominations then moving into a Disney heavy movie news segment. The guys also discuss some new Young Justice details as well as break down the rumour of a possible N64 Classic. All that and so much more in this week's Tower of Babble Podcast.

Episode 97 - Pre-E3 News

Julian Meush June 6, 2017

Julian, Jeremy and Daniel are all back this week as they cover as much news as possible before the deluge of E3 comes crashing down next weekend. Starting with movies the guys discuss the shakeup behind the scenes of Justice League, the casting of Tom Holland as a young Nathan Drake and Jeremy gives a brief review of Wonder Woman (spoilers: he liked it). On the TV front; Netflix's new cancellation strategy and the finales to the DC CW shows are discussed. Finally, leading into E3 there isn't much gaming news but that doesn't mean there isn't some kind of controversy to create discourse. Farcry 5 was announced and along with it came more than it's fair share of criticism and Julian lays out his thoughts on the whole thing. All this and so much more, including What We've Been Watching and a fresh game of Nerd Association, on this week's Tower of Babble Podcast!

Episode 92 - Iron Fist

Julian Meush March 23, 2017

With Julian now back in the Cayman Islands for, at least, six months the show is back to the Skype setup, but it doesn't take them long to get right back into the swing of things. Starting with a fresh game of Nerd Association the guys discuss the latest from the DCEU, the return of The Matrix, the latest delay of Avatar 2 and all the latest in nerdy movie news. The ToB Crew then revisit another old segment, "Agree of Disagree" (We're still working on a better name), and give their take on whether the film industry has a "bleak" future. Next is some TV talk covering Netflix dumping the five star rating system and some major Star Wars moments on Rebels followed by a brief Games section. To close out the show Julian, Jeremy and Daniel give a preliminary review of Marvel's Iron Fist and have a heated debate on the merits of the PS4 exclusive Horizon: Zero Dawn.

Episode 84 - Nintendo Switch

Julian Meush October 26, 2016

What a crazy week! Only a day after last weeks show came a deluge of some of the biggest geek news of the whole year! Julian, Daniel and Jeremy have had a lot of time to think about what they had to say about the Nintendo Switch announcement, the Red Dead Redemption 2 trailer and, what turned out to be one of the most pleasant of the surprises, the Logan trailer. Of course it doesn't stop there with another exciting instalment of Nerd Association as well as some great Star Wars discussions about the casting of Donald Glover as a a young Lando Calrissian. All this and so much more in this weeks Tower of Babble Podcast!

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Jun 5, 2025

SSSW - Tales of the Underworld

Jun 5, 2025

Lucasfilm Animation has been hard at work on their next major project, 'Maul: Shadow Lord', but they've found the time to deliver another installment in their "Tales of" anthology series. The first ones covering the Jedi and the Empire, they now turn their focus towards the Underworld. However, be warned, this is a bit of a misnomer. Don't expect any crime syndicates or really any large scale criminality here. These 2 mini-arcs instead focus on Asajj Ventress (I know, not the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions the Underworld) as she assists a young Jedi on the run from the Empire, and the origin story of Cad Bane. Which admittedly is closer in line with the criminal underworld concept, but is really more interested in telling a western style revenge story instead. All in all, despite the always great visuals and sound/music design, and few interesting ideas, there's not enough meat on the bone here to satisfy most viewers. But most disappointing is its failure to capitalize on the potential of the Underworld concept.

Jun 5, 2025

May 22, 2025

SSSW/ToB Film Club - Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

May 22, 2025

It's hard to believe that 'Rogue One' premiered nearly a decade ago. At the time, it was fairly well received, considered to be a decent first step into the standalone Star Wars movies, if not a bit messy. As the years passed, we learned more about the production. Gareth Edwards, who retained sole directing credit, was assisted by Tony Gilroy to "fix" the project. Tony went so far as to call it a "corpse" when he came aboard for rewrites and reshoots. It was Tony's inclusion that brought us some of the movies most memorable moments, and ultimately led him to leading the charge on 'Andor', a prequel project that flew under the radar as hits like 'The Mandalorian' hogged the spotlight. With 'Andor' now complete, considered by many to be a masterpiece in storytelling, not just in Star Wars but on television in general, now is the most appropriate time to reexamine the movie that spawned the Cassian-centered prequel series with fresh eyes. 'Andor', which leads directly into the events of 'Rogue One' recontextualizes much of the film, creating a unique viewing experience that pays off a multitude of threads that are brilliantly laid over the two seasons of 'Andor'. It takes the movie, which was already pretty good, and makes it great. Now existing as part of a whole that weaves a cohesive narrative from the nascent moments of the Rebellion all the way through to the destruction of the Death Star in 1977 (the seed that begat ALL Star Wars, and what we appropriately align our Star Wars BBY calendars to). It all feels wholistic and considered when viewed from the broader perspective - an accomplishment that should set a shining example of what Star Wars can and should aspire to.

May 22, 2025

May 15, 2025

SSSW - Andor S2 Finale

May 15, 2025

After only 4 weeks - the blink of an eye - it's all over. The best Star Wars story since the Original Trilogy has graced our screens and left us in awe. These final three episodes weren't able to reach the emotional highs of last week's arc, but that wasn't the goal. Instead, it provides time to look back at what brought us here, and sets the stage for the climax of the story to take place not in this moment, but within the now recontextualized film that birthed all of this in the first place, 'Rogue One'. And while the show may carry Cassian's name on the title screen, it's been the cast of characters we've met along the way that truly elevated this experience. Not to pick favourites, but in particular, Luthen and Kleya, who get an episode all to themselves this week are the standouts. And what an episode it was, as their story which shepherded much of the series came to an end, as we all expected it would have to. Embracing those feelings of closure, in the final moments of the series, as Cassian flies off into 'Rogue One', we are treated to our last glimpses of our heroes and villains. From Dedra to Vel and even Perrin, we are left to consider their fates as the story marches with inevitability into what begat all of this way back in 1977. Will we ever see Kleya, Vel, Wilmon, or Bix again? One can only hope - and rebellions? Well, they're built on hope.

May 15, 2025

May 9, 2025

SSSW - Andor S2 E7 - 9

May 9, 2025

When dealing in the world of prequels, it’s impossible to escape the inevitable - Anakin will fall, Han will win the Falcon, Cassian will die on Scarif. Somehow, in the midst of some of the most thrilling episodes of television ever put to screen, Tony Gilroy and his team found a way to address that impending doom and weaponize it against the audience to induce some of the most gut wrenching and heart breaking moments we’ve yet to see on ‘Andor’ - “There’s some place he needs to be”. At a larger scale, the show continues to outdo itself on a weekly basis, proving that the Star Wars galaxy provides a colour pallet of some of the richest hues from which to paint bold and personal stories. Proving you can go beyond the larger than life stories of heroics and grandeur to human stories of loss and pain and everything in between. That’s without mentioning the deft touch in pulling in themes that resonates with the contemporary while remaining timeless - a feeling that is a staple of Star Wars. Every detail is considered, every character is deep and interesting. There isn’t much more that can be said about such a powerful piece of art, except that not even the audience can escape the inevitable - only one week remains of this masterpiece.

May 9, 2025