The ToB Film Club escapes the 90’s but retreats into the past, and depending on how you look at it, how far back into the past may be an open question. Julian and Jeremy delve into the mystical world of Arthurian legend, and examine director John Boorman's interpretation of this timeless tale. Despite the stunning, and surprisingly literal, portrayal of knights in shinning armour, an epic score, and precise cinematography, the film suffers from some dated decisions. Not the least of which being extremely clunky dialogue, accentuated by overly hokey “medieval” accents, some very clumsy action scenes, and a complete disregard for any type of coherent pacing. Despite these drawbacks, a few strong performances and an extremely unique and “cool” visual style (it begs for a 4K re-release) help drive this movie, even as it seemingly tries with all it’s might to disengage the audience at every turn.
Read MoreToB Interlude - Best of 2016
Just like that another year has come and gone and with it came some amazing entertainment. So with the New Year only a few days away the ToB Crew sit down to discuss the best and worst of the years offerings. Julian, Daniel and Jeremy each pick their top three favourite television shows, video games and movies from 2016 and reflect on the year that was.
Read MoreEpisode 76 - Playstation VR Impressions
Its another two man show this week as Daniel is still on vacation, but the news doesn't stop so the show must go on! We start off, like we always do, by discussing the latest movie news, which in this case, means going over some of the Suicide Squad aftermath. There's a sentiment out there that the DCEU is in real trouble and we try to examine what that really means. We then move into some TV talk and we couldn't avoid another brief discussion on Stranger Things. But that's not all! There's always DC CW news as we move closer to their fall premiers, and this week is no different, as rumours of non other than Joss Whedon potentially directing an episode of Supergirl began to swirl. We end the news segment discussing a few gaming stories including a coming PS4 Firmware update and a new Metal Gear game from Konami. We then cap off the show with Julian's impressions of Playstation VR, as he had a chance to demo a few of the launch games coming to the platform in October. No one in the ToB Crew had yet to try VR so we went into detail talking about the comfort of the headset, motion sickness, the level of immersion, the types of experiences you can expect at launch and much more.
Read MoreEpisode 73 - Post E3 Catch-up
Its been a slow couple of weeks after E3 stole the show. But we've managed to scrape together stories from across the internets and put together another great ToB Podcast for you. Julian Daniel and Jeremy sit down and discuss all things nerdy, starting with the "mea culpa" set visit that WB put together for DC's upcoming blockbuster; Justice League. After that, there'salways some Star Wars news so we breakdown some of the news that came out of EW's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story exposé before moving on to a whole slew of DC CW news. Not the least of which being the casting of Tyler Hoechlin as Superman and the confirmation of Flash Point. We also breakdown all the latest renewals and cancellations across the TV landscape before wrapping up with a chat about the worldwide phenomenon that is Pokemon Go!
Read MoreToB Interlude - DC Comics Rebirth
Its been a few weeks since all three members of the ToB Crew have put out a show. What with all the Game of Thrones finales and our YouTube account termination hubbub. But this week we make good on a promise we made a few weeks back. Julian, Dan and Jeremy are here to discuss DC Comics Rebirth in all its glory. We review issue 1 of Rebirth, breakdown what it means for the DCU and then meander into a discussion about DC's film slate. This episode is also a bit more free form than others as it follows an "after show" format that picks up after our E3 2016 episode.
Read MoreEpisode 71 - Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
This week the ToB Crew reviews Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. The latest title from arguably the most talented game studio in the business, Naughty Dog. The development was wrought with drama, including the exit of Amy Hennig from the studio and The Last of Us directors Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann taking over at the helm. That's without even mentioning several delays, including one only weeks before launch. But after playing it, I'm hard pressed to even remember that turmoil. It's no spoiler to say we all absolutely adored this game and the three of us discuss every amazing detail.
Before any of that however, we of course start by discussing the latest in geek news. We kicked it off with Nintendo, who decided to jump into the movie business and we speculate on which of their properties would make for great cinema. We then touch on a few Marvel stories before moving onto a whole slew of DC news, not the least of which of being Supergirl's move to the CW and the planned four-way crossover planned for next season. All of this and much more in this week's Tower of Babble Podcast!
Read MoreEpisode 70 - Captain America: Civil War
We took some time off but we're back with a big show this week. Captain America: Civil War has been blowing up the box office and the ToB crew is here to throw in their opinion on the latest Marvel blockbuster. But since it's been so long, we also needed to check in with some of the biggest geek news stories we had missed. We give our take on some of the movie trailers that dropped over the last few weeks. Including; Dr. Strange, Jason Bourne, The Killing Joke and of course Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. We also touch on the latest at DC/Warner Brothers after BvS and look forward to whats coming from Marvel. We finish of the news with a chat about the two biggest shooter franchises in gaming, Battlefield and Call of Duty, who both announced their fall games for this year; Battlefield 1 and Call of Duty: Infinite War. Finally, stick around after the show for a new/trial segment thats a bit less structured and allows us to cover some of the smaller stories that didn't quite make the cut for the news feed.
Read MoreEpisode 69 - Daredevil S2
This week in The Tower, we discuss Daredevil season 2 on Netflix. This season we're introduced to the MCU incarnations of The Punisher and Electra now that Matt Murdock has had a full season to settle into his role as the "Devil of Hells Kitchen". Marvel has gone 2 for 2 with their Netflix content so far, can Daredevil keep the streak going?
Read MoreToB Interlude - Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice
"The greatest gladiator match in the history of the world!"
Arguably our most anticipated film of the year, Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice also turned out to be the most divisive; receiving its fair share of criticism, and polarizing online communities. Here at the Tower of Babble Podcast we sat down to explore our impressions of the film and discuss its many controversies. Night versus day, God versus man, these two duelling ideologies always prove to be some of the most riveting material that comic books have to offer and, while these may not be our ideal depictions of beloved characters, BVS did feature the type of action we deserve from Batman and the scale we need from Superman. Drawing inspiration from Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns comic, director Zack Snyder creates a visually stunning and fast-paced story which tries to balance not only the symbology but also the psychology of the two icons, not to mention the various cameos and world building which give the film its subtitle. We were somewhat split over BVS and if the risks that were taken with these important characters paid off, but whether you loved it or hated it there's no denying that Batman V. Superman sparks a compelling debate, it surely did for us in this ToB Interlude.
Read MoreEpisode 68 - Berlanti's TV Conquest
This week in the Tower we cover all the big comic book show renewals. Specifically what we've been loving about the CW's DC slate. Greg Berlanti, the mastermind behind Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and even Supergirl on CBS had ALL of his shows renewed for new seasons. Something I dont think anyone really thought could happen. We also discuss the future of Star Trek on TV and look forward to Daredevil (which hadn't yet premiered at the time of the recording). On the film front we discuss the announcement of Indiana Jones 5 for 2019, with both Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg returning. We then move onto breaking down the latest Captain America: Civil War trailer that featured our first look at the MCU Spider-Man. Of course there's always a little Star Wars news and this week we take a look at the "short list" of actors up for the role of a young Han Solo. DC had a few topics for us as well, with the big news being the casting of J.K. Simmons as the new Commissioner Gordon. We wrap up by discussing Sony's big VR announcement for the PS4 and what it might mean for the future of gaming. It's all that and so much more in this week's Tower of Babble Podcast!
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