Episode 172 - Oscar Nominations

Julian Meush February 9, 2022

It feels like forever since our last news show, so in that vein we’ve decided to take things back to our roots with a wide assortment of news from across the entertainment landscape. That being said, it’s not all completely out of left-field as this years Oscar nominations were revealed, which required immediate attention. Afterwards, Julian and Jeremy move into a broader discussion on the future of movie theatres (again!), discuss the merits of computer generated acting performances, the latest from ‘The Lord of the Rings’ Amazon series, and dive into some pretty compelling “What We’ve Been Watching” entries, including ‘Euphoria’, and ‘Peacemaker’. All that and so much more on this week’s Tower of Babble Podcast!

Episode 149 - Superman: Red Son

Julian Meush March 16, 2020

With much of the world in lock down due to the Corona Virus, it doesn’t hurt to turn to the world of entertainment for a little distraction. Unfortunately, Covid-19 has effected that as well. Julian and Jeremy discuss the delays resulting from the virus, including James Bond: No Time to Die, Mulan, and more. Afterwards, in an effort to lighten the mood, the guys discuss the latest in film and TV news, with The Last of Us announcement from HBO taking up much of the discussion. Finally, a review of the latest DC Animation adaptation concludes the show with a in depth look at Superman: Red Son. Stay healthy everyone, and stay tuned for more ToB Podcasts during these trying times!

Episode 141 - A Return to Middle Earth

Julian Meush September 19, 2019

On this week’s Tower of Babble Podcast the guys ask the timeless question; are there too many trailers when you go to the theatre? That’s right, it’s ANOTHER slow week, but there’s still a few fun stories. Not the least of which being the impressions of the Jurassic World short film, “Battle at Big Rock”. Plus, Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series announces it will be filming in New Zealand, and James Gunn reveals the full cast of The Suicide Squad. Finally, Julian and Jeremy review Titans S2E2!

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Episode 140 - Young...ish Elrond?

Julian Meush September 12, 2019

Another slow news week means that once again, the critical darling, “Joker” leads off the show. “Joker” took home the Golden Lion prize at the Venice Film Festival and made it’s North American debut at TIFF, so you know there was some news bits to follow up on. Besides that, came the surprising news that a Jurassic World short film is dropping next week, and that an actor who looks suspiciously like Elrond was cast in Amazon’s “Lord of the Rings” series. Plus, Julian and Jeremy review the first episode of the new season of “Titans”. All that and… not that much else to be honest, on this week’s Tower of Babble Podcast.

Episode 133 - The End of an Era

Julian Meush June 25, 2019

With the X-men franchise as we know it coming to an end, the guys look back on the series as a whole and imagine what will come next. This year has/will see the form of an ending for basically all the major pop-culture properties, including X-Men, Avengers, Game of Thrones, and Star Wars at the end of the year. With so many of the tentpole films franchises coming to a conclusion there’s room for new and experimental shows like Love, Death & Robots; or the upcoming Halo series to really shine.

All in all, it was a slow news week, but exciting things are yet to come.

Episode 99 - The Age of Adaptations

Julian Meush July 8, 2017

After a nice Canada Day/4th of July long weekend the ToB Crew are back at it. The news didn't take a vacation so there's a ton to cover. Starting with movie news the guys discuss the major shakeup with the Han Solo movie, the future of the MCU, Wonder Woman's tremendous box office success and much more. On the TV front it seems like there's a never ending rumour mill of possible adaptations and reboots. This time it's HBO possibly adapting Watchmen, a live action Jetsons series from Robert Zemeckis and Kevin Bacon talking a Tremors reboot. Finally in gaming news Nintendo announced the Super NES Classic Edition and Julian and Dan debate the merits of removing the "Game Over" screen from Super Mario Odyssey. All this and so much more in this week's Tower of Babble Podcast!

Episode 95 - Everyone's Favourite Goldblum

Julian Meush May 9, 2017

It's just Julian and Daniel this week on the program as Jeremy is "away". But the show must go on, so to kick things off Julian takes us through his picks for this year's "summer movie wager" and rips Regal Theatres for some questionable business practices. The guys then dive deep into the latest geek news, starting with a couple notable trailers for Marvel's Defenders and The Dark Tower. Moving on, Fox announces 3 new X-Men movies for 2018, Kevin Feige talks about "Phase 4" of the MCU, the Avatar sequels get new release dates (again) and Jeff Goldblum joins the Jurassic World sequel. On the TV front we got our first tease of Marvel's Inhumans and, DC and WB announce a new "DC focused" streaming service that will feature Young Justice season 3 and a new Teen Titans live action series. Over with games, Call of Duty: WWII got a trailer, Nintendo revealed some impressive sales numbers and Injustice 2 continues its march towards launch. To wrap things up the guys shower praise all over the premier of American Gods on Starz, the latest show from Brian Fuller based on the work of Neil Gaiman. All this and so much more on the week's Tower of Babble Podcast!

Episode 80 - Emmy Awards 2016

Julian Meush September 20, 2016

On this episode of The ToB Podcast the guys recap the last two weeks of geek news. Including: all the new images from the set of Justice League, the possibility of Mr. Sinister being the big bad of Wolverine 3, the change of composers for Star Wars: Rogue One and what we would like to see from a Star Wars live action TV series. In addition to that, the 2016 Emmy Awards were this past weekend so the ToB Crew recaps the winners and losers of the big TV event. All this, and so much more on this weeks Tower of Babble Podcast!

ToB Interlude - Jurassic World

Julian Meush June 27, 2015

In this weeks ToB Interlude the guys discuss the blockbuster phenomenon that is Jurassic World. We break it down from every angle and try to understand how it grossed over half a billion dollars on its opening weekend. We try to grasp what makes a summer blockbuster work, asking the question; is it OK to love a movie when you know it has all sorts of flaws? Of course we cant help but to make some comparisons to the first film in the series, one of our favorite movies of all time, Jurassic Park. We also debate where Jurassic World fits into the timeline and if they are trying to secretly retcon the series to ignore the events of the second and third films. We finish off, of course, spending a little time geeking-out over some of the best and worst moments in the series.

Episode 54 - Avengers: Age of Ultron, Star Wars and BvS

Julian Meush May 4, 2015

Its been a few weeks but the Tower of Babble Crew is back and there is definitely no shortage of major news to discuss. While Daniel and Jeremy were away on vacation they missed some of the biggest geek news stories of the last year. They managed to miss the first teaser for Batman V Superman, the second teaser for Star Wars Episode 7 and the rest of Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim. Of course we also catch up on the Jared Leto Joker reveal, all the news about Batman Arkham Knight and everything out of X-Men Apocalypse. Its not all "old news" though, Daniel and Jeremy were back in time to catch the Friday night screening of Avengers: Age of Ultron on its opening weekend and we have an extensive review for you.

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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

May 2, 2025

SSSW - Andor S2 E4 - 6

May 2, 2025

I'm sorry to tell you all, but we're already halfway through this final season of 'Andor'. Fortunately, the quality hasn't dipped one bit as we accelerate into the finish. Join Julian and Rachel as they savour every minute of this 3-episode arch that takes us to Ghorman for the first time on screen. Tony Gilroy and the team at Lucasfilm outdid themselves yet again in crafting every detail. The size of the set alone is impressive, but they take it a step further by developing a unique culture and even language different from anything we've seen in Star Wars before. It all fits seamlessly into this next chapter of the story that has a heavy emphasis on spycraft as the pressure ramps up for both the Rebellion and the Empire.

May 2, 2025