ToB Interlude - The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

Julian Meush April 10, 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.

ToB Games - The State of the Switch

Julian Meush January 14, 2019

Now that we’ve all flipped over our calendars to 2019 Julian and Jeremy figured it would be a good idea to sit down and discuss the state of the Nintendo Switch. It will have been on the market for 2 years in March, and so as the console moves into it’s “terrible twos” the guys take a moment to look back at the good ol’ days, as well as examine how it stacks up today, and even what’s in store for the future. Are there enough good games? Is online worth 20 bucks a year? Is Super Smash Bros. Ultimate a game changer for the console? All these questions are answered and more on this week’s Tower of Babble Podcast!

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 96 - Injustice 2

Julian Meush May 24, 2017

It's just Julian and Daniel in the Tower this week as they discuss the latest in geek news. As seems to be the new norm, a few major trailers dropped since the last episode and are always worth discussing. Including Bladerunner 2049, Star Trek: Discovery and much more. In movie news, Sony surprised everyone by revealing that Tom Hardy has been cast as Eddie Brock in their standalone Venom movie, plus rumours swirl about who might take over as director of the much maligned Flash picture. On the TV side of things, it was a pretty big week, with most of the major networks announcing their fall lineups for their returning shows and some exciting news about some entirely new series. In the gaming world, Dan reviews Injustice 2, the second instalment of the DC themed fighter from the creators of Mortal Kombat. To wrap things up the guys briefly review "Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 2" and Julian praises the brilliance of "Handmaids Tale". 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 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.

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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.

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May 9, 2025

SSSW - Andor S2 E7 - 9

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