ToB Games - E3 2019

Julian Meush June 16, 2019

If you follow the video game world, even from a distance, you know that E3 is like Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and your birthday all combined for the those in the games business. With it comes exciting new announcements, sizzle reels, reveals, and surprises. Regardless of what types of games you’re into, there’s always something to get excited about. This year, with Sony, and other major players pulling out, it seemed like the show might lack some of it’s luster. Fortunately, there was still a lot to get excited about. Not the least of which being the Avengers game from Sqaure Enix, a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the first game play of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, plus the surprising new character announcements for Super Smash Bros Ultimate. Julian, Dan, and Jeremy discuss all that and so much more in the annual E3 breakdown episode of ToB Games!

ToB Games - E3 2018

Julian Meush June 13, 2018

It's been awhile since we've taken a break from talking about the latest in film and television news and turned our collective eye towards the gaming industry, but with E3 now upon us we would we remiss if we didn't dive into all the major announcements coming out of gaming's biggest showcase. From Sony and their stellar first party lineup featuring "The Last of Us Pt 2", "Spider-Man" and more to Nintendo and their concentration on all things "Super Smash Bros" and everything in between, the guys discuss the biggest reveals, trailers and demos from this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo.

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!

ToB Interlude - Top 5 E3 2017 Moments

Julian Meush June 14, 2017

This is the biggest week of the year for gaming news. It doesn't get bigger than E3. It all kicked off on Saturday but now that all the big press conferences are out of the way and the show floor is open the ToB Crew can start breaking down the biggest announcements. Julian and Daniel give you their top 5 favourite moments from the show so far. From Mario + Rabbids to God of War the guys will unpack some of the major announcements.

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 86 - Doctor Strange

Julian Meush November 11, 2016

After a... interesting American election the guys sit down to discuss the latest in geek news in an attempt to lighten the mood. Fortunately it has been a busy week with plenty to dissect. Starting on a high note Julian, Dan and Jeremy break down the latest Wonder Woman trailer and simultaneously get excited while also wondering if it'll be another DC disappointment. There was also news out of Marvel as Michael Keaton was confirmed as Vulture, Michael Giacchino will be scoring Spider-Man: Homecoming and a possible shakeup at Fox with the X-Men franchise. In TV news, the nerd world received a miracle as Young Justice season 3 was announced, more characters join The Defenders and Agents of SHIELD gives a fun nod to the original Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze. It was also N7 day recently and the ToB Crew unpack all the details out of the Mass Effect holiday. Finally, they review Doctor Strange, the latest movie out of the Marvel Machine starring non other than Benedict Cumberbatch. All this, and so much more, in this week's Tower of Babble Podcast!

Episode 83 - Star Wars & Plenty of Tangents

Julian Meush October 20, 2016

Julian and Daniel sit down, sans Jeremy, to discuss the latest in geek news. Starting with, of course, Star Wars. They break down the Rogue One trailer, Ewan McGregor's idea for Obi-Wan movies and whats happening with the Ghost crew and Star Wars: Rebels. They move onto talking about the reveal of Amber Heard's Mera as well as the nonstop news train coming from the set of Logan. As far as TV news, there wasn't much but the guys talk about the popularity of Netflix and The Simpsons 600th episode. Moving to games, they delve deep into Red Dead Redemption 2 announcement and the reception of PSVR after its release last week. To wrap up Dan and Julian both discuss some of what they've been watching including Fincher's Zodiac and more!

Episode 72 - E3 2016

Julian Meush June 17, 2016

The ToB Crew is reunited once more! Now that Julian has returned to Canada all three of the Tower of Babble hosts are once again under the same roof. And it couldn't be better timing with E3 2016 upon us. It's every gamer's favorite time of the year as we get a glimpse at the future of gaming. From virtual reality to the beautiful Zelda: Breath of the Wild, if you play games there's something here for you. Julian, Daniel and Jeremy unpack the plethora of news and concentrate on all things E3. They go through each major announcement one by one and give you their take on the biggest stories from Sony, Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft, Nintendo and so much more. WIth so much news it's a miracle we were able to even fit it all into one episode!

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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

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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