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Tower of Babble

Discussing the goings on in geek news with a focus on film and television. We're talking about the things you care about. Characters, places and events that aren't real... but are.

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Bonus Episode - ToB Film Club - Excalibur (1981)

Julian Meush July 6, 2023

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.

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In Bonus Episode Tags Excalibur, Review, ToB Film Club, BvS
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Bonus Episode - MAX Announcement - Daily DVR

Julian Meush April 28, 2023

Surprise! We have a bonus episode for you this week (it maaaay be a few weeks late but you gotta provide some exclusivity time I suppose), as Julian joins Axel on the 'Daily DVR' podcast to discuss the Warner Brothers Discovery announcement surrounding the rebranding of "HBO Max" to simply "MAX" and all the adjoining bits of news. Including the 'Harry Potter' series, ‘Game of Thrones’, 'RoboCop' and much more!

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In Bonus Episode Tags Daily DVR, Warner Bros. Discovery, MAX, HBO Max, HBO, Harry Potter, The Penguin, Game of Thrones, RoboCop
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SSSW - Star Wars Podcast Day - 2023 Preview - Bonus Episode

Julian Meush February 7, 2023

We are proud to be taking part in "Star Wars Podcast Day 2023", a celebration of all the podcasts who are covering the galaxy far far away. This is our first year taking part, and as a special bonus episode just for the occasion, Rachel and Julian look ahead at all the Star Wars content coming to Disney+ and beyond. 2023 is shaping up to be one of the best years for Star Wars content in some time, what with 'The Bad Batch' already well underway, and 'The Mandalorian' season 3 just around the corner, the hype levels are already through the roof. Looking later into the year with 'Ahsoka' and 'Skeleton Crew', and although little is actually known about them at this point, it's hard not to get excited about the prospect of live action Thrawn. That's without even mentioning 'Star Wars Jedi: Survivor' the follow up to the hit game from EA. Plus more 'Star Wars Visions'. It's almost too much! … almost.

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In Small Screen Star Wars, Bonus Episode Tags Star Wars, Star Wars Podcast Day, The Mandalorian, The Bad Batch, Ahsoka, Skeleton Crew, Star Wars Visions, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, The High Republic
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ToB Film Club/Christmas Special - Die Hard (1988)

Julian Meush January 2, 2023

Hard to believe it's already the Holidays already. Seems like just yesterday we were reviewing 'National Lampoons Christmas Vacation'. Oh what a time... we were laughing, snow was falling, things were merry and bright. Well the weather is cold again, and the only way to warm up this year is with EXCESSIVE VIOLENCE! That's right, we're dusting off the action, comedy, Christmas classic 'Die Hard' for this special season. Essentially a perfect action movie, there's very little to critic, but boy is there a lot to love. Join Julian, Jeremy, and Rachel as they break down all the fun one-liners and over the top kills, plus enjoy some bonus Christmas stories from the ToB Crew to kick things off. It's Christmas miracle! Happy holidays everyone!

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In Bonus Episode Tags Die Hard, Christmas Special, Review, ToB Film Club, Bruce Willis
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Bonus Episode - ToB Film Club - Swingers (1996)

Julian Meush August 31, 2022

Our film club circle grows once again! This month we have a very special guest joining us to review their absolute favourite movie, another cult classic hit, 'Swingers'. Which comes to us from all the way back in 1996 (which also plays into our primarily 90's heavy selections recently). A movie that launched the careers of Doug Liman, Jon Favreau, and Vince Vaughn. A couple names you might have heard of. A true "bro movie" in that it's really just a bunch of dudes hanging out and partying, but it brings a level of truth and honesty to the situation, with deep characters that you want to root for. It wears its heart on its sleeve as we watch Mikey struggle get over his ex-girlfriend, with Favreau bringing an essential performance to the part, and really being the beating heart of the picture. Join the usual cast of characters, Julian, Rachel and Jeremy, with special guest Matt Tworek, as they unpack it all in this month's ToB Film Club!

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In Bonus Episode Tags ToB Film Club, Review, Swingers
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Bonus Episode - Summer Movie Wager 2022

Julian Meush May 7, 2022

It’s been 2 years since we’ve had a complete slate of summer blockbusters to look forward to, and it looks like this time they will finally come out on schedule, and not be delayed again (or again, again, in some cases). So with the return of some normalcy, so too comes the return of an old tradition, The Summer Movie Wager (which is a game run by the folks over at The Film Cast, and which we owe 100% credit of this idea). Julian and Rachel each prepared a list of 10 movies (and 3 dark horse picks) from the slate of summer movie releases and attempt to correctly predict their box office performance (ranked 1 - 10). Join them as they discuss their picks, why they placed them where they did in their ranking, and some general wholesome movie chat goodness. Tune in again at the end of the summer as they break down the winners and losers, but until then, make sure to get out there and enjoy Blockbuster Season!

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In Bonus Episode, The Tower of Babble Podcast Tags Summer Movie Wager, Jurassic World: Dominion, Thor: Love and Thunder, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Minions, Top Gun: Maverick, Nope, Lightyear, Bullet Train, Elvis, Downton Abbey, DC, Marvel, DC League of Super-Pets, Men, Fear, Watcher, Bob's Burgers
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Bonus Episode - Oscars 2022 Recap + Best Picture Noms

Julian Meush March 29, 2022

Traditionally we would record an Oscars preview show, but for a littenay of reasons it was not possible to do that this year. Please enjoy this Oscars coverage in lieu. Julian sat down for a rare solo show, recorded as part of a ‘Twitter Space’ (as such please excuse the less than optimal audio quality), to give his thoughts on all 10 Best Picture nominees as well as look back at what worked, and what didn’t, at this year’s ceremony.

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In Bonus Episode Tags Oscars, Will Smith, Dune, Dennis Villeneuve, CODA, West Side Story, Drive My Car, Belfast, King Richard, Nightmare Alley, Licorice Pizza, Don't Look Up, The Power of the Dog
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Holiday Bonus Episode! - ToB Film Club - National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Julian Meush December 24, 2021

Tis' the season for merriment and joy, so in the spirit of the holidays, the cast of the ToB Podcast has gathered to sit by the fire, sip eggnog, and review another Christmas classic movie. This year it is none other than 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation'. Delight as Julian, Jeremy and Rachel break down the Griswold family Christmas while using the opportunity to diverge into conversations about christmas traditions, and why the White Elephant/gift steal game is a pox on the whole Christmas spirit. Join us, won't you, for some Christmas cheer on this Christmas eve in "The Tower". Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas from all of us at ToB!

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Bonus Episode - ToB Film Club - Drive (2011)

Julian Meush June 3, 2021

The 2011 film 'Drive' might be most closely associated with the Kavinsky song 'Nightcall'. It plays over a brilliant opening sequence and has been on my playlists ever since. 'Nightcall', as a song, isn't the most complex, but it has a lyric that goes like "There's something inside you. It's hard to explain". Those 2 sentences are able to sum up how I feel about 'Drive'. The film has something inside it that makes it stand out even after a decade. It's stylish, calm, calculated, even romantic, and to be honest, it's not that hard to explain. The only thing that confounds me about it, is the fact that 10 years have seemingly disappeared before my eyes. But maybe there's a message in that too. 'Drive' features a nameless main character that seems to almost daydream through life. If you too feel like you've been day dreaming through life, then it's time to wake up and do something! And that something is, sit down, watch 'Drive', and then listen to our excellent review. Enjoy!

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In Bonus Episode Tags Drive (2011), Review, Ryan Gosling
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ToB Film Club - Holiday Special - A Christmas Story

Julian Meush December 23, 2020

For those who may not be aware, we do a monthly film club here at ToB. It’s an exclusive bonus episode for those who support us on Patreon. It’s a lot of fun and we encourage you to join! But in the spirit of giving, we decided to do a holiday special edition for everyone! Julian, Dan, and Jeremy sit down and talk about the greatest Christmas movie of all time, ‘A Christmas Story’. It’s essentially a perfect movie, which may not generate a lot of debate, but in stark contrast to last months film club ‘Coherence’, it was a ton of fun. We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we did recording it, and we wish you a happy holidays and a joyous new year. Stay tuned for our Tobie Awards coming soon!

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In Bonus Episode Tags Review
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Tower of Babble Podcast

We're a podcast network talking about the things you care about. Characters, places and events that aren't real... but are. Three friends chat about the goings on in geek news. Film and television are the focus with a variety of shows that also concentrate on gaming and comics.

, Winnipeg, Canada

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