Two bonus episodes in a row? What is this Christmas in July?! Well no not really, but Julian did guest spot on the ‘Daily DVR’ podcast again last week (along with a whole plethora of other great guests) to discuss the top 5 best TV shows of year 2023 so far. Unsurprisingly, things like ‘The Last of Us’, ‘Succession’ and ‘The Bear’ make a lot of the respective lists, but there’s still a lot of room for surprises and if all goes as planned you should be able to add a few new shows to your watch list after listening to this.
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Bonus Episode - ToB Film Club - Excalibur (1981)
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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Bonus Episode - MAX Announcement - Daily DVR
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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SSSW - Star Wars Podcast Day - 2023 Preview - Bonus Episode
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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ToB Film Club/Christmas Special - Die Hard (1988)
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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Bonus Episode - ToB Film Club - Swingers (1996)
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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Bonus Episode - Summer Movie Wager 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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Bonus Episode - Oscars 2022 Recap + Best Picture Noms
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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Holiday Bonus Episode! - ToB Film Club - National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
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)
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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