With less than a week left before the Oscars, it’s time for the annual ToB Oscars Preview Show! Last year, pre-covid, the festivities were much more formal (with some of the hosts even wearing fancy jackets!), but this year things are a bit more subdued. It’s just Julian and Dan this week (subbing out Jeremy) as they look forward to what should be a memorable Academy Awards celebration. Or so they tell us! With covid impacting every aspect of Hollywood, they discuss what that will mean for the broadcast. With names like Steven Soderbergh taking the reins expect things to be a dit different. According to Soderbergh himself, they want the show to “feel like a movie” (whatever that means), and don’t call the stars on stage “presenters”! No they’re cast members nows. Either way, it’s shaping up to be something interesting. After that, we move into our “main event” as the guys discuss each of the “Best Picture” nominees before moving on to predictions for the winners in the biggest categories (sorry “Costume Design”).
Read MoreEpisode 164 - Netflix Inking Deals, WB Cancels New Gods, and the Iron Anniversary
Just the two J’s this week as Dan is away. Julian, and Jeremy discuss Rian Johnson’s big money ‘Knives Out’ deal with Netflix, Warner Bros. cancelling ‘The Trench’ and Ava DuVernay’s ‘New Gods’, and the 10th year anniversary of ‘Game of Thrones’ premiere on HBO that they’re calling the “Iron Anniversary”. The guys also touch on some notable release schedule changes around Hollywood, and the cast list for ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’, which had a few pleasant surprises. All that, and so much more, on this week’s Tower of Babble Podcast!
Read MoreEpisode 163 - The Suicide Squad, Game of Thrones, and Black Widow
Julian, Dan, and Jeremy discuss the latest ‘The Suicide Squad’ trailer, as well attempt to decipher an interview from Variety with a WB executive. Spoilers; according to them, there’s no more Snyderverse and David Ayer’s cut of the original ‘Suicide Squad’ will not be produced, plus everything else happening in the wake of ‘Zack Snyder's Justice League’. The guys then muse about the plethora of Game of Thrones spinoffs in the works. Of course it’s not an episode of the Tower of Babble Podcast unless there’s at least one Marvel story, so they also discuss ‘Black Widow’ and it’s move to Disney+, and look forward at the rest of the Marvel slate. Plus much more!
Read MoreToB Interlude - Zack Snyder's Justice League - Spoilercast
The original release of 'Justice League' hit theatres all the way back in 2017. To say it was poorly received would be an massive understatement. It was a disappointment in almost every sense. To make matters worse, the whole production was mired in studio meddling in its most incompetent form. During those turbulent times, tragedy struck. It was during that time that Zack Snyder stepped away from the project and was replaced by Joss Whedon. A decision that has been widely criticized since. When Snyder left the picture, his original vision was discarded. Replaced by something tonally similar to what Joss had brought to the MCU. Almost immediately following the theatrical premiere in 2017, fans starting calling for the "Snyder Cut" to be released, spawning the infamous hashtag. At the time, the existence of Snyder's version of the movie was considered to be a myth. But slowly over time, more evidence of the existence of the infamous directors cut began to surface. Fuelled by support from Snyder himself, as well as stars like Ben Affleck, the push for the release of the “Snyder Cut” reached a fever pitch. Warner Brothers took notice, and when they needed flagship content for their fledgling streamer, HBO Max, the dream became a reality. ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ would premiere in its full, uncut, 4 hour runtime (and even get a black and white version) to home viewers everywhere. The ToB Crew has spent those 4 long years since Whedon’s version discussing the nuances and discourse surrounding the “Snyder Cut” (for better or for worse), but the time has come to now discuss the film itself. Julian, Dan, and Jeremy break it all down and discuss what worked and what didn’t for what is, in many ways, an unprecedented piece of entertainment. Be warned, full spoilers ahead!
Read MoreEpisode 162 - Snyder Cut, Mortal Kombat and Scorsese
If you’ve been listening to the show for awhile you’ll know that the ToB Crew have been closely following ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’, or as it’s colloquially known, ‘The Snyder Cut’, since the theatrical release of the film waaay back when. So of course it’s big news when the official trailer drops, so the guys dive deep into that (and unfortunately, the ongoing drama surrounding it). But when it rains it pours, becasue we also got the trailer for the new ‘Mortal Kombat’ film (another long standing focus of the show) along with another rant from Martin Scorsese who’s back in the news talking about how streaming services are devaluing film (which means it’s time for another “Agree of Disagree” segment!). In addition to all of that, Marvel revealed the official title for Tom Holland’s ‘Spider-Man 3’ and ViacomCBS rolled out details for Paramount+. All this, and so much more, on this week’s Tower of Babble Podcast!
Read MoreEpisode 161 - One Crazy Day... on Twitter
Some days during the pandemic it feels like Hollywood has gone to sleep, with not a drop of news. Other days, the news comes at you so fast you forget you’re even in a pandemic. This last Wednesday was one of those days. Between the news of Gina Carano’s firing from Disney, and Joel and Ellie’s casting for ‘The Last of Us’, it felt like the good ol’ days on Twitter. News coming in so hot, that before you can even formulate a thought, it’s been debunked or some other news bit is thrown at you. It was exciting. So with at least one news day worth of stories to discuss, the ToB Crew takes a look back at a busy day on Twitter as well as a ton of other stories from the last couple weeks, amd to end the show, the guys discuss the latest goings ons with ‘WandaVision’ in a full spoiler discussion. All that, and so much more, on this week’s Tower of Babble Podcast!
Read MoreEpisode 160 - Cap Coming Back?
With 2020 now firmly in the rearview mirror, ToB can now return to it's regularly scheduled programming. Or at least as close to it as we can get! It's been a few weeks since a full news show, so there's a lot to discuss. Julian, Dan, and Jeremy break down the biggest stories in the world of film and television, not the least of which being that Warner Bros is apparently doubling down on 'Harry Potter'. They've installed a new VP to oversee the franchise and a live-action series is in early development at HBO Max. On top of that, rumours are swirling about the possible return of Chris Evans' Captain America to the MCU. Plus, Snyder confirms that his Justice League will not be a 4-part series afterall, and instead will be a 4 hour film. Oh did we mention that Amazon's 'Lord of the Rings' series got an official synopsis? Well the guys are covering that too! All that and so much more on this week's Tower of Babble Podcast.
Read MoreToB Games - The 2020 Tobie Awards Continued
The look back at 2020 continues as the ToB Crew discuss their top 3 favourite games from the previous year. Just like the movie and TV categories the rules are a little loosey goosey. That being said, there are a few key titles that can't be ignored. Listen to find out where ‘Call of Duty: Warzone’ falls on the respective lists, while waiting to hear everyone's thoughts on ‘The Last of Us: Pt II’ now that we're several months removed from it's polarizing release. Plus stick around for some Smash Bros talk (as always) and much more, on this rare episode of ToB Games.
Read MoreEpisode 160 - The 2020 Tobie Awards
With the year 2020 now firmly behind us, it's time to look back at the year that was and pick the best of the best. The ToB Crew gathers for their yearly tradition to pick their top three movies and TV shows from the last year. Now of course, 2020 is a year that many of us would like to forget, but that doesn't mean there wasn't great entertainment to enjoy. In fact, it likely helped much of us get us through what was a VERY challenging time. That being said, things aren't the same. The movie industry in particular was hit hard in 2020. So with that in mind, there's been a few adjustments made to the rules. Most notably, any movie or show that was new to the viewer, regardless of the year of its original release, is eligible for a Tobie this year. This opens the door to some exciting surprises in this year's picks! Now grab your champagne, get dressed up in your finest attire, and enjoy a celebration of the best of 2020 (and sometimes other years too).
Read MoreToB Film Club - Holiday Special - A Christmas Story
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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