Episode 186 - A Slate of Delays

Julian Meush June 14, 2023

The "less-structured" format continues this week as Jeremy and Julian start by discussing a series of movie release date delays, which spins widely into conversations about a variety of random topics. Such as: the polarizing early impressions of 'The Flash', Zach Snyder's 'Rebel Moon', Lucasfilm's continued refusal to learn any lessons from 'Solo', a review of 'Across the Spider-Verse', MCU turbulence, and why people keep calling for James Gunn's head. All that and so much more on this week's Tower of Babble Podcast!

Episode 185 - Too Busy for its Own Good

Julian Meush June 1, 2023

Julian and Jeremy get together for a quick news roundup, including: DC's plan to continue with Ezra Miller after 'The Flash', Martin Scorsese's new trailer and his meeting with the Pope, HBO's reluctance to greenlight the Jon Snow 'Game of Thrones' sequel, the end of the Arrowverse on CW, the latest from Quinton Tarantino, and Mark Hamill's stance on recasting Luke Skywalker. Plus Julian brings some impressions from 'Fast X'.

Episode 184 - Where Did Everything Go Wrong?

Julian Meush May 18, 2023

Julian and Jeremy reconvene after some time off to discuss the latest in film and television news, and there is no bigger story than the writers strike as it effects both mediums. The guys discuss the WGA's biggest demands, and spend some time examining how effective AI could really be in replacing creative jobs in media. After that it's a grab bag of stories including the possible return of The Rock to the Fast and Furious finale, another look at 'The Super Mario Bros Movie' and it's massive success as it continues to climb the all-time animated movie box office charts, some comments from Kathleen Kennedy on how to "eventize" Star Wars movies again, and few other odds and ends. Enjoy!

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!

SSSW - The Mandalorian S3E8 “The Return”

Julian Meush April 21, 2023

'The Mandalorian' brought it's third season to close with a climactic battle for Mandalor, capping off a rocky eight episodes that have left some fans disappointed after what was such a stellar conclusion to season two. "The Return" ties up many of the loose ends from this season and the action set-pieces alone are worth the price of admission (more jetpack heavy battle sequences please) but taking a step back, we're left with a feeling of emptiness, as we may have a worse understanding of our lead characters psyches than we did coming into the season. With so much to do in the finale, and only 39-minutes to do it in, there just isn't any time left to hear what anyone thinks about the major events that just took place. It's plot in absence of character, and it's a real shame. It's not that the show is now bad, it's just that it certainly took a step back this season in pacing, plotting, character development and probably even musically with the absence of Ludwig. The hope being that it can learn from it's mistakes and course-correct going into season four.

SSSW - The Mandalorian S3E7 "The Spies"

Julian Meush April 14, 2023

As this season closes in on it's finale next week, there have been a lot of questions about this season's direction, or lack there of. Including on this very show. This penultimate episode for season 3 does a lot to answer those questions and it does so with tons of style. There's plenty of exciting action set pieces this week to sink your teeth into, which are satisfying in there own way, but it's the focus on driving the plot forward, the interesting world building, and the some deeper exploration of key characters like Bo Katan, that take this episode to the next level. That being said, it's not perfect, with a few pacing issues and the odd inclusion of another giant monster that feels ham-fisted. Overall though, the return of one of the shows best villains does a lot of heavy lifting, and certainly sets the stakes quite high for next week's finale.

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.

SSSW - The Mandalorian S3E6 "Guns for Hire"

Julian Meush April 7, 2023

Most people seem to agree that season 3 of 'The Mandalorian' seems to be a bit lost in the woods. Despite strong episodes, like last week's "Pirates", overall the larger plot seems to be a bit directionless at times. It's a cloud that is hanging over the show and seems to be casting a primarily negative shadow on it's reception this year. This week's episode unfortunately continues that trend, but it also continues the trend of having extremely entertaining side missions, with the inspiration-de-jour being a 'CSI' or 'Law and Order' style procedural/neo-noir detective caper. With cameo's a plenty from well known actors, an extremely jovial escapade to a new outer rim planet that is actually wealthy for once, and plenty of Clone Wars era callbacks, it's hard not to be entertained. Thankfully, the final moments of the episode tie us back into the larger plot (in a pretty clunky way if we're being honest), and setup the last 2 episodes of the season. Which are complete mysteries at this point. Plus, Rachel and Julian discuss the three new Star Wars movie projects announced at 'Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023', and dive into the brand new 'Ahsoka' trailer.

SSSW - The Mandalorian S3E5 "The Pirate"

Julian Meush April 1, 2023

Just as Din seemed to be fairly aimless since his bath in the living waters, so to did the show itself. Wandering from plot point to plot point with no regard for pacing or sense of direction. That largely changed this week as Din is recruited to rescue Nevarro at the behest of an unlikely ally, all with the possibility of using the opportunity to create a new home for his cohorts. The threat of pirates brought many dangling plot threads together and helped establish a new purpose for our heroes, with the mystery of a reemerging threat lingering in darkness. That's without even mentioning some absolutely stellar action sequences realized with top tier visual effects, adding a much needed sense of quality to the whole affair that has felt oddly absent as of late. Oh, and don't forget about our boy Zeb!

SSSW - The Bad Batch Season 2 Finale

Julian Meush March 31, 2023

It's a rare thing to get a season finale that hits as hard as this two-part season 2 capper of 'The Bad Batch'. Lucasfilm Animation was firing on all cylinders for much of this season, with gorgeous animation, top tier performances, and scoring from Kevin Kiner that is as good as anything you'd get in a feature film. Yet somehow they took it to another level with "The Summit", and then somehow found yet another gear for the heart-wrenching "Plan 99". For which it's episode title alone now carries more emotional weight than probably any scene from 'The Rise of Skywalker'. For our money, Star Wars doesn't get much better than this folks. There probably isn't much more to be said about how great these episodes were but Julian and Rachel dedicate the entirety of this nearly 2.5 hour podcast to Clone Force 99 and it's well deserved. Look for coverage of Mando later this week, because since when "have we ever followed orders".

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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.

Jun 5, 2025

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