Frame By Frame

So in this episode, we get abducted - again - and we find ourselves in an alien restaurant known as Tiramisu (which is Italian for "Take me up") but that's quite lucky as it seems, both Andy and Stephen have watched a number of alien abduction movies at late. They seem ready to question the signs and the times of the film Fire in the Sky, and all too keen to get wrapped up in Christopher Walken's performance in Communion, and dwell over the questionable lack luster yet amiable Dark Skies - of which carries strength in that it has J.K. Simmons in it. - They don't even seem concerned that they are themselves surrounded by extra terrestrial lifeforms, but then again, after the ordeal they endured with the Spice Girls, an event such as this would be a cake walk.

Two films kick off this, our 20th episode. Both of them concern body shock changing experiences, and therefore the metamorphic change of both mind, body and nature break through to explore the unseen side of the human psyche. We also talk about the vagina dentata, simply because we had to study the Freud ridden theory of scopaphilia alongside the concept of the vagina dentata for extra kicks. The frantic brilliant nature of Starry Eyes and the low key personal self destruction of Honeymoon... and a little bit on Teeth. A film that can either bring out the immaturity of what can only be a fear of castration. That being said, these are movies cashing up the cash register of "cautionary tales"... there is no how to guide here.

We lived all of our lives knowing that Leonard Nimoy was in this world. It was a comfort, and now that he has passed, the feeling of loss can be felt throughout this small planet. Yes, we are trek fans, but we also watched "In Search of..." and sang to celebrate Leonard Nimoy having a hammer. We felt comfort knowing that he was there to help Brooke Adams get over her paranoia in "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and we were left to change nappies with three men in one of his more popular directing assignments. It's not just about a television character. It's about identifying with the greatest qualities that human nature has to offer. That nature is the force and life of Leonard Nimoy.

There isn't a lot we can say other than, Cameron Crowe is one of the golden nuggets found in the Hollywood movie gold rush of the late 20th Century. He makes it look easy, and with his background as a writer for Rolling Stone, he has experienced the entertainment industry from the outside of many boxes... looking in and out again. He's got the goods. He makes nice movies. Movies that make you feel right about the world. Although, there is Vanilla Sky....

We hit off on awards season with a trilogy of films that didn't win any Academy Awards. But it didn't need to. The Cornetto Flavours Trilogy made their money. The director mastered his craft and the cast leads, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have made it within the larger than life world of Hollywood, with A+ credits. There films are all very similar in style, but they all have the willingness to take a spin on the obvious cliche take on Zombie apocalypse, police action films and... science fiction pub crawls? I mean, what genres are we settling with here?

Okay, so we gave up on the whole "we were sent to Israel instead of LA" gag, but we are working under other extreme circumstances. Talking about snubs isn't a popular thing, but we wanted to put this out as a cautionary tale. Remember that there are likely to be so many other reasons why a film doesn't get nominated beyond the pure and simple snub. The Oscars will be with us soon. George Clooney is already getting his suit ready. Meryl Streep is checking the "repeat annually" tag still works in her digital calendar and Charlie Sheen plans to oversleep... with far too many names to remember already in one bedroom.

We were supposed to fly to Los Angeles, but somebody got confused when I spotted Bill Gates at one of the Terminals at Heathrow and somehow, we found ourselves in Israel instead. The coffee is great! the oscars preview? It's all good! We have time on our hands to make sure we go through as many nominations as we care to run through. We might not have been able to watch everything but we've done pretty well to cover those that matter. The 87th Annual Academy Awards could be extremely interesting. Remember that part 2 will follow behind within the same day.

Having made our escape from certain "death by spice" we decided to put our attention to "life in space". Sitting around the campfire, we looked up and found a common goal. To review Interstellar while it is still fresh in the minds of all. Before the onset of the Oscars from which Interstellar is called up for technical awards. We do wonder how it slipped best picture nomination whereas Gravity had 10 nominations including best picture. Maybe it was all because of the science. Science can be overwhelming... but then so can the smell of dead boy band flesh...

Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kevin Spacey bring to light a dark and filthy tale of 7 deadly murders through 7 deadly sins. We on the other hand are in over our heads with the unfortunate kidnap scenario. Having been abducted by the Spice Girls (yes, those five British has-beens) we find a way to cope by talking about the darkest yet most brilliant David Fincher film, Se7en. Only then do we muster the strength to figure out an escape plan. Will we get out of this one alive?

Please take a seat. Don't worry about the man in the corner smoking a cigarette. He isn't here because of anything you have done. You're job is to listen to this podcast and decide if what you hear is worthy of further investigation. The X Files blasted onto our screen in 1993 and changed the world of supernatural, investigative television forever. We explored the standalone episodes (excluding the mythos episodes) and then something at the end takes Andy and Stephen by surprise.

I can't get the song out of my head. It's not even a song. It's a fragment of a melody and the repetition of three simple words "Into the Woods"... Or as Disney call it, "Show me the Money!" Well, this is one of those shows where the gloves come off, and we reveal a little of what could have been a nothing cinematic experience.

Indiana Jones is everybody's favourite trilogy second to the Star Wars Trilogy, the Alien Trilogy, The Die Hard Trilogy, and every other trilogy that definately doesn't have a 4th, 5th, or 6th movie sequel. In fact, I would safely say that the rule of three is the most important thing you can do in film. To move beyond the trilogy means that you are open to making a lemon. You are at risk of making the worst film sequel ever in the history of any franchise. If you decide to go ahead and make a 4th film in what had already been a successful trilogy, you might as well declare war on film and burn every masterpiece made by every popular film studio that made Hollywood what it is today. Or even worse than that you could go ahead and make Indiana Jones and the Crystal Face.

When people see Michael Keaton top billing the poster for Birdman, they'd be forgiven for asking "where has he been all these years?" The answer is, Montana.. most of the time, and in studios/location for the consistent stream of supporting film roles. Actors like Keaton don't have to always be in the lime-light. We are reminded that he is a human being afterall. Birdman is a rare treat, and despite finding link references to Spiceworld the Movie we came through this podcast without casualties.

So here we are, hitting the first podcast of 2015 and what do we do? We rip the world a new hole with a post-apocalyptic review of two dystopian future (first in a series) science fiction action adventure movie: Maze Runner and Divergent. I supposed we could have been talking about many, many other films: The Hunger Games. and. So here we go, put on your pastel coloured all-in-one outfit, roll up your sleeves in an act of socially unexceptionable rebellion and listen to us as we cover the new year up in a blackout curtain

We sit down too discuss our top 10 Christmas Movies. Along the way we discover if Die Hard is actually a Christmas Movie, whether Andy can go a full podcast without mentioning Spice World: The Movie and how much Stephen likes the dark side of Christmas.

Well we finally broke the mould and found two movies that we are not entirely fond of. Yes, We went hard into both Birdemic and The Room but we did try hard to dig deep and find a hidden sense of appreciation for the effort. Yes. effort. Whether technically proficient or not, No matter how clumsby the dialogue is or how aweful the FX are, they are watchable but only in the case of "three's a crowd." - warning, do not watch these kind of films on your own. It can damage your essence and put a boot to the balls of your respect for life. "I put Andy through his paces with these two" Stephen says, "But I think it will make him stronger. Enough to one day handle the likes of Spiceworld, should we ever get him restrained and locked in a room long enough to get through it."

David Lynch was never going to be too far away from our reviewing minds. He is the painter of the film industry and is not afraid to stick to a vision without sacrifice. There are no product placements, and you cannot watch it on a phone. It's Twin Peaks but darker, and doesn't shy away. It is FIRE WALK WITH ME

It's on blue tooth I mean blu-ray. Naturally everybody should go buy Guardians of the Galaxy (but leave the raccoons in the wild. they do not make good pets) - so our review of GotG came about as a surprise. We were all pumped up ready to review two really bad films, but two bad films do make a good one. This was a surprise of a film and finally, we have something in the cinema that is action packed that we do not question. It's allowed to be what it is and that is a very cool thing to be. For a movie anyway. Join Andy Lewin and myself for another episode of Frame By Frame.

Once again we delve into the beautiful yet fractured world of the Alien franchise, charting through the uneasiness of Alien Resurrection only to find ourselves in crossover territory with Alien Versus Predator. Then we rush past Alien Versus Predator 2: requiem (simply because we couldn't even SEE anything happening in it) to find solace in the Ridley Scott adventure, Prometheus. We then go full circle with the amazing Alien Isolation game that takes you back to the original.

Part 1 of two episode breakdown of the Alien Franchise, stopping short of everything except the novels. We go full circle beginning with Ridley Scott's landmark movie, taking us to war with James Cameron's vision of superior firepower. We then hit a visually impressive yet horribly depressing Alien3 which was still a remarkable debut for director David Fincher.