At The Flicks

Our Stephen King journey concludes for the time being with this episode. In this show we discuss Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 version of The Shining starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, Joining us for this episode are Rich and Lewis from Cindemic Nerds Podcast. This turns out to be a much more critical look at the movie than was expected. As you stay in the Overlook (best do it in the Summer and even then stay out of Room 237), you will find out: - What Jack Nicholson did to get himself in the mad mood required - Who came up with the idea of Danny talking to his finger - What the “snow” actually was - How the changes to Stephen King’s novel impacted on the Dr Sleep movie sequel. As we said in the previous show notes, we are bringing new people in to give their view on Stephen King over the course of this series. So, if you have a favourite Stephen King film or TV series and want to join us to talk about it, please drop us a line at jeffattheflicks@gmail.com. We aren’t recording the next batch until J

Our Stephen King journey continues. For this episode we discuss the 1979 TV version of Salem’s Lot, starring David Soul and James Mason. The genre name that stand out amongst the credits however, is director Tobe Hopper. Yes, the man who directed The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is making TV horror! This was a fact we never told Neil, because if we had he would never have watched it. Joining us for this episode is Niall from Movies In Focus. Niall certainly knows his Stephen King as his contribution to the episode shows (puts the team of three to shame!). As you travel through the town of Salem’s Lot (best do it in the day), you will find out: Why this was the costliest mini series ever made for TV up to that point in time How writer Paul Monash also links to Carrie (the subject of the previous episode) What the panel thought was missing from this three hour version Why Jeff never drinks red wine while watching horror movies As we said in the previous show notes, we are bringing new people in to give their vi

Before Covid 19 (if you can remember that far back), Lucy and Jeff discussed aspects of Stephen King’s work in general terms. That resulted in much positive feedback from our listeners. It proved so popular that it lead to the At The Flicks team having a socially distanced planning session to discuss how we could take the idea further. Jeff, always fanciful with his ideas, suggested inviting Stephen King onto the show. An idea so outlandish and expensive, it caused Graham to almost choke on his beer. Ultimately it was Neil who brought it back down to earth, when, after his fifth or sixth pint said “I know, let’s do a series where we devote each episode to a top King movie or TV show”. Graham and Jeff looked on in amazement and asked Neil to repeat that idea. It was too late by then, as Neil had fallen asleep. But the idea stayed. And so, our new series begins. Over the next few days we shall be talking Stephen King movies and TV mini series as our journey begins. To start, we are proud to present Carrie t

Horror franchise – You’re joking, not another one! You’re joking, not another one, is a quote made famous by Brenda from Bristol about another election. Brenda could also be talking about horror film sequels. Sequels that come so often they turn into that word “franchise”. Are they any good, or are they just a Xerox copy of the original template. To make sense of it all, Lucy, Jeff, Graham and Neil discuss this horror film legacy. OK, so just Lucy and Jeff discuss it while Graham fiddles with the volume control and Neil hides behind that a mysterious crate in a corner of the room. Lucy and Jeff each bring a favourite to the party and asks “where did it all go wrong”. Lucy has Saw and Jeff has Halloween. It’s not all negative as we talk about some themes that can actually work when played out over a series. Finally we ask, what horror films could do with a franchise – their scope just far too limited with one movie. The answers to this might surprise you. If we have missed your favourite horror series off this

How could we have a series of Halloween specials without a Carry On Streaming? Unthinkable. Having agreed that, how do we make our special special? Well, we bring in our streaming expert Declan, and Jardiel from Pulp Cereal to talk about one of the more intriguing shows of recent months. We are referring to Showtime network’s Penny Dreadful : City Of Angels. Hang on, I hear you say, isn’t this just a sequel to Penny Dreadful from a few years ago? What is so special about that? Firstly, it is not a sequel. Actually, apart from the name it has no connection. The story is set in 1930’s Los Angeles, whereas the original was set in Victorian England. Secondly, it is a stylish detective series with a strong cast and a monster (or God) or two. It is also a show which creates strong opinions. There are those on this podcast who didn’t warm to the show, while others loved it. Only one person sat on the fence – and surprisingly it wasn’t Neil. What did you think Penny Dreadful : City Of Angels? Are you team for o

Welcome to the start of At The Flicks’ spooky season. How better to start our series of shows than with a discussion which embraces classic horror movies. Not to be left out, wWe also look at modern horror films and ask the question – which is better – the old or the new. To join us for this discussion is a new voice to At The Flicks. Andy comes on board for semi regular chats about movie genres and will give us his opinions on what is worth watching or avoiding in the movie world. Here Andy gives us his views on horror movies. Can Andy persuade Neil and Graham to watch some of his excellent choices? Neil maintains he has previous watched some of them, but offers no evidence to refute his claim while Graham maintains the best ones are actually science fiction and therefore rationalised his viewings. So come with us as we talk The Exorcist, The Blair Witch Project, Get Out and many others. If any of your favourites are missing from this fascinating discussion, please let us know. And if you like this, listen o

A very special announcement from At The Flicks for the spooky season. Oh and also another opportunity for Jeff to torment Neil

Welcome to the latest movie review show from your At The Flicks team. The first thing you will notice is there is no Neil this month. Luckily, at great expense to the team (it’s coming out of your wages Neil), we were able to get an expert impressionist at short notice to stand in for him. For the most part all he had to say was “I agree with Graham”, so I don’t think anyone will notice the difference. Where was Neil I hear you ask? Great question. It appears Neil had checked his Grinch diary and found he had doubled booked the evening. In classic Green Misery style Neil told us, “sorry I have booked an evening meal with myself today, I just can’t cancel that again”. The conspiracy theorists amongst you will start to suspect that this is all part of Neil’s not so subtle ploy to drive Jeff insane. A charge Neil has yet to respond to without laughing. Luckily, the rest of the team, Graham, Phil, Darren and Jeff were all on hand to discuss the films they had seen. In fact this show is the nearest to a full ci

Welcome to the At The Flicks take on the Star Trek films. Over a podcast series we will be talking about the movies and what they mean to us. As this was an idea from Darren, he gets to sit in the captain’s chair guiding us through each of the adventures. Tech guy Graham becomes science officer Spock (are those ears real Graham?), making the technical decisions which each month will get an episode on air or delivered to a black hole. It is 50/50. For the part of the grumpy doctor there was only ever one person who could take on that role. Jeff. Shame he passes out at the sight of blood. Apart from that, being miserable and constantly moaning about “universes” is something he a world leader at. As for Neil, he will be wearing the red shirt and will not be a named character. That means his chance of surviving each podcast episode is as low as Donald Trump showing humility. Especially if Jeff can get him to walk by the air lock (either Neil or Trump). With the crew in position it is time to start up the Jerry

It’s time to say goodbye to Sylvester Stallone’s character 'Rambo' as we discuss the film and the politics of Rambo : Last Blood. In this movie Rambo comes home to America. A country very different to one he left when he went back to Vietnam in Rambo First Blood Part II. Ronald Reagan was President then and Donald Trump now. Which is quite fitting for a film where the Mexican border plays an important part in the story. Once again we discuss the politics of the film while also giving our views on the movie itself. Along the way we tackle such questions as: What did First Blood author think of this latest (final?) instalment of the Rambo series? Has Sylvester Stallone become the John Wayne of our age? Is the Rambo character a tragic hero figure forever doomed not to have a happy ending? Is the film right wing propaganda or something more subtle? Why does Neil confuse the Mexican / American border with a house boundary? Why is Graham besotted with the director – is it because of his past associations? All of th

The name’s Flicks – At The Flicks, and welcome to our James Bond special. In anticipation of the opening of No Time To Die in the near future (fingers crossed), the team look back at the early days of the James Bond films. Team member Elijah has a special 'Rediscovering the Classics' as he talks about two movies. From Russia With Love and Goldfinger. Which stands the test of time better and how do they stack up against Dr No (you can find our thoughts on that film in episode 64)? Listen in to find out. As an added bonus, Warren Ringham, the creator of the excellent 'Q The Music', joins us to talk about the music of the early James Bond films. We go from Monty Norman’s score for Dr No through to John Barry’s score for Goldfinger. Even Jeff, our film music specialist, learnt quite a bit listening to Warren. So, put on your tuxedo, make yourself a vodka martini (shaken not stirred, of course), and settle down for a wonderful At The Flicks special.

Welcome to the latest movie review show from your At The Flicks team. The first thing you will notice is that there are very few cinema reviews included in the show. No, it’s not because we are worried about going back to our local picture houses, it’s because Jeff had a theme for this show. Getting him to change his mind is like trying to get one of those old, rusty oil tankers to turnaround. It happens but veeerrry slowly. Don’t worry, we will be back at the movies for our next review show. If however, you are after some cinema films, listen out on this episode for Darren’s Dash. As for the theme for this show, it is, guilty pleasure movies. Five reviewers and five personal choices for us to discuss. Before that however, we managed to persuade Jeff to include 2 relatively new movies to streaming. Well, for one film Graham got a 100,000 signature partition to prorogue the show for the inclusion of the latest Mel movie, The Professor And The Madman. Even though we are sure the repeated Mel Gibson signature

Our examination of the politics of Rambo continues with the fourth in the series, simply titled Rambo. Uniquely, this film steps away from American involvement in foreign conflicts to look at the struggles of the Karen people in Myanmar. In reality it is a brutal struggle and that is certainly reflected in the film. Without question. it is the most violent of the series. The team and Elijah look at why and along the way address some of these questions - Why are the team watching different versions of the film? - Who were the original directors short listed to make the movie and why did Sylvester Stallone ultimately take on that role? - What are the penalties for watching this film in Myanmar? - What line of dialogue from the film became a rallying cry for the Karen freedom fighters? All of this and more interesting facts are addressed on the podcast. However as usual in these discussions (especially since we never meet face to face any more), we broaden our discussion to other related topics – more simply

The Summer is almost over. Holidays are complete and your 14 day quarantine is about to begin. What to do with that unexpected time at home? Obvious answer is turn on the TV. Next question, what is there to watch? And that is where we come in, or that is where you listen to our sage TV expert. Declan will guide you through all the channels and tell you what’s hot and what’s not. So, if you have been caught in Johnson’s moving lockdown game, Dec recommends the following to you to pass the time: The Salisbury Poisoning The Rise Of The Murdoch Dynasty Sunderland Till I Die Young Wallander Mrs America Ted Lasso Perry Mason and many others… Listen out as we also discuss the upcoming shows of the next few months. Think of us as a public service announcement. We have your best interests at heart, which is more than can be said for this Government

We are proud and honour to present to you our latest podcast. A few weeks ago, we talked to retired school teacher and first time film maker Gary Janks (proving you are never too old). His film, Chasing Mandela’s Rainbow is an examination of the modern day South African education system. At the heart of the film is the question – were Nelson Mandela’s very high education ideals realised? Gary answers that question through three very different students : Phendulani – a high achiever, both in the classroom and on the sports field. A potential future leader, but will the system give him the intellectual skills he needs? Andile – Keen to learn. Unfortunately the poor rural area where she goes to school may not have the funds or skills to develop her education. Mahlatse – A complex boy. He has the knowledge but will his extra curricular activities hurt his schooling? It is a deeply moving and thought provoking film. If you are interested in watching this incredible movie, a link to rent it is below. Also, be

Howdy partners, it’s been a while since we last met up on our Western trail. Why not saddle up again and join Jeff The Kid, Itchy Trigger Finger Graham and Snake Eyes Neil? We are going to ride along and jaw about True Grit. The version we are discussing is the 1969 version for which John Wayne won the Best Actor Oscar. Indeed, his performance as the mean no nonsense lawman who likes to bend an elbow has been a role model for our Jeff all his life. True Grit came out just a year after the release of Charles Portis’ original novel and became one of the top ten highest grossing films of 1969. We look at why it was successful, what is it about the movie that appeals to your At The Flicks team and why it still retains such a high reputation today. What you may find surprising, as we did, is how troubled the production was. Some of the original casting choices walked before filming started, or asked for so much money the budget couldn’t accommodate their request. Then there were the on set arguments and the ref

And we're back!!! It has been a long month as we desperately looked around for films to review. With just the odd one on Prime and Netflix, we had to have a team meeting to come up with a review idea. Such meetings drag on when Neil says "it must be foreign language". So Jeff swore at him in Welsh. Meeting abandoned. We tried again a few days later. That meeting started well. Graham said let's look at the film's of Christopher Nolan (as Tenet "almost" opened around that time). Then Phil threw in "I have a foreign language film idea". Jeff accused him of being brainwashed by Neil and the meeting once again descended into chaos and abandonment once again. Third and final meeting. Graham, the peacemaker, said let's all pick a film we always meant to see but never got around to. It meant Graham could have a Nolan film, Neil and Phil could have foreign language and Jeff and Darren could make their own choices.

Time to put the flags out. Lockdown, for the moment at least, is coming to an end. Life slowly is beginning to return to normal (whatever that means). Now the question can be asked, just how did you spend you time at home during these last few months? Well, we know exactly what our streaming expert Declan was doing – watching TV so that he could inform you what is worth your time on terrestrial and streaming TV platforms. So, when the rains come (and let’s face it, if you are in Britain, that is our Summer) you know what to check out. There is the latest season of Killing Eve, or if you are Jeff, all three seasons of Killing Eve (and The Sopranos, The Wire etc). Then there is the amazingly violent Gangs Of London, Harley Quinn, Little Fires Everywhere and State Of Happiness. All highly recommended from our TV and boxset expert. Also if you want to catch up on an old favourite, there is Buffy The Vampire Slayer being shown from the beginning on E4. Neil once threatened to watch the whole thing, but only mad

In our latest episode Jeff and Graham are speaking to BBC Radio Gloucestershire presenter Jo Durrant. Jo hosts a wonderful science themed show called Jo Durrant’s Beautiful Universe. It should therefore come as no surprise for the theme of this show to be all things science. We talk both fact and fiction, as Jo reveals some of her favourite films. For fiction we talk about ET and 2001 (be aware, we speak at length about the enigmatic ending of that latter film as we try to work out exactly what it meant!). Then there are the powerful fact based dramas First Man and Apollo 13. That leads us neatly onto talking about space travel in general, returning again to documentaries (our big love at the moment – see also show 93). Graham and Jeff bombard Jo with such questions as What is it like to wear a space suit? How dangerous are space missions? How do you respond to people who say the moon landings did not take place? And many others. So if you, like us, are missing the Beautiful Universe show, then come along wi

Lockdown may be easing for many people, but home entertainment remains extremely important (just when are those cinemas going to open?). By now you have probably exhausted all the TV box sets and “must watch” films you have been putting off for many years. This is where At The Flicks once again performs its civic duty for you, our listeners. Why not try documentaries? We speak to documentary film maker Sam Pope about some of the best documentaries out there. As you would expect from Sam, he has some amazing choices. From Errol Morris’ The Thin Blue Line to Ken Burns’ The Vietnam War, he discusses some unforgettable films (and series) to watch. A top ten list put together for you. This is something the team discuss at length with Sam, although as usual when Slenderman is mentioned, Graham and Neil are nowhere to be found. Guys, despite all you have heard, it is not real. Many of our selections are powerful and we urge you not to binge watch. For less disturbing viewing, why not check out Behind The Curve or Th