“Yo Dawg, I heard you like Anime, so we put some anime in your anime so you can weeaboo while you otaku…”

Dated memes aside, we wanted some dark, 80’s, sci-fi anime this week and what better way to get our fill than an anthology movie, namely Robot Carnival from 1987. Now, we don’t claim to be die hard anime enthusiasts and we are sure we’ve missed some context and history, but we take them as they come and discover that anthology films are really hit and miss by nature. So come and discover our personal hits and misses in our discussion including: the worst haircut in anime history, some very impressive animation, getting confused on who is Chicken Man and who is Red Neck, and slowly losing our minds with the convoluted ranking system we chose to adopt.

Disney have almost exclusively hit it out of the park with their live action meets animation films. They’ve got: Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Who Framed Roger Rabbit. And then there’s Pete’s Dragon. To be fair, it’s a respectable attempt to recapture the magic of some of those movies with a much reduced budget, but falls far short of the highs of it’s predecessors. Come and join our discussion about: some on point ‘invisible man’ practical effects, very forgettable musical numbers (apart from the one about child abuse and slavery), husbands lost at sea, treadmill barrels and Mickey Rooney looking the most Mickey Rooney.

Only three podcasting musketeers this time around to wage battle with The Four Musketeers from 1974, the sequel to the unexpectedly delightful comedy movie The Three Musketeers. Unfortunately, what surprised us about the first one is no longer present and the film descends to the low brow laziness we expected from the start. Surprising, considering they were originally filmed to be one film.

https://ia601608.us.archive.org/12/items/the-four-musketeers_202607/The%20Four%20Musketeers.mp3

We go back to the dark ages of comic book movies as we tear into Spawn from 1997 and we regret every second. We heard that it was notoriously bad, but we were still totally unprepared for it’s terrible impenetrableness. This time, expect: nobody being allowed to say the word ‘Hell’ despite entirely revolving around it, Martin Sheen’s evil guy voice, unnecessary skid marks, unexplained green goo, the absolute WORST CGI ever and Jesus Christ that bloody clown!

https://ia600400.us.archive.org/22/items/spawn_202607/Spawn.mp3

Get ready to check off your 80’s bingo cards as we scry upon Teen Witch from 1989, probably the most painfully derivative high-school movie ever made; a film so bad it almost feels like a parody of 80’s teenage nonsense movies. It’s a guilty nostalgic pleasure for one of the crew, but can they win the other around to it’s “‘so bad it’s good’-ness”? Come and find out in our discussion about: copious white-boy rap, terrible yet kinda catchy 80’s pop songs, squandering magical powers, Zelda Rubinstein love and that one moment where the film becomes a musical for no reason.

https://ia601905.us.archive.org/19/items/teen-witch_202606/Teen%20WItch.mp3

The “Popular Tv Character Gets a Movie” genre keeps resurfacing every few years despite almost always being unentertaining messes. But if their is one personality that this podcast thinks could pull it off it would probably be medical doctor come surreal stand-up Harry Hill, a comedian we all have affection for. Have we found the hidden gem of these British cash-in movies (that never actually seem to make any cash) or does it belong in the bin with the rest of them? Tune in to find out!

https://dn721504.ca.archive.org/0/items/the-harry-hill-movie_202606/The%20Harry%20Hill%20Movie.mp3

After a short tangent on classic British sitcom ‘Allo ‘Allo (can’t imagine why!), we dive into a semi-informed discussion of The Three Musketeers from 1973. And by semi-informed we mean one of us actually read the book for a change. Up for discussion this time: dog chess, carpet ripping, chicken skewering, laundry duels, Roy Kinnear appreciation, Michael York’s stuntman appreciation and wondering whether that was blue feces we saw.

https://ia600505.us.archive.org/7/items/the-three-musketeers_202606/The%20Three%20Musketeers.mp3

The Razors Edge was supposedly the reason that Bill Murray went on hiatus for 4 years in the 80’s, even though it came out the same year as Ghostbusters. The reception from audiences was poor at the time, so we are curious whether there is something there that people missed.
Well, we definitely found some respect for Theresa Russell’s harrowing performance and also some empathy for Bill Murray’s response to the film’s reception, but is that enough to get us to the end of this long, slow journey?

https://ia601800.us.archive.org/29/items/razors-edge_202605/Razors%20Edge.mp3

With this podcast’s mild obsession with the live action “Super Mario Bros.” movie it was all but inevitable that we would at some point tackle the “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” movie. Does this film succeed any better at making a cohesive story and world out of all the videogame nonsense than it’s predecessor? Well, it definetely looks great and we suppose it helps that they have an extra 30 years of canon to work with, but it certainly has it own unique pros and cons.

After some vegetable talk and Vic Reeves club singer impressions we get around to discussing The Defiant Ones from 1958, a film about two chained together convicts, one black and one white, as they try to elude authorities that we are weirdly much more familiar with the numerous parodies of. This time, expect: wet cigarette smoking, toad eating, turpentine pondering, Thunderbirds-style crashing effects and asking the question what’s long for ‘Lon’? (Leonidas, apparently!)

How do you make a film which deals with very depressing and gruesome subjects whilst also making it broadly and bitingly funny? You make a film about Ambulance drivers! Code 3, from 2025, is a hilarious comedy drama featuring slapstick, gross-out and cynical humour that chronicles a 24 hour shift of Emergency Responders, which constantly resists becoming overly sentimental as it deals with harrowing and grim matters such as: horrific accidents, mental illness, violence, hospital politics and severe burnout.