It is truth universally acknowledged that sequels are always better than the original so please enjoy Part 2 of our 2019 Oscar conversation. You’ll hear Brian school Seán on his childhood days in Mr Rogers’ Neighborhood, whilst Seán suggests that JOKER is far from Kingly in its Comedy. It’s all here: the Pain and the Glory of “Being Alive”. It’s been so good to be back. How long til our next episode...? We don’t dare say how long xoxo

Back by popular demand, Seán and Brian go to the Oscars! In our usual take no prisoners style, we get down and dirty with the acting nominees… but not the ones you think. Listen as Seán mansplains THE IRISHMAN to a clueless imaginary twink, Brian dreams of Brad’s rad dad bod and both hosts genuflect to kiss two Papal rings. Sorry, ladies, it’s Men Only tonight. (Part 1 of 2) Clips from the film presented according to fair use policy. Podcast Theme: "Pipeline" by CyberSDF (https://soundcloud.com/cybersdf/tracks).

1950. 1987. There are certain years when the Best Actress lineup at the Oscars is so stacked with talent that it is nay on impossible to make a choice. With a legendary veteran, a pop megastar, a British genius up for her first award, a comedic superstar transitioning into drama and a total unknown all in competition, 2018 is the kind of year that makes fans like Seán and Brian go Gaga. In one of our longest discussions EVER, we anatomise every aspect of these five women and their performances - from the good to the great to the unjustly rewarded (Seán has opinions on THE WIFE. Get ready.) It is a Close call and the performances are even richer than they Aparicio! Multiple Stars have been Born (or Re-Born) this year and yet we must somehow pick a Favourite. CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE US????! Clips from the film presented according to fair use policy. Podcast Theme: "Pipeline" by CyberSDF (https://soundcloud.com/cybersdf/tracks).

The telecast is a mess, The Academy keeps making boneheaded decisions, and Bohemian Rhapsody may win multiple awards, but…. THANK GOD FOR ACTRESSES! (Now more than ever.) We are back, binches, with our annual Special Edition waxing rhapsodic about the Academy Award and a truly vintage year for female acting nominees, starting off with the five ladies in the supporting category. And since we’ve been away for nearly two months, we’ve got A LOT to talk about. Enjoy this first act, with another one to follow! Xoxo Clips from the film presented according to fair use policy. Podcast Theme: "Pipeline" by CyberSDF (https://soundcloud.com/cybersdf/tracks).

We finally left the house!! Last month, Broad Appeal went out into the wild for our first-ever LIVE event as part of Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest in East London. Now you too can pretend you were there. Name an actress who is indisputably iconic… does she have what it takes to enter the Broad Appeal Hall of Fame? Your candidates are: a) a neurotic New Yorker; b) a delicious Dame; c) a moving Mum; d) a Force of Nature; e) a prissy Princess ripe for rehabilitation. Seán and Brian convened an All-Star panel - Nat Luurtsema, Kemah Bob and Shon Faye - to nominate and advocate for the candidates, before the live audience determined the winner. This is, without question, the most satisfying election result of 2018!!! (With special shout-out to technical wizards Will Swinburne & Helen MacKenzie who engineered the show.) Happy New Year and we’ll be with you again during Oscar season. Xxxx Clips from the film presented according to fair use policy. Podcast Theme: "Pipeline" by CyberSDF (https://soundcloud.com/cybersdf/tracks).

Welcome to Broad Appeal...after dark. Ahead of tonight's screening of THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE at the Cinema Museum, Seán and Brian engage in a diverse, insightful, and (let's face it) meandering conversation about gay Hollywood producer extraordinaire, Ross Hunter. While forgotten by history, this dippy queen's fingerprints are all over some of classic Hollywood’s biggest pictures, including ones that feature in both Brian’s and Seán’s feature personal canons.  From melodramas to musicals, Sirk to sex farce, Hunter sold audiences on his magnificent obsessions: artifice and not reality. Join us on this journey as we consume a full bottle of wine and wax poetic about a forgotten queer icon who possessed true Broad Appeal!! Clips from the film presented according to fair use policy. Podcast Theme: "Pipeline" by CyberSDF (https://soundcloud.com/cybersdf/tracks).

The time has come... to snap out of it! The last in our 1987 Best Actress series is the timeless, charming and Oscar-winning MOONSTRUCK, starring Cher in her iconic role of lovelorn Brooklynite Loretta Castorini, who falls for the sweaty, agro charms of her fiancé's brother, played by a never-more-gorgeous Nicolas Cage. Cher was the ultimate winner that year and it's easy to see why: a genuinely multi-faceted role in a popular, much loved movie, with great dialogue by John Patrick Shanley and a stellar supporting cast featuring Danny Aiello, Vincent Gardienia, John Mahoney and (quite possibly the movie's MVP) Olympia Dukakis. It's a film that Seán has seen so many times he can recite it and we know Brian can't resist all that Italian stuff. But will the Broad Appeal boys cast their decisive votes for Cher? Listen and find out who our Oscar goes to...

In Oscar history, there have been some inexplicable moments: the Streaker, Christolph Wattz’s second Oscar, CRASH?? But none was more surprising, unprecedented and downright mind-boggling than the lone Best Actress nomination for Sally Kirkland in ANNA, a film that is practically mythical (especially since it is so hard to find). Kirkland herself is the stuff of legend. From bit parts in forgettable films where only her back faces the camera (A STAR IS BORN), she somehow strong-armed her way into one of the strongest Best Actress fields ever. Yes, Sally sent personal letters to every member of the Academy. Yes, she won the Golden Globe. Yes, based on her facial expression at the ceremony, it even seems that she thought she had a chance to win. ANNA is a rarity and an oddity. The story of a Czech dissident movie star living in New York, it depicts spiritual vampirism in which one woman’s waning life force is sucked dry by a newer, prettier model. Sally speaks in Czech, bears her breasts, stuffs her face with cake and even screams the verses to Humpty Dumpty while hopping on one foot. THIS WOMAN REALLY WANTED AN OSCAR. It takes effort to find a copy of ANNA and we have done the work for you. Enjoy the fruits of our labour - and of Sally’s never-ending determination. Clips from the film presented according to fair use policy. Podcast Theme: "Pipeline" by CyberSDF (https://soundcloud.com/cybersdf/tracks).

Have we got news for you! And we promise it’s 100% guaranteed to please. Here, announced for the first time, is our lineup of all-star guests for Broad Appeal….. LIVE, coming to you on Sat 17th November at Hackney House in Shoreditch as part of Fringe! Queer Film & Art Fest. Tickets are FREE but there aren’t many of them so do be sure to book in advance at: www.fringefilmfest.com - SEE YOU THERE!

Period dramas don't always feature big dresses and country mansions - in the case of BROADCAST NEWS ‘period’ means VHS tapes, chunky telephone receivers and something called the "nightly news." In the third installment of our 1987 Best Actress series, we look at Holly Hunter's first big leading role in James L. Brooks' weird and wordy romantic dramedy. The trifecta of almost likable characters are: Holly's scrappy news producer Jane; Albert Brooks' petulant, nebbishy reporter Aaron; and William Hurt (beloved of Irish Mammies everywhere) as the hunky but lunky Lead Anchor, Tom. Crushes are formed, journalistic ethics are violated and everyone, at some point, is kind of a jerk. BROADCAST NEWS is an 80s time capsule of bad suits and weird hair (especially on Joan Cusack) depicting a media landscape that teeters on the edge of obsolescence, with a terrible beauty about to be born. We read the news today, oh boy!

You may be tempted to skip this episode… but don’t follow Brian’s bad example. That’s right, for the first time in the history of this podcast (and, in fact, his life) Brian Mullin hasn’t done his homework. And, believe us, Depression-era misery-fest IRONWEED does feel like homework. In the second of our 1987 Best Actress contenders, Meryl and Jack Nicholson are two alcoholic hoboes who are haunted by guilt, ghosts and grime. Pretty it isn’t, but Meryl gets to deliver both a song and a hand job so it’s not entirely without interest. To be fair, Brian did see it 20 years ago. In fact, he was such a diligent student, HE EVEN READ THE NOVEL!! But in this instance he’s totally got amnesia, meaning that Seán must come to his rescue by jogging memories that are hazier than a drunk’s in the gutter. Is Meryl doing extraordinary acting in mostly solo set-pieces or is this just an egregious example of Prestige Category Fraud? Be our pals and listen along to this free-wheeling, unconventional episode. We promise it’s more fun that watching the movie!! Clips from the film presented according to fair use policy. Podcast Theme: "Pipeline" by CyberSDF (https://soundcloud.com/cybersdf/tracks).