Podcast: Pinocchio & Saloum

Pinnochio & Saloum

Greetings programs! We’re back after a two-week break with two new movies, one hot off the presses from the largest media conglomerate in history and the other finally seeing wide release after a successful festival run last year. First up is Robert Zemeckis’ live-action remake of Disney’s Pinocchio, followed by the Senegalese action horror movie Saloum. One of these movies we really didn’t like, listen to find out which and then watch the other!

You’ll find JustWatch-powered streaming links below, as well as our ratings, how you can listen, how you can support us, and all of our other content. Join us!

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Podcast: Lightyear & Prey

Lightyear & Prey

Greetings, programs, and welcome to another episode of the Awesome Friday Podcast. This week we’re talking about two new Disney releases: First, the latest Pixar Studios animated feature, Lightyear, followed by Prey director Dan Trachtenberg’s prequel to to the 1980s action horror classic Predator.

There are streaming links powered by JustWatch a little further down this page, and the episode should be live wherever you listen to podcasts (including on this page) now.

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Bonus Podcast: Our Favourite Marvel Movies, featuring over a dozen of our friends

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Greetings, programs, and welcome to a special bonus episode of the Awesome Friday Podcast. In our main episode this week, we asked over fifty of our friends to contribute their top ten Marvel Cinematic Universe entries and used those to establish a consensus top ten.

We also asked everyone if they would be willing to record a short audio clip about their favourite with the intent of sprinkling those into the show. Well, we didn’t get one from everyone, but we did get a level of response that made that plan a little untenable. So we used them to build this special bonus episode.

We’d very much like to thank everyone who contributed to the project and this episode specifically. It has been a lot of fun and rewarding to see our community come together.

We’re going to start with Simon and me speaking about our number one Marvel movie from our recent episode and then jump right into our friends talking about theirs. We hope you enjoy it.

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Podcast: Marvel Extravaganza! Ms Marvel, Thor: Love & Thunder, Our MCU Top Ten(s), and The Ultimate MCU Top Ten

Ms Marvel, Thor: Love & Thunder, Marvel Top Ten

Greetings, programs, and welcome to our one year anniversary! It’s hard to believe we relaunched the podcast a year ago to the day but here we are a year later. We are so grateful for all of you, for your listening and engagement, and for the community that we’re starting to build.

It’s fitting that this week saw the release of two new Marvel Cinematic Universe entries because that’s how the show began. Last year we covered the Disney+ series Loki and the film Black Widow. We decided to make an event of it, so this is a super-sized episode –nearly 2 hours long. Not only do we discuss the new Disney+ series Ms Marvel and the new film Thor: Love & Thunder, but we also break down both Simon and my MCU top ten lists, and then we asked over fifty of our friends to contribute to a consensus top ten list. That’s right, the top ten MCU entries as decided by over fifty people.

Below are streaming links powered by JustWatch for both of the new entries we discussed, a breakdown of the methodology used to determine the consensus top ten, an embedded player for the episode, and a complete listing of over 30 podcast networks you can find us on.

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Podcast: The Sea Beast & Obi-Wan Kenobi

The Sea Beast & Obi-Wan Kenobi

Greeting programs! Join us this week as we discuss the upcoming Netflix animated film The Sea Beast, directed by Chris Williams and starring Karl Urban and Jared Harris, and the recently concluded Obi-Wan Kenobi series from Disney+.

There are streaming links powered by JustWatch a little further down this page, and the episode should be live wherever you listen to podcasts (including on this page) now.

Join us!

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Marvel’s Moon Knight is a bit disjointed

Moon Knight

Comics are weird. There’s no denying this simple fact, and there’s no use trying. This fact is universal and can be a barrier to entry for new fans. Sometimes 50 years of lore is a lot to wrap your head around. One of the great strengths of Marvel’s ongoing cinematic universe is that initially, at least, it distilled all that lore into something easier to swallow. Twenty-plus films later, its greatest strength is that when a new character walks onto the screen and says, “I’m a man with split personalities, one of whom in the warrior avatar of the Egyptian moon god Khonshu and I’m here to punish the wicked” most people’s reaction will be “sure, that makes sense.”

Of course, this can also be a flaw –as it is with Marvel’s latest series– in which there is so little explanation that there is almost no reason to care. There is no trial by which Oscar Isaac’s Marc Spectre obtained his powers or much in explaining his back story; he walks on-screen fully formed. Well, half-formed, because if you glossed over it in the previous paragraph, this is a man with multiple identities. This show is, in a word, a lot.

Being a lot isn’t necessarily a deal-breaker, but while there are many things to love in this series, there are just as many that make it a complicated watch.

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Podcast: Deep Water & Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood

Deep Water & Apollo 10 1/2

Salutations applications and welcome to a new episode of the Awesome Friday Podcast! This week we’re taking a closer look at two new films: First, director Adrian Lyne’s new film Deep Water starring Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas, recently released on Amazon Prime here in Canada and Hulu in the US, followed by Richard Linklater’s latest animated nostalgia piece, Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood.

Join us!

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Podcast: ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ & ‘Pam & Tommy’

The Book of Boba Fett / Pam & Tommy

Greetings programs! This week on the Awesome Friday Podcast, we talk about two new series, both from Disney. First up is The Book of Boba Fett, which has aired five episodes and is struggling to figure out precisely what it wants to be. Next, Pam & Tommy, the upcoming miniseries starring Lily James, Sebastian Stan, and Seth Rogen, depicts a specific moment in 90s pop culture with staggering accuracy and honestly. 

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Review: ‘Hawkeye’ premiere episodes are lighthearted fun

Hawkeye

The main complaint about Clint Barton’s Hawkeye as a character, at least when it comes to the MCU version, is that he’s boring. I’ve never quite thought that myself, but it’s easy to see where it comes from: he’s a spy that shoots good, and in most of the films, that’s kind of all he is.

What the new Disney+ series Hawkeye proposes is: what if that’s ok?

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Awesome Friday Movie Podcast: ‘Muppets Haunted Mansion’ & ‘There’s Someone Inside Your House’

Awesome Friday Podcast

Greetings programs! It’s Awesome Friday, on a Sunday, because it’s a state of mind and not a time or place. This week Simon and I are talking about Disney’s new Halloween special, Muppets Haunted Mansion and Netflix’s new teen slasher, There’s Someone Inside Your House.

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Awesome Friday Movie Podcast: ‘Star Wars: Visions’ & ‘Midnight Mass’

Awesome Friday Podcast: Star Wars: Visions & Midnight Mass

Greetings programs! It’s that time again, Awesome Friday on a Sunday! Remember, it’s a state of mind and not a day of the week. In this episode, we have two new series to talk about, the latest Star Wars project Star Wars: Visions and director Mike Flanagan’s latest series for Netflix, Midnight Mass. This episode is nearly 90s minutes long, but that’s because we absolutely loved one of these series and have a lot to say about it. Join us!

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