Flixwatcher: A Netflix Film Review Podcast

Stew and Smith from It Doesn’t Hold Up podcast join Flixwatcher to review Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice (1988) is a fantasy horror comedy directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton as Betelgeuse, a sleazy ‘bio-exorcist’, Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis as Adam and Barbara, the unfortunate couple who die and return to their house to be haunted by the new inhabitants which include Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz, a teenage goth. Beetlejuice set the tone for Tim Burton’s films of the 1980s and 1990s and 2024 saw the long awaited sequel which would star a number of the original cast. Beetlejuice balances creepy horror with genuine laughs, mainly down to Keaton’s sex pest antagonist and Ryder’s charming Lydia (Ryder was only 15 when she filmed this!). Recommendability for Beetlejuice was pretty high, taking into account the nostalgia and also the lack of real plot. Decent scores for the remaining Flixwatcher categories give a very respectable overall score of 4.52. [supsystic-tables id=382]     Episode #368 Crew Links

Podcast producers Vic Turnbull and Charles Commins return to Flixwatcher to review Vic’s choice Bad Boys II. Bad Boys II (2003) is the second film in the Bad Boys franchise, directed by Michael Bay and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Theresa Randle, and Joe Pantoliano all reprise their roles from the previous film, Bad Boys (1995). Detective Lieutenant Michael Eugene 'Mike' Lowrey (Smith) and Detective Lieutenant Marcus Miles Burnett (Lawrence) are back in Miami. This time investigating the ecstasy drug trade. A bust during a Klan meeting leads to Mike accidentally shooting Marcus in the ass. The trail leads them to drug lord Hector Juan Carlos "Johnny" Tapia. In pursuit of him Bayhem ensues with car chases, shoot outs and mortuary raids. Recommendability scores for Bad Boys II were mixed, its mix of violence and comedy makes it a niche audience and some of humour hasn’t aged well. With a runtime of 2 hours and 36 mins scores for repeat viewing were low to give an overall rating o

The Reverend Scott K (The Church of Tarantino podcast) and Elwood Jones (Asian Cinema Film Club podcast) join Flixwatcher to review Scott’s choice Godzilla Minus One. Godzilla Minus One (2023) is a Japanese Kaiju film and the 37th in the Godzilla franchise. This Godzilla was written and directed Takashi Yamazaki, and also visual effects that went on to win the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. Becoming the first non-English language film in Academy Awards history to do so. It was the first Godzilla film to be nominated for an Academy Award. Set in post-war Japan, kamikaze pilot Kōichi Shikishima lands his plane onto Odo Island for repairs. Lead mechanic Sōsaku Tachibana suspects that he is actually faking the mechanical issues to avoid his duty. During the night Godzilla attacks the island. Shikishima fails to shoot and is knocked unconscious. He wakes up to find him and Tachibana are the only survivors, and Tachibana is angry he did not attack Godzilla. Shikishima returns home to find his parents dead and is p

Sumit Sharma and Chris Mitchell from Breaking Atoms podcast return to Flixwatcher to review Sumit’s choice American Gangster. American Gangster (2007) is biographical crime thriller based on Harlem drug lord Frank Lucas. Directed by Ridley Scott and screenplay by Steven Zaillian based on the The Return of Superfly by Mark Jacobson. It’s stacked cast features Denzel Washington as Frank Lucas, Russell Crowe as Richie Roberts, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Huey Lucas, Josh Brolin as Detective Trupo, RZA as Moses Jones, Cuba Gooding Jr. as Nicky Barnes, Armand Assante as Dominic Cattano, Idris Elba as Tango and Common as Turner Lucas. In 1960s Harlem Frank Lucas is Bumpy Johnson’s right-hand man. When Bumpy dies of a heart attack Frank sees an opportunity to innovate in the drug trade by buying directly from the source in Vietnam and thus cutting out the middle man. Not only that, he trademarks his superior heroin as ‘Blue Magic’ and its affordability eliminates the competition. All is going well for Frank until he comes u

Liam H Dempsey (Spocklight podcast) and Tommy James (Little White Lies, Zavvi) return to Flixwatcher to review Liam’s choice AmbuLAnce. Ambulance (2022) is a heist thriller directed by Michael (Bad Boys) Bay. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Danny Sharp, a well known criminal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Will Sharp, a former U.S. Marine and Afghanistan veteran and Danny’s adoptive brother, Eiza González as Paramedic Thompson and Garret Dillahunt as LAPD Captain Monroe, field leader of the LAPD SIS unit. Will desperately needs money for his wife’s surgery and reaches out to his adoptive brother Danny for help. Will reluctantly agrees to take part in Danny’s heist. Not a spoiler but the heist doe not go well and Will and Danny end up stealing an ambulance and taking Paramedic Thompson and an injured police officer as hostages. Are you ready for some Bayhem?!? While it was not as bad as Tommy thought it would be, Kobi found it all too stupid. Liam and Helen were big fans though but even their high scores can’t rescue A

Em (Verbal Diorama: A Film History Podcast) and Chris Johnston (Easy Riders Raging Podcast) return to Flixwatcher to review Em’s choice Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) is animated Spider-Man film this time focussing on Miles Morales/Spider-Man modern reimagining of Marvel’s Spider-Man character. It is directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter (Rise of the Guardians) Ramsey and Rodney Rothman and based on a screenplay by Phil (The Lego Movie) Lord and Rodney Rothman. It stars Shameik Moore as Morales, alongside the voices of Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Brian Tyree Henry, Lily Tomlin, Luna Lauren Vélez, John Mulaney, Kimiko Glenn, Nicolas Cage, and Liev Schreiber. In this Spider-Man origin film, teenager Miles Morales is struggling with no living up to the expectations of his police officer father. He gets along better with his uncle Aaron who takes him on trips to graffiti abandoned buildings. On a trip to a subway Miles is bitten by a radioactive spider

Michael and Ian from Lord Of Adders Black: A Blackadder Podcast join Flixwatcher to review Michael’s choice Hot Fuzz. Hot Fuzz (2007) is an action comedy directed by Edgar Wright starring Simon Pegg (who co-wrote the screenplay) and Nick Frost. It also stars the who’s who of British TV and film, Jim Broadbent, Paddy Considine, Timothy Dalton, Bill Nighy, Edward Woodward, Bill Bailey, Adam Buxton, Olivia Colman and Rafe Spall. Ambitious Police Sargent Nicholas Angel (Pegg) is reassigned from London to the rural town Sandford in Gloucestershire due to his overachieving and making the rest of the force look bad. He has an eventful first evening in the Sandford and arrests a local man for drunk driving who is revealed to be PC Danny Butterman (Frost), his new police partner. Despite appearances a series of tragic accidents bestow a number of the Sandford residents with Angel suspecting foul play. Recommendability scores for Hot Fuzz were very high. Despite having watched Hot Fuzz multiple times before the engagem

Tom Salinsky and John Dorney and from Best Pick podcast return to Flixwatcher to review Tom’s choice Matilda the Musical. Matilda the Musical (2022) is a musical adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel based on the stage musical by Tim Minchin. It is directed by Matthew (Pride) Warchus and stars Alisha Weir as Matilda alongside Lashana Lynch as Miss Honey Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough as Mr and Mrs Wormwood and Emma Thompson as Miss Trunchbull. Matilda the Musical follows the same story as the classic novel. Forever the disappointment of her family for not being born a boy, Matilda finds joy and escapism in reading. When it is discovered she has never been to school she is sent to Crunchem Hall. While at school she impresses the shy Miss Honey and irritates the angry and violent Miss Trunchbull with her precocious talents. Where it differs from the novel is the sub plot of an escapologist who falls in love with and marries an acrobat that is reoccurring. Is Matilda the best musical film of the last 20 yea

Eliza Janssen (Midnight Screening podcast) and Tansy Gardam (Going Rogue Podcast) join Flixwatcher to review Eliza’s choice Final Destination. Final Destination (2000) is the first film in the Final Destination horror franchise. It stars Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Kerr Smith, and Tony Todd and is directed by James (Jet Li’s The One) Wong and written by Wong and Glen Morgan. After having a premonition of a mid air plane explosion Alex cheats death by being thrown off. Several of his classmates and his teacher all end up leaving as well. Death, intent on completing the plan, starts picking off the survivors in the order they were meant to die. The Final Destination franchise is framed for its elaborate and red herring filled death sequences that are both wince inducing and comical. The deaths might be gory but the tone is never too serious. The recommendability for Final Destination reflects the widely held opinion that while Final Destination is fun it isn’t the best in the franchise. With a runtime of 98 minutes

Sarah McDowell (The SEO Mindset Podcast) and Natasha Willings (Limitless Learning education services) join Flixwatcher to review Sarah’s choice How to Blow Up a Pipeline. How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2022) is action-thriller inspired by the book of the same name by Andreas Malm that explores ideas on climate activism and sabotage to create change. The film is directed by Daniel (Cam - do check out our Fixwatcher episode on this!) Goldhaber and stars relatively unknown actors Ariela Barer, Kristine Froseth, Lukas Gage, Forrest Goodluck, Sasha Lane, Jayme Lawson, Marcus Scribner, Jake Weary, and Irene Bedard.   The film version follows a fictional group of eight people who are brought together to blow up an oil pipeline at two key locations. Their motivations range from being directly affected by the actions of the oil company or to be climate activists. They all feel that non-disruptive action is not sufficient and are prepared to risk prison to carry out the plan.   Recommendability scores for How to Blow Up a

Podcast producers Charles Commins and Vic Turnbull join Flixwatcher to review Charles’ choice The Final: Attack on Wembley. The Final: Attack on Wembley (2024) is a Netflix documentary explores the anti-social behaviour and attempt made by 6000 football fans/hooligans to enter Wembley without a ticket to watch the Euro 2021 Finals. The documentary is made up of news and mobile phone footage from the day and interviews. It is notable that there are no famous names interviewed and some of the choice of “fans” to interview are an embarrassment to football. There is a distinctive lack of journalism in this documentary. Illegal and anti-social behaviour is given a platform and not challenged and very little insight is given from the other interviews. Very few questions are asked about the apparent lack of concern or real plans for dealing with the chaos inside and outside. Recommendability scores for The Final: Attack on Wembley reflected the overall quality of the content and the lack of investigation by the film

Chris and Sumit from Breaking Atoms podcast join Flixwatcher to review Chris’ choice They Cloned Tyrone. They Cloned Tyrone (2023) is a science fiction action comedy mystery film directed by Juel (Creed II writer) Taylor in his directorial debut. It stars John Boyega as Fontaine/Tyrone, a local drug dealer, Jamie Foxx as Slick Charles a pimp and Teyonah Parris as Yo-Yo, one of Slick’s girls. One evening Fontaine is doing business with Slick where he is shot and fatally killed by a rival dealer Isaac. The following day Slick is surprised to see Fontaine apparently alive and well, with no recognition of the previous day or shooting. Fontaine and Slick find Yo-Yo who confirms the shooting and the trio follow a vehicle to a house that reveals a secret lab where a very strange experiment is taking place. They Cloned Tyrone brings a variety of genres together including sci-fi and blaxploitation and at times a Scooby Doo mystery. In trying to bring in so many genres it sometimes feels a little unfocused and many of

Josh Hallam and Alice Oliver (Just Films & That podcast) return to Flixwatcher to review Josh’s choice Spider-Man: No Way Home. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) is the third instalment of the Tom Holland Spider-Man Marvel/Sony franchise. Directed by Jon (Spider-Man: Homecoming) Watts, it sees Tom Holland reprising his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man alongside Zendaya's MJ, Marisa Tomei as Aunt May and Jacob Batalon as Ned.  Directly following the events from Spider-Man: Far From Home, Peter Parker's identity as Spider-Man has been revealed by Mysterio. In an effort to restore things back to normal, Peter visits Dr Stange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to cast a spell to make Spider-Man's identity a secret again. When the spell goes wrong, it opens up the multiverse and unleashes several entities connected to Peter into this universe. Spider-Man NWH is the highest grossing Spider-Man film and saw Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield reprise their versions of Spider-Man alongside their respective villains. Some of which

William (Bill) DeMeritt (actor and writer) and James III (Black Men Can't Jump [In Hollywood] podcast) return to Flixwatcher to review Bill's choice Spaceman. Spaceman (2024) is a science fiction drama based on the novel Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfař and directed by Johan (Chernobyl) Renck. It stars Adam Sandler as Jakub Procházka, a Czech astronaut six months into a space mission to investigate a mysterious cloud of dust and particles, called Chopra. Carey Mulligan is Lenka, Jakub's pregnant wife. Isabella Rossellini co stars as Commissioner Tuma, Jakub's commanding officer with Paul Dano who voices Hanuš, an extraterrestrial spider. Jakub is lonely and misses Lenka. Unbeknown to Jakub, Lenka has sent a message says she wants to leave him. The message is intercepted by Commissioner Tuma who rules that Jakub should not receive the message as it will worsen his mental health and compromise the mission. Days later a telepathic spider appears inside the spaceship and they discuss humanity. Spaceman is

Sean Wilson and Andy Williams from Frame to Frame podcast return to Flixwatcher to review Sean’s choice Talk to Me. Talk to Me (2022) is an Australian supernatural horror film directorial debut from Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou. Who are also known as horror comedy YouTubers RackaRacka. In Talk to Me a group of teenagers who discover they are able to contact the dead using a mysterious embalmed hand. Mia (Sophie Wilde) is struggling with her relationship with her father and consumed with grief following her mother’s suicide two years previously. Mia and her best friend Jade (Alexandra Jensen) and younger brother Riley sneak out to a house party where the main attraction is having a go on the hand that can summon the dead. By holding the hand and saying ‘Talk to Me’ for 90 seconds the spirits of the dead enter the human body, any longer than 90s seconds the spirits will possess the body with horrific consequences. Talk to Me was the sleeper hit of 2022 and took over $90 million at the Box Office on a b

The Art of the Heist: Why "Logan Lucky" is a Must-Watch Heist movies have been thrilling audiences for decades with their intricate plots, charismatic characters, and the undeniable rush from watching a well-crafted caper unfold. "Logan Lucky," directed by Steven Soderbergh, is an exceptional entry in this exciting genre. Here's why you should add it to your must-watch list. A Fresh Take on Familiar Territory At its core, "Logan Lucky" is about pulling off an impossible robbery. But rather than treading overused ground, it offers a fresh perspective by setting the action in the American South and infusing every scene with heart and humour. Channing Tatum leads as Jimmy Logan—a man determined to reverse his family's curse with one grand heist during a NASCAR race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Star-Studded Performances That Charm The film boasts both grounded and delightfully over-the-top performances—none more so than Daniel Craig's Joe Bang, an explosives expert who steals every scene he’s in. The trio makes f

Barney Boom and Laila Khan from Sonic Boom Six return to Flixwatcher to review Barney’s choice Creep. Creep (2014) is a found footage horror film directed by Patrick Brice and based on a story by Brice and Mark Duplass, who both star. Inspired by Brice’s experience on Craigslist, Brice plays Aaron, a struggling videographer who accepts a request from Josef (Duplass). The request is to join Josef in his remote cabin to film a video diary for his unborn son. Josef tells Aaron he has inoperable cancer and wants to leave a video legacy. As Josef exhibits increasingly bizarre behaviour Aaron begins to regret accepting the assignment. Creep is 77 minutes of very strange and creepy behaviour, some of the scenes are deeply disturbing but also hilarious. Recommendability scores for Creep were mixed, while Flixwatcher and guests loved it, due to it’s disturbing content it isn’t an easy one to widely recommend. A runtime of 77 minutes helped with engagement and repeat viewing scores to give an overall rating of 4.11. [s

Tommy James (Little White Lies, Zavvi) and Liam H Dempsey (Spocklight podcast) join Flixwatcher to review Tommy’s choice They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead. They'll Love Me When I'm Dead (2018) is a documentary about the ill-fated final Orson Welles film The Other Side of the Wind. The Other Side of the Wind (2018) was intended to be Welles’ comeback but he died before it was completed. Peter Bogdanovich, who also stars, ended up completing the project and it was released by Netflix in 2018. They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead is the perfect companion piece to The Other Side of the Wind. Watching them in that order as well will give you a good context to go in with. Recommendability scores for They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead were strong, as well as providing an insight into the making of The Other Side of the Wind you also get an insight into the life of Welles, the issues he faced and filmmaking in the 1970s. Slightly lower scores for repeat viewing give an overall rating of 3.41. [supsystic-tables id=364]     Episode #3

Matthew Stogdon, Jack Chambers-Ward and Tim Maytom (Sequelisers podcast) return to Flixwatcher to review Matthew’s choice ’71. ’71 (2014) is an action thriller set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. Directed by Yann (Top Boy) Demange it stars Jack O’Connell as Gary Hook, a new British Army recruit sent to Belfast. When his platoon is sent to a volatile area without protective gear during a home search for weapons. A crowd gathers and tensions rise, when a soldier is hit by a rock order disappears and Hook is accidentally abandoned and left on the streets to fend for himself. ’71 is a taut 99 minutes chase set over one night. The lines between the good and the bad guys is blurred, safe zones are scarce and it’s impossible to know who to trust. Recommendability scores for ’71 were very high, with a runtime of 99 minutes it scored well for engagement as well to give an overall rating of 4.23. [supsystic-tables id=363]     Episode #350 Crew Links Thanks to the Episode # 350 Matthew Stogdon (@stoghz), Jack

John Dorney and Tom Salinsky from Best Pick podcast join Flixwatcher to review Tom’s choice Nyad. Nyad (2023) is a biographical sports drama based on swimmer Diana Nyad’s life and her book Find a Way: The Inspiring Story of One Woman's Pursuit of a Lifelong Dream. It stars Annette Bening as Diana and Jodie Foster as Bonnie Stoll, Diana’s best friend and trainer. Rhys Ifans also stars as John Bartlett, the navigator of her support ship. The film follows Diana as she attempts to complete the 110-mile nonstop swim from Cuba to Florida that has eluded her since 1978. In 2011, at the age of 60 Diana makes the first of many attempts to complete the journey. Nyad follows a standard sports biopic template, except there are big questions about the validity of her completed swim. Not only is the main swim potentially not 100% accurate, some of the major moments in the Nyad completely fictional. There was no shark! Recommendability scores for Nyad were firmly floating around the threes, not a bad film but also not an e