Episode 133: 2012 Top Ten - Avengers Bane That Fell From The Sky

There are two ways to look at the Top 10 movies of 2012 for franchise fans there was a total buffet of above-par iterations of their absolute faves. The first big-screen MCU crossover event dominated, of course, but then the Anniversary Bond was snapping at its heels with the Dark Knight rising to put in a creditable third helping before the DCCU well... you know.

Then there's the rest of the list... The Hobbit, lumpy and grumpy and overstuffed. Ice Age and Madagascar for the kids, isn't that tantamount to neglect? The Twilight franchise delighted millions around the world, by ending. Spider-man was maybe just a touch too Amazing. There were 3 Men In Black, although two of them were the same and there was some timey-wimey stuff and well, then everyone fell asleep, by themselves, not because of some weird flashlight. Although, I have to say I still wonder if MiB3 was just a hallucination brought on by a gas leak.

Nestled in amongst this volley of re-boots, crossovers, sequels, warmed-over-bull-doody and completely unnecessary and unwanted disappointments was the upstart Hunger Games franchise opener. It was a time when many people could legitimately say they wanted to rock up to a movie about kids given weapons and told to jolly well murder one another and still say "What the hell's that" when you offer to put on Battle Royale.

2012, with a few notable exceptions, was a bit of a hot mess at the top end, but, at the same time, it was a glorious year for cinema. No wonder people were too confused to make Dredd the box office success it should have been. More on which next week...

This episode uses an excerpt of Raindrops by Predator Technique

Direct Link: https://archive.org/download/1332012top10avengersbanethatfellfromthesky/133-2012-Top-10-Avengers-Bane-That-Fell-From-The-Sky.mp3

Episode 129: The Superheroes Win Again - Summer Predictions 2019

We are the 80s Kids and we predict the future.

It's that time again. Summer is upon us, has been since early Feb according to the studios, and the Kids have to play their game of picking the Box Office winners from the various genres as well as pointing out the notable losers and just generally giving everyone a heads up on the major players coming out this summer.

The lack of major global sporting events leads to a less "doughnutty" distribution schedule this year. There's a steady stream of interesting items on the way. Even so, there's some curve balls and obvious bad ideas that things are still interesting. Hollywood has not, as yet, cracked the "good enough" level where every movie released is obviously going to appeal to someone.

So, let's do a quick reconnoitre of the upcoming Summer and see what else is out apart from that Avengers movie, a Fast and Furious spin off and a thousand Disney "live action" remakes.

Direct Link: https://archive.org/download/129SuperheroesWinAgainSummerPredictions2019/129-Superheroes-Win-Again-Summer-Predictions-2019.mp3

Episode 69: 1998 - Two Death Space Rocks And A Big Lizard

You know, I do try and think of something original to say in these blurbs other than ... "Oh look another 90s year and it's a mixed bag offal" but I find myself doing just that yet again. And we had high hopes for 1998 with gems like "The Truman Show" about but then you see the dross and boy does '98 have plenty of that!

A Woeful selection, from disjointed "Lost In Space" movie to the not even trying "Star Trek Insurrection", from missing the point "Godzilla" to the pointless "X Files Movie'. Seriously this decade can't be over with soon enough. At least some fun was had by Leo with "The Avengers" (not those ones), and Justin bizarrely loved "Meet Joe Black."... I'm not sure what Ian gets out of this year... oh that's right ... NOTHING!!

You know what. I'm just over it. I really am... It's blurb time and I can't be bothered. Who reads this anyway? Can our bleak nihilistic journey through the 90s get any worse? Oh... and we get to talk about a Robin Williams movie where people who commit suicide get sent to dark hideous hell where they're emotionally tortured by their twisted inner demons forever in a haze of madness without any hope of escape or relief EVER. Humm .... yeah ... our "What Dreams May Come" discussion feels kind of awkward now.

Well I guess that puts all my 90s moaning into perspective. Incidental Music by Incompetech.com

Direct Link: https://archive.org/download/0691998TwoDeathSpaceRocksAndABigLizard/069%20-%201998%20-%20Two%20Death%20Space%20Rocks%20and%20a%20Big%20Lizard.mp3