Children Episodes

The word 'myth' refers to a society's collective stories, often involving Gods and the heroes that have offended them and Bad Dad Peter Andre has us thinking all about them and their cinematic representations and influences this week, as we kick things off with the Top 5 Mythical Characters. THE NORTHMAN is the second Robert Eggers film we've reviewed in recent months, after the deranged and often unpleasant THE LIGHTHOUSE and sees the director taking on the Hamlet origin story in what I hope i...

Sidey is famed for his sartorial elegance so it should come as no surprise that he picked the Top 5 Suits for us to discuss. By the end of this week’s show, you'll know your two-piece from your three-piece, your tuxedo from your dinner jacket and your shell suit from your tracksuit. SOUND OF METAL is director Darius Marder's 2019 story about Ruben, a drummer in the experimental heavy metal band Blackgammon and the impact of his devastating and sudden hearing loss on his ongoing issues with sobr...

Before your phone rendered the entire idea of literature redundant as it continues to deepen its inexorable grip on your soul, you may well remember reading something called a book. They aren’t novel to noted bibliophile Howie; well he can at least recall seeing a movie which had books in it as he picked the Top 5 Books in Movies for us to discuss, presumably in an ill-fated attempt to convince us he isn't the knuckle dragging simpleton we know he is. We watched BOILING POINT, the astonishing N...

An egg is of course the fertilized ovum of an animal that grows and develops as an embryo inside some kind of organic vessel. And as delicious as that sounds, they are only to be consumed when they are hot, never cold as everyone in their right mind truly understands. Last week you may recall Sidey snorting with derision at the thought of compiling a Top 5 Eggs but it turns out Howie was some kind of egg savant, listing numerous egg or egg related scenes and movies in a matter of seconds. Sadly ...

Whilst you may have laboured under the misapprehension that the pen was a mere writing implement, in the world of movies it can do so much more. Mainly kill people according to our research. Will we find any benevolent biros when we discuss our Top 5 Movie Pens? LOVE & MERCY alternates between two key time periods in the life of The Beach Boys singer songwriter Brian Wilson, the 1960s and late 1980s, showing how he got into and out of a period of prolonged mental illness which occurred during t...

What makes a great title for a film? Should it encapsulate the essence of the story, tell us something via symbolism about the characters or locations involved, be instantly familiar and memorable or generate intrigue? No, like everything important in life, size is the most important quality which is why this week we're looking at the Top 5 Movies With Long Titles. SORRY TO BOTHER YOU (2018) is a scorching satire-cum-fantasy comedy in which the skint Cassius "Cash" Green (LaKeith Stanfield) get...

Skyscrapers are of course symbols of male domination and authority, immense metal and concrete phalluses penetrating the sky itself so of course Hollywood loves to gaze adoringly at them. This week sees us discussing the Top 5 Skyscrapers and whether we're leaping out of them, smashing through them, climbing across them or using them to stage elaborate scenes of public affection we have many stories to discuss. DO YOU SEE WHAT I DID THERE. ROOM is a 2015 drama about abuse, suffering and rape wh...

Since all attempts to capture proof of ghosts on film consist of grainy night-vision footage more like an amateur Pornhub channel than indisputable proof of life after death and your guaranteed never to encounter a ghost in real life unless you're completely insane, the cinema is where the idea of the spirit of a dead person or animal who refuses to depart the physical world has played out to greatest effect. From discussing masterpieces like THE SHINING or CASPER through to more lightweight ent...

I believe that Stand By Me is Stephen King's favourite adaptation of his own writing. High praise indeed, but just what did the Dads think of the supposed "classic".

I feel we should apologise in advance dear listener. Our topic of choice for our Top 5 discussion is movie masturbation moments. As feared the Dads regressed into their teenage selves and lots of daft giggling and infantile chat ensued. Our movie choice, inspired by a tweet, is 2018's American Animals. Directed by first timer Bart Layton, the movie shows us the true story of four college students library heist gone wrong. The movie uses some interesting devices to engage the audience, including...

This week sees us paying homage to the montage and though it's really an editing technique if you want to be pedantic about it which I do, they're a useful tool in the screenwriters arsenal too, perhaps being used to propel the plot forward as in the classic ROCKY-style training montage or maybe used to set tone and weave plotlines together as in The Story Of The Apartment sequence in the brilliant Brazilian crime drama CITY OF GOD. Join us as we chat through some of our favourite examples and a...

Watch out diary writers, you're apparently all self-obsessed narcissists with delusions of significance, and for some baffling reason Howie has it in for you this week. The Top 5 movie Brides appears to be what set him off as our resident Ray Mears lover apparently can't think of a single movie featuring a wedding. As unlikely as that seems, we do manage to stay wedded to the idea and finish off this weeks offering. GONE GIRL is David Fincher's 2014 adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel of the sa...

With the Bad Dads reduced to a mere duo through a combination of illness and stupidity on behalf of the rest of the team, it's up to Sidey and Dan to steady the ship and bring us this week’s show. Trees. Bloody magnificent aren't they. You can climb them, put a tree house in them - hell build an entire city in one if you like - marvel at their beauty, rescue a cat from them, eat their fruits or use them as a metaphor for an abusive relationship as in Shel Silverstein's haunting children's book ...

10 years ago my wife and I got married in a small, intimate ceremony at a local hotel and today we celebrated a decade married by packing the kids off to school and going to play crazy golf, so yeah, that's a realistic portrayal of what marriage looks like for the uninitiated. I bring this up because it's late and I'm drunk and I don't have an interesting, funny or relevant way to introduce this weeks Top 5, which was the Top 5 Box Office Bombs. Not the explosive kind, more the kind that lose hi...

Whether it's for planning an ambush, escaping a crime scene, staging an elaborate fight, or simply used to get from point A to point B via some solid rock, the tunnel has been reliable since it was first conceived over 4000 years ago. In movie terms though it's probably best known as a metaphor for sex, as famously used at the climax of Hitchcock's North by Northwest. This week’s Top 5 Movie Tunnels is lower on the sexiness scale than you might usually expect from us but just like an explosives ...

It may not be obvious to our listeners but we do usually put quite a lot of thought into our choices for each weeks podcast, whether it's to link the main feature and kids tv programme thematically or to ensure we have an even distribution of the types and genres of movies we review. That same level of planning is often true of the Top 5 category, although this week I heard Sidey say something in the midweek mention and thought 'that will make a great top 5' so here we are with the Top 5 Title D...

To be a great dancer you need grace, athleticism and style as well as the emotional intelligence to convey symbolism through rhythmic human movement. Naturally this is fertile ground for us dads, well renowned aesthetes and admirers of the physical form. By which I mean that at least one or two of us have been to strip clubs. This weeks top 5 features some of the best dance scenes ever committed to celluloid as well as some of the strangest. Our main feature is David Hare's 2011 PAGE EIGHT, the...

You can't handle the truth! And the truth is that was probably the laziest possible way to introduce this weeks Top 5, which is all about Courtroom scenes. From high stakes and huge drama to reindeer hit-and-runs and everything in between, be sure not to miss out. Andy Samberg's usual effervescence is exchanged for something approaching an almost zen like nihilism in PALM SPRINGS, showing on Amazon Prime this week. Taking the time loop conceit and adding anarchic new twists and a strong emotion...

Just about my favourite thing in all of cinema is the long take or 'oner', whether it's to establish character or geography, to infuse a scene with intensity or drama or to present incredible skill and scale from impossible seeming new perspectives. They are often dazzling feats of vision and technical-endeavour, requiring countless hours of rehearsal and set dressing, incorporating complex camera moves, precision blocking and clever editing to achieve. So we're going to talk about them. There ...

Two Harry Potter movie fans sit down to discuss the third instalment in the franchise with a self-confessed Potter hater and someone who didn’t even bother to watch the film. J.K. Rowling's fantasy novel series for younger readers garnered huge success in its own right before it was adapted for the big screen in 2001 with the release of the first cinematic instalment, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The third highest-grossing film series of all time with an estimated worldwide box off...

The British drink tea, eat crumpets and are emotionally distant, class-obsessed xenophobes. The French wear berets, wouldn't be seen dead without a baguette under one arm and have questionable hygiene standards. The Italians are a nation of dark-haired, olive skinned plumbers who spend most of their time ingesting huge quantities of mushrooms, then jumping on the backs of turtles whilst on a quest to save a Princess. Yet despite our differences we collectively managed to establish the culture wh...

The Casino can be an intoxicating place in more way than one, especially if you like gambling which I don't. The unquestionable pathway to happiness that gambling guarantees, the glamour, the risk, the reward, the shared social experience: it all sounds awful, just as fake as the Eiffel Tower that famously adorns the Vegas strip. This weeks top 5 promises all of the subtlety and style of that famous American city, a mecca for the perpetually misguided and the intellectually stunted, so of course...

Imagine a world without music. No jazz, soul, punk, funk or gospel, no rock, no roll, no hip, no hop. You can't do it can you, and not only because your brain has been reduced to little more than a paperweight by endlessly scrolling the internet on your phone but also because it's impossible. People have music literally embedded in them; the human heart is by design an organ which is supposed to tirelessly and constantly beat in rhythm just for you to survive. Given the seemingly culturally univ...

Sidey's relentless bullying campaign finally pays off as Howie dramatically quits the show! Is just one of the ways the mainstream media would have wilfully misreported the fact that our favourite shouty ginger paddle boarder has decided to take a well earned break in order to recharge his batteries. We have a surprise guest instead and whilst I won't give away who it is let's just say that he has: featured on the pod before; not directed an amazing movie; not starred in a fascinating...