Movie Podcast Episodes

In this episode of Bad Dads Film Review, Sidey, Dan, Reegs and Cris review Traffic (2000), Steven Soderbergh’s Oscar-winning ensemble drama about the war on drugs. They discuss Benicio del Toro as Javier Rodriguez, Michael Douglas as Robert Wakefield, Catherine Zeta-Jones as Helena Ayala, Don Cheadle and Luis Guzmán as DEA agents, the film’s colour-coded storylines, its portrait of cartel corruption and American demand, Caroline Wakefield’s addiction storyline, Javier’s baseball-field lights, the film’s Academy Award success and the frustration of streaming versions missing proper Spanish subtitles. The episode also includes a Top 5 Steven Soderbergh and Soderbergh-adjacent films discussion covering Che, Solaris, Contagion, Logan Lucky, Erin Brockovich, Magic Mike, Ocean’s Eleven, Haywire, Her and Out of Sight.

In this episode of Bad Dads Film Review, Sidey, Dan and Cris review Tony Gilroy’s Michael Clayton (2007), starring George Clooney as a tired law-firm fixer caught between debt, duty and conscience. The dads discuss Arthur Edens’ breakdown, the U-North class-action case, the smoking-gun memo, Tilda Swinton’s Oscar-winning performance as Karen Crowder, Sydney Pollack’s Marty Bach, the film’s cold depiction of corporate greed, Arthur’s murder, the car bomb, the horses on the hill, Michael’s $80,000 compromise and the brilliant final confrontation built around “I’m not the guy you kill, I’m the guy you buy.” Sidey gives it the strongest possible recommend, Dan calls it one of the best midweek films of the year, and Cris praises the unglamorous, believable depiction of corporate law.

In this episode of Bad Dads Film Review, Dan, Sidey and Cris review Giant (2025), Rowan Athale’s biographical sports drama about Prince Naseem Hamed and his trainer Brendan Ingle. They discuss Pierce Brosnan’s performance as Ingle, Amir El-Masry’s swagger as Naz, the Sheffield gym setting, the racist backdrop to Naseem’s early life, Brendan’s training methods, Naz’s footwork and showmanship, the influence of Frank Warren and family members, the controversial 25% agreement, the breakdown of the trainer-fighter relationship, the Barrera fight, the imagined reconciliation scene and why the film is watchable and well acted without quite becoming a knockout. The episode also includes a Top 5 Giants featuring The Iron Giant, Fezzik, The BFG, the MonsterVerse, Game of Thrones, Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, The Odyssey, Riding Giants, Twin Peaks and more.

In this episode of Bad Dads Film Review, Dan, Sidey and Cris review Universal Soldier (1992), Roland Emmerich’s sci-fi action film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as Luc Deveraux and Dolph Lundgren as Sergeant Andrew Scott. They discuss the Vietnam prologue, the secret Universal Soldier programme, the dam hostage rescue, the reporter-on-the-run plot, Van Damme discovering food and money, Dolph Lundgren going rogue, the supermarket freezer sequence, the prison-van chase, Luc’s return home to Louisiana, the final barn fight, 90s action nostalgia and why the film remains much more fun than its ridiculous science should allow. Sidey gives it a strong recommend.

In this episode of Bad Dads Film Review, Sidey, Dan and Jamie continue Wolf Week with a Top 5 Wolves list before reviewing Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). They discuss Jordan Belfort’s rise from junior Wall Street broker to penny-stock fraud king, Matthew McConaughey’s famous “rookie numbers” lunch scene, Donnie Azoff, Stratton Oakmont’s outrageous office culture, Margot Robbie as Naomi, the Steve Madden IPO, Swiss bank accounts, FBI pressure, Lemmon Quaaludes, the yacht storm, Jordan’s domestic collapse and the film’s uneasy status as both cautionary tale and aspirational nightmare. Sidey and Dan give strong recommends despite the runtime, and Jamie calls it a must-watch.

In this episode of Bad Dads Film Review, Sidey, Dan and guest dad Jamie review An American Werewolf in London (1981), John Landis’s cult horror-comedy starring David Naughton, Griffin Dunne and Jenny Agutter. The discussion covers The Slaughtered Lamb, the Yorkshire moors opening, Jack’s increasingly decomposed appearances, David’s romance with Nurse Alex, the nightmare sequences, London Zoo, the Piccadilly finale, the moon-themed soundtrack, and Rick Baker’s Oscar-winning practical makeup effects, including the famous werewolf transformation scene.

In this episode of Bad Dads Film Review, the dads review True History of the Kelly Gang (2019), Justin Kurzel’s bleak and visually striking adaptation of Peter Carey’s novel about Ned Kelly. They discuss the film’s deliberately unstable relationship with truth, young Ned’s brutal upbringing, Ellen Kelly’s influence, the Sons of Sieve cross-dressing mythology, Russell Crowe as Harry Power, Nicholas Hoult’s disturbing Constable Fitzpatrick, George MacKay’s performance as adult Ned, the gang’s homemade armour, the failed train ambush and the bloody final siege. Dan gives the film a mid recommend because of its punishing bleakness, while Reegs, Chris and Sidey give strong recommends for the performances, visuals and thematic weight.

In this episode of Bad Dads Film Review, Sidey and Dan mark prison week with a discussion of memorable screen prisons including In the Name of the Father, The Shawshank Redemption, Alcatraz films, Prison Break, Porridge, Escape from Sobibor and Out of Sight. The main review is Sing Sing (2023), Greg Kwedar’s A24 drama starring Colman Domingo as John “Divine G” Whitfield and Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin as a version of himself. The dads discuss the real Rehabilitation Through the Arts programme at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, the casting of formerly incarcerated RTA alumni, the comedy production Breakin’ the Mummy’s Code, Divine G’s clemency struggle, Mike Mike’s death, and the film’s humane argument for purpose, creativity and connection inside prison.

In this episode of Bad Dads Film Review, Sidey and Dan review Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), Michael Curtiz’s classic gangster drama starring James Cagney, Pat O’Brien, Humphrey Bogart and Ann Sheridan. The discussion covers Rocky Sullivan’s rise from street kid to celebrity gangster, Father Jerry’s attempt to save the neighbourhood boys, the Dead End Kids, Bogart’s villainous Frazier, the film’s Depression-era setting, its influence on Home Alone’s Angels with Filthy Souls, and the famous final scene in which Rocky appears to turn coward on the way to the electric chair.

The Bad Dads head underwater for Luc Besson’s The Big Blue, or Le Grand Bleu if you want to sound sophisticated while drowning slowly in late-80s synth. The discussion starts with the film’s scale: 168 minutes in the director’s cut, which immediately becomes one of the main charges against it. Dan chose the film and remembers liking it years ago, but even he admits this is a very long movie — the sort of film you watch over several evenings because holding your breath for the full running time would be medically inadvisable. The dads work through the black-and-white childhood opening in Greece, where young Jacques Mayol and Enzo Molinari are established as boys shaped by the sea in very different ways. Enzo is cocky, competitive and already built around status; Jacques is quieter, gentler and more emotionally fused with the water. Jacques’ father dies in a diving accident, an early trauma that seems to bind Jacques to the ocean rather than drive him away from it. As adults, t…

This midweek Bad Dads Film Review episode begins, naturally, with Reegs’ fresh haircut, the cost of beard sculpting, and a brief detour into barber-chair intimacy before Sidey reveals the week’s selection method: a hectic week, two shorter episodes, no proper theme, and a number-based Amazon Prime roulette that landed the Dads on The Bad Education Movie. Sidey sets the table with a confession: he never watched the BBC Three sitcom, partly because he “genuinely” cannot get on with Jack Whitehall’s posh, fumbling toff persona. Reegs admits, with some shame, to having seen bits of the TV series and the movie before. Cris has only watched the end, and Dan arrives ready to query how this became a feature film in the first place. The film itself is described as a 2015 feature-length send-off for Jack Whitehall’s BBC Three sitcom, following teacher Alfie Wickers and his class on a school trip that veers from Amsterdam chaos to Cornwall, the Eden Project, a kidnapped PTA chaperone, a mi…

This week on Bad Dads Film Review, the dads dive into The Untouchables. In this episode, they break down the film, share what still works, what aged oddly, and where it lands in the all-time ranking chat. Expect classic Bad Dads energy, strong opinions, plenty of banter, and a few unexpected rabbit holes along the way.