Prime Episodes

Srinivasa Ramanujan, the well known Indian mathematician, had almost no formal training in pure mathematics, yet he made substantial contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions, including solutions to mathematical problems then considered unsolvable. He also loved movies with numbers in the title and would have been right at home with this weeks TOP5 content. Continuing the number theme was the RON HOWARD 2022 American biographical survival fil...

6 years after an assassination attempt goes horribly wrong, resulting in the death of his young son, FBI Agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) finally captures and subdues international terrorist Castor Troy (Nic Cage) however with time running out to defuse a bomb that will destroy the entire city of Los Angeles, Archer decides to undergo experimental face transplant surgery in order to pose as his nemesis and infiltrate a secret underwater prison where he can meet Troy's brother Pollox, the only ...

This week's notes were written before all the technical flummoxing that occurred, scuppering our collaboration. They are however too good to delete so please enjoy, whilst pretending there's finally someone interesting on this show to listen to! __________________________________________________________________ Charlie Bingham, host of the Mountain Conversations podcast and archaeologist with a specialist interest in the common ancestor between humans, chimps and bonobos may well see her work co...

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 sobri...

THE MAGICIAN (2005) is an Australian mockumentary written, directed by and starring Scott Ryan as Ray Shoesmith, an amoral hitman who allows film student Max to document his life. Across three disparate stories we come to understand but never sympathise with the calculating, violent and dangerous Ray, but what puts this film head and shoulders above movies treading a similar path is a truly memorable performance from our charismatic lead as well as a 'so black even light can't escape' style sens...

We could do with a laugh, so we raided Howie's DVD collection and got down with BREWSTER'S MILLIONS. Turns out that this was originally a book, and this is only one adaptation of the text amongst thousands of others. The film's director, Walter Hill said that the reason he made the movie was "to improve his bank account and success quotient". Nice.

The Da Vinci Code is a book. I've never read it, but I recall seeing lots of copies in airport shops back when we were able to travel. Well, the book was a hit, so the Hollywood execs had the thing made into a movie. Tom Hanks is in it and so is Gandalf. Must be an odd couple, buddy, road trip movie I guess.

Avid fan of the show, Jamie Cairns nominated The Boondock Saints. This gem was released in 1999 by writer/director Troy Duffy. All round good egg Harvey Weinstein was so taken with the concept that he gave Mr Duffy one hell of the deal to make this picture. However, the demon drink took hold and there was trouble behind the scenes. We drill down on all the shenanigans, and also find out of this is a movie we'd recommend. Tune in to find out...

Dan was let loose to nominate this week. Long time listeners may have heard Dan mention this movie a few times down the years. We watched LET IT RIDE (1989). A movie starring a fella whose name we couldn't agree how to pronounce. Dan makes some outrageous claims on the merits of the movie, while the rest of us struggle to reconcile the movie's message against the actual toll that gambling addiction takes on people. It really was a lot of fun!

Jonathan Glazer 's directorial debut , Sexy Beast, is a heist thriller featuring an all time great performance from Sir Ben Kingsley. Here he's equal parts swearing machine and crime gang psychopath. He really does steal this movie! All us dads recommend this one, especially if you want to level up your swearing skills!

Sidey starts things up by spoiling NO TIME TO DIE so if you are a Bond fan and you don't want that to happen, be warned! Peter is back and being a pain in the neck as we conclude vampire week with a look at the Top 5 TV and Movie Vampires, as reasonable a place as any to start. Peter's abundant free time means he has seen a fair share of classics featuring the fanged antagonists over the last few weeks, will the rest of the Dads be able to match his knowledge, or do we just suck? Whichever way y...

Inspired by this week’s main feature, Reegs took the easy way out and nominated the Top 5 Prisoners for our discussion. As it happens this was pretty fruitful territory as there has been one or two movies made featuring prisoners over the years. With the release of Denis Villeneuve's DUNE imminent we decided to look back at his 2013 English language debut PRISONERS. A kidnapping thriller exploiting parents worst fears, with incredibly intense performances from leads Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenh...

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 T...

Kinji Fukasaku 's BATTLE ROYALE (200) is sometimes hailed as a modern classic. Quentin Tarantino certainly thinks so, and who are we to argue with him!? Well at least one of the Dads is keen for an argument as someone didn't enjoy this. But if unbelievably violent satire is your thing, this movie would fit the bill. It is really very violent though. Did I mention it's violent?

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 h...

Identity is a film that we watched.

This week’s show is brought to you from the mind of everyone's favourite sea defecator, Howie. There's been a notable rise in diversity on screen over the last few years as evidenced by the increasing number of LGBTQ+ characters so we thought we would celebrate them with this week’s Top 5. We did our very best not to offend anyone! The McConaissance attempted to continue with 2016's drama GOLD, starring the Texan alongside Edgar Ramirez in director Stephen Gaghan's inspired by true events story ...

Just like most of the world’s population I'm hopelessly addicted to my smartphone, whether it be used to avoid talking to my family by playing a pointless grindy mobile game or to earn a small fortune by selling my exclusive Only Fans vegetable videos. But all talk of iPhones and Androids is off the table this week as we look back at the Top 5 Telephones in movies. If you’re a fan of the corded landline telephone like we are you'll enjoy reminiscing about those cabled beauties as they graced the...

75% of the Bad Dads wear glasses which it turns out is a decent representation of the general public according to The Vision Council who I've never heard of. That seems like an awful lot if you compare that to the number of characters in movies who wear spectacles; usually it's as much a personality trope as it is a wardrobe choice, eye wear bestowing nerdiness, intelligence or cunning depending upon the style of frames chosen. We're talking about the Top 5 Movie Spectacles and that means sungla...

Justin Kerrigan's HUMAN TRAFFIC is an exploration of a particular late 90's youth culture: the living for the weekend chemical generation whose hedonism was centred around drug taking and pounding basslines in the super clubs of the day. The ridiculously named Jip, Lulu, Koop, Moff and Nina are a a group of wage slave 20 somethings brashly sticking two fingers up to the establishment and embracing all aspects of rave and clubbing culture whilst simultaneously negotiating Monday's come down and e...

A few of the Dads found something to like in this listener nominated movie. Sidey on the other hand.... Well he wasn't a fan. Not by a long shot! We watched The Slammin' Salmon, and you probably shouldn't!

Did you know that the origins of frozen desserts are considered obscure? That there are several accounts of their history: some sources even describe ice cream-like foods as originating in Persia as far back as 550 BCE! No? Well why the fuck not? I'm embarrassed for us both. It's right there in the origin section of ice-cream on wikipedia should you ever be desperately short of ideas on how to introduce the Top 5 Ice-Creams in movies. I've eaten at McDonalds before as will have many of you. For ...

Peter Andre felt like choosing something a little different for our first entry in our Best Of British week. It's still a feature length creations, it is in fact the Only Fools and Horses December 1985 Christmas Special - To Hull and Back. One of the Dads was less than enthused about the prospect of a ninety minute slog through this, but perhaps Del Boy et al can change his mind!

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 ...