One Sensational Shot

How Does The Phantom Menace Hold Up After 20 Years? – Local Trouble Star Wars Podcast

A lot can happen in 20 years. Some of us of a certain age look back on the 90s with a hazy sense of nostalgia. So it's almost reassuring to remember that something as simple as a space movie could still split a fanbase clean in two, just like today.

In contrast to the other prequels, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace was written by George Lucas over the period of a few years, carefully crafting the script alongside the art department. As the pre-production crew grew, an entire world teeming with life and distinct cultures grew to populate the movie. 

Still, after the audience sobered up after opening weekend, people started to murmur... 'Is it any good?'.

Like we said, a lot can happen in 20 years. The prequel generation is now grown up and the franchise isn't even owned by its creator any more. 

Luke, James and Fletcher get together to ask how the film holds up after 20 years, where it sits within Lucas' career, and 'Is it any good?'.

Let us know what you think – get in touch on Twitter, Facebook, and don’t forget to leave a review on iTunes.

Todd Phillips' Joker - The Evening Glass Podcast

Returning from another of our now customary three-month hiatuses (look, man, the sun was out, you dig?), Episode 26 of The Evening Glass finds Fletcher and special guest Aidan McCaffery fresh from an opening weekend screening of Todd Phillips' Joker and ready to rock and roll (part 2) with an hour of reaction, commendation, dissension and debate.

Bust a move to the flicks, load this sucker up on the next day's morning commute, then come back at us with yer own opinions on the most stimulating comic book adaptation of the year.

Barbarella and Beyond the Black Rainbow - The Evening Glass Podcast

In Issue 25 of The Evening Glass, we discuss a divergent brace of cult sci-fi visions. The kitsch embrace of a shag carpet zero-G space pad hosts Luke as his DVD A to Z continues with Roger Vadim's camp classic Barbarella, while it's from the altogether less salubrious environs of a Soho all-nighter that Fletcher files fevered dispatches on Panos Cosmatos' hypnagogic Beyond the Black Rainbow.


We also touch on Cosmatos' drug-drenched sophomore feature, Mandy, present our pick of July's cinema releases - so get yer diaries out - and, digressive as ever, there's time as well for quick forays into football fandom, Stranger Things, and to what extent every person younger than us has without doubt been irrevocably traumatised by science phones. Technology, kids - just say no!

Cameron & Nolan - The Evening Glass Podcast

James Cameron and Christopher Nolan are two of our favourite Hollywood directors.

In his singular, unfashionable dedications to practical effects, specificity of medium, cinematic exhibition and sophistication in plotting and presentation, over two decades Kit Nolan has emerged as an antidote to the contemporary blockbuster, the last best hope that blockbuster cinema can enthral audiences while advancing the form.

Jim Cameron, the biggest director of the '90s, has been largely absent from cinemas for 20 years. Cameron's cinematic style is less adventurous than Nolan's, but his colossal innovation in special effects and his preternatural synthesis of story, character and spectacle are without parallel - and his accidental heroes remain among the most beloved characters in popular culture.

In an issue of The Evening Glass thankfully nowhere near as austere as its introductory paragraphs, Fletcher is joined by comedy's Aidan McCaffery for a customarily lengthy chat on these two maestros - and one which made abundantly clear that we need to retrospective these two brilliant filmographies in their entirety, the sooner the better!

90s Comedian - Jim Carrey and the Blockbuster Comedy - The Electronic Labyrinth Podcast

In reference, and deference, to the 1994 triple-whammy that turned Jim Carrey into an overnight sensation (ten years in the making), this month's Electronic Labyrinth sees Luke and Fletcher race through Ace Ventura, The Mask and Dumb and Dumber, The Cable Guy, The Truman Show and Man on the Moon; explain what comedy meant to the box office in the '80s and '90s; and plot the contemporary elimination of the blockbuster comedy.

Snow Long, and Mance for All the Blackfish - The Evening Glass Podcast

Maybe two weeks is a long time in pop culture - but this...is The Evening Glass. Mindfulness podcasting, where life slows down to a crawl...where we chew every mouthful six times to get the benefit...and where we don't stop thinking about one of the biggest, baddest, boldest series of all time just because it finished a fortnight ago. Now the dust has settled, and the ash and the blood and the bits of people, Luke and Fletcher offer a few wine-soaked opinions on their experience with HBO's Game of Thrones. Enjoy!

Avengers v Avatar - The Evening Glass Podcast

Amid the Marvel maelstrom, a trepidatious Fletcher Walton is joined by comedian and box office boffin Aidan McCaffery to open the books on the franchise titan and assess its prospects of displacing James Cameron from the Iron Throne.

This issue's a preview of a customarily discursive two hours with Aidan and Fletcher which we'll be publishing in June, so get the coffee brewing!

Remembering Peter Mayhew - Local Trouble Star Wars Podcast

We remember the people's wookie. The man who crafted the character of Chewbacca after being 'spotted', and making a few well-placed trips to the zoo for research. 

Peter Mayhew brought a tremendous amount to a character that didn't have a line of recognisable dialogue. We remember his career and contributions to the Star Wars films here. 

James and Luke also speculate on the Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker plot following the trailer. 

Let us know what you think – get in touch on Twitter, Facebook, and don’t forget to leave a review on iTunes.

Here's a couple of articles we reference in the podcast:
BBC: Peter Mayhew: Harrison Ford leads tributes to Star Wars' Chewbacca actor
BBC: How Peter Mayhew became Chewbacca
Rolling Stone: Peter Mayhew: A Lost Interview With the Original Chewbacca

Joe Dante, Hollywood Subversive (Part 2) – The Electronic Labyrinth Podcast

We continue our retrospective on Joe Dante, one of our favourite genre directors of the 80s and 90s, with some razor sharp reminiscences of The 'Burbs.

30 years old this year, The 'Burbs features a fresh faced Tom Hanks at the peak of his comedic prowess (fresh off of Big, The Money Pit and Splash. Convinced that the new neighbourhood family are a bunch of murderers - he and his friends embark on an investigation that will delve into the deepest depths of suburban paranoia.

Let us know what you think on Facebook, Twitter, leave us a review on iTunes, follow us on Spotify, and check us out on Instagram and eBay.

Joe Dante, Hollywood Subversive – The Electronic Labyrinth Podcast

We miss you at the theatre Joe Dante. We know you haven't gone anywhere. You're still here on planet earth. But boy, do we miss you at the theatre.

We miss gremlins catapulting old ladies off of a stairlift. We miss Mants (that's' a guy who's part-man, part-ant) attacking a terrified cinema auditorium. And we miss your wit, charm and panache when dealing taking a delightful dump on Hollywood whenever you chose.

It's been over four years since Joe's last theatrical feature, and the heady days of being given studio budgets to tear up a set and see what's still standing may be long gone - but we want to take this opportunity (the 30th anniversary of the Tom Hanks gem The Burbs) to relive some of the finest moments from Joe Dante, Hollywood Subversive.

Let us know what you think on Facebook, Twitter, leave us a review on iTunes, follow us on Spotify, and check us out on Instagram and eBay.