One Sensational Shot

In Issue 30 of The Evening Glass, Fletcher Walton is joined by comedy’s Aidan McCaffery to discuss Fletcher's recent extensive analysis of the streaming landscape – which you’ll find here - and Hollywood’s rejigged release slate for 2020 – our original preview of which you’ll find here. Plus, as ever, there’s digressions galore - into the cult of Red Dwarf, the Arnold Schwarzenegger School of Acting, and, surprisingly, Thom Yorke swearing in a fishbowl. 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.

In Issue 29 of the The Evening Glass, Luke and Fletcher return to Luke's DVD A to Z for the first time in a year (a year!) to rewatch effervescent cult comedy BASEketball. Produced, directed and ostensibly written by spoof supremo David Zucker, it's equally a vehicle for its stars ascendant Trey Parker and Matt Stone in, amazingly, their third and, amazingly, last live action outing. Twenty-two years old next month, here in the UK its theatrical release was canceled - I remember reading Empire magazine's preemptive review that summer before the trail went dead for more than a year until it crawled out on video following a dismal performance in US cinemas ($7 million, barely scraping the box office top 150). Its reputation was thus born from Sky Moviemax, late night Channel 4, and rental tapes playing in the background of a hundred Sixth Form house parties. Canonically consistent with the rise of the Farrelly Brothers, whose There's Something About Mary exploded in cinemas that same summer, and the Weitz Brot

The Evening Glass has long functioned as a clearinghouse of relative topicality for whatever Luke and I happened to like at the flicks or on TV that month. But it's always been our intention to expand into other areas of interest, as soon as we could come up with some witty names. There'll be One Sensational Sound, a repository for discussions of our musical tastes. The literary wing of the burgeoning criticism empire will, naturally, be labelled One Sensational Sentence. And we were all set to launch One Sensational Sprite this spring, but then I beat Luke best-three-out-of-five at Mario Kart and he announced his retirement from Nintendo effective immediately, so that was that. One moniker we did nail down is One Sensational Strike, a catch-all term granting us the latitude to discuss in the same single stream our loves of football, militant trade unionism, and "Big" Ern McCracken from Kingpin. For our pilot issue - perhaps that should be pre-season friendly? - I'm joined by my old pal Tim Anderson, for a c

A reluctantly single yuppie accidentally befriends the oddball who installed his cable. An over-the-hill male model is brainwashed into a political assassination. A band of pampered actors marooned in jungle begin to live their roles for real. Through these diverse premises, director Ben Stiller has sculpted accessibly silly Hollywood comedies that at the same time function as densely detailed, slyly subversive satires of a self-involved American culture at media overload. In the second edition of our 90s Comedian series, Luke and Fletcher step into The Electronic Labyrinth to reflect on the first two decades of Stiller's filmmaking, from his early shorts and sketch shows, through the relative success of Reality Bites and relative failure of The Cable Guy, past his now revered cult classic Zoolander, to his magnificent, go-for-broke masterwork, Tropic Thunder.

2012 was one hell of a time. Not only did we think the world wouldn't get much worse after the global economic crisis and the rise of international terrorism - but we also allowed ourselves to get excited about a beloved franchise being purchased by a huge corporation. But, here we are - five movies in, a few TV shows (including a live action one) and a whole lot of fan chatter. We wanted to allow the dust to settle after the release of 'The Rise of Skywalker' - so this isn't a review of that picture - but more of a discussion over a cold coffee about how we feel about creative filmmaking in the streaming age. As always, 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.

Comedy's Aidan McCaffery is an apostate. He has renounced his longtime comic congregation, the London Metropolitan Elite Church of the Woke & Vegan Reading Room, and walks now the path of the born-again Leondensian. With his microphone a shepherd's crook, he will tend to a new flock among the earthy ribaldry and casual xenophobia of the working men's clubs of the North. His cancel culture card has itself been cancelled, cut into pieces and pressed upon the clacking tongues of the devoted, to be swallowed as sacrament. In its place, a membership with Cooplands Rewards and a set of vouchers to be enjoyed between 5 pm and 7 pm at any of Leeds City Centre's 12 Wetherspoons locations. In advance of Aidan's exodus, Fletcher Walton secured his presence at O.S.S. Ealing one last time to discuss the biggest cinema releases of 2020 - but naturally not before an opening 45 minutes of acerbic, insightful, culturally necessary blah blah blah. Enjoy, and ee bah gum!

In Issue 28 of The Evening Glass, Luke and Fletcher reflect on their favourite festive films - from Dianne Jackson's The Snowman to Barry Levinson's Diner - before looking closely at one of the finest of them all, John Landis' Trading Places. 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. Sherry Christmas, Frohe Weinachten, Anís Navidad, and see you all in 2020!

Do the Right Thing is a film about conflict and conversation. With preternatural vision and skill, director Spike Lee creates urban America in microcosm across a handful of larger-than-life Bed-Stuy blocks sweltering in the summer sun, and on those sidewalks and shopfronts presents a procession of discussions – between black and white, male and female, young and old, past and present, boyfriend and girlfriend, brother and sister, brother and brother, father and son, native and immigrant, have and have-not. Lee encourages us to follow each dialogue and recognise both sides. Then, in act of marvelous courage by the filmmakers, the viewer is given licence not to decide or conclude or offer a verdict, but to witness, consider and reflect. Spike expects us to think. In this issue of The Electronic Labyrinth, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of perhaps the greatest Hollywood film in our lifetimes, Luke Littleboy and Fletcher Walton have a go at understanding how Spike and his team marshal the instruments of cinem

In the thirty-some years Luke, James and Fletcher have shared the planet, Hollywood has released no film better than Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing. One Sensational Shot honours the 30th anniversary of that release with two new issues. Later in the month on The Electronic Labyrinth, Luke and Fletcher go scene-by-scene to explore and understand Do the Right Thing's marvelous riches as an incredible work of cinema. Here, in Episode 27 of The Evening Glass, Fletcher discusses the film, its themes, and, as usual, every bloody other thing else as well, with Spike Lee novice Aidan McCaffery.. In this issue, we've sought to reflect the maturity, the honesty, the dexterity and the precision of this challenging work. If we've done our job, we hope it's on that level which you'll engage and enjoy.

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, Faceboo

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.

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!

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 a

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.

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!

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!

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

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.

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.

We launch a new format for Local Trouble, our Star Wars podcast. We'll be tackling a different topic each episode. We start by looking at the origins of the Chosen One in the prequel scripts and what the new generation of filmmakers seems to be doing with it in the Disney era. Is George Lucas's six film narrative cycle dead and buried?  Let us know what you think – get in touch on Twitter, Facebook, and don’t forget to leave a review on iTunes.