Flixwatcher: A Netflix Film Review Podcast

Halfway to 30, its Episode #015 and we welcome back Rachel and Simon from Level Up Human for Rachel’s choice the unlikeliest natural disaster Sharknado 3. "Oh Hell No." Thats right, the THIRD, in the Sharknado series. What is the premise you might ask, do you really care, its called Sharknado. Sharknado 3. Shark advocate Simon genuinely loved it, but wouldn’t describe as ‘good’. Kobi had concerns about the possibly of an actual sharknado. Helen was not impressed not even with the David Hasselhoff cameo. Sadly it doesn’t pass the Bechdel test. Preposterous only begins to scratch the surface, if you love chainsaws, extreme product placement and frilled sharks this is the movie for you. It doesn’t score highly, are you surprised? Its about a sharknado. Fun fact, geckos can’t survive in space, but apparently sharks can… Scores [supsystic-tables id='16'] Episode #015 Crew Links Just to remind you all, the Episode #015 Crew of Simon and Rachel from Level Up Human @LevelUpHuman You can listen to Level Up Humans o

It was a pleasure to welcome Helen Zaltzman from "The Allusionist" and "Answer Me This" Podcast as well as her former flatmate and current Pappy, Matthew Crosby from "Pappy's Flatshare Slamdown" and "Pappy's Bangers and Mash" for the first time! We chat about Matthew's choice of film the delightful "What We Do In The Shadows"     What we do in the Shadows, here after referred to as "WWDITS" is a magical comedy that is carved out of 120hrs worth of filming. 120hrs, incidentally, is the average length of a Judd Apatow film. WWDITS is dually directed by Jemaine Clement of "Flight of the Conchords" fame and Taika Waititi, soon to be of "Thor: Ragnorok". The mockumentary follows the story of 4 vampires who "Flat" together in Wellington, New Zealand and their hum drum life as they prepare for the big event in the calendar, The Masquerade Ball. Both directors wrote and star in this as well as Conchords alumnus Rhys Darby and a new crop of funny Kiwis, including the guys that play knitting vampire "Deacon" and Nick

We welcome back Jen and Dave from The Family Tree podcast for Episode #013 this time it's Jen's choice and she picked Yorgos Lanthimos' 2015 dystopian "romantic comedy" The Lobster. Treading a thin line between tragedy and comedy with its moments of absurdity and bleak violence The Lobster is the most requested film choice by our guests - for us this was a welcome re-watch. Featuring a stellar cast including, Rachel Weisz, Olivia Colman, Lea Seydoux, John C. Reilly and Ben Whishaw (!) and a career best from the often patchy Colin Farrell The Lobster can be viewed as a film of two parts (a perfect opportunity for the important tea break!) Watched The Lobster? Tweet us @flixwatcherpod and tell us what animal you would choose! Scores [supsystic-tables id='14'] Summed up as a magical realist film the guests and host recommend it - particularly as an introduction the occasionally surreal world of international cinema - scoring highly on the small screen viewing. Episode #013 Crew Links Thanks to the Episode #01

Episode #012 sees Tony and Jay from How to Write a Tune and GL Productions returning this time for Tony's choice Jet Li's The One.   Released in 2001 and riding on the success of The Matrix this time travelling, CGI heavy, martial arts film sees (bad) Jet Li in an universe where there are 124 different Jet Li’s that must be defeated so he can absorb their powers and become 'The One', one of them is (good) Jet Li who has the power to stop this and become 'The One' With a plot holier than a crumpet this favourite from Tony’s youth also features Jason Statham’s now thankfully redundant American accent, the ultimate nu metal soundtrack (Linkin Park, Papa Roach) and a rat bomb. Yes thats a RAT BOMB. Its a film that poses more questions than answers - why does Delroy Lindo always play a detective? Why are the 124 different universes? Could a rodent of that size really generate that kind of explosion? Scores [supsystic-tables id='13'] Totally ridiculous and neither an example of good CGI or martial arts this James

Episode #011 of Flixwatcher podcast sees Felix Trench and Tom Crowley from Wooden Overcoats (the rival funeral director podcom) return, this time to discuss the 2012 Daniel Radcliffe film The Woman in Black.Recommended to Felix by gothic horror fan and Wooden Coats creator David, Felix and Tom watched this together over croissants - what are your favourite Netflix watching foods? The Woman in Black is a film, based a stage play (the second longest running after The Mousetrap trivia fans) that is based on a horror novella by Susan Hill. This film version is the second film adaption with this version written by Jane Goldman. Naturally, for a film based on a book or a stage play, there is going to be similarities, the attention to detail in the sets was noted and admired (lovely woodwork) and relies on old-fashioned noises for scares and jumps. We discuss the evolution of Daniel Radcliffe post Harry Potter and enthusing about gothic horror films we really love (Crimson Peak, The Devils Backbone, The Haunting).

  Set in a dystopian future (never, never utopian!) where there are no apples and only the bad guys have shoes, Renton (no not that Renton) a well groomed engineer/underwear model is stuck in a Groundhog Dog style loop which has something (or nothing) in connection with a mysterious energy source. Neither taut nor thrilling this sci-fi misfire had some interesting ideas but was let down by the cheap sets, unconvincing acting, incoherent plot and unintentional moments of comedy. Despite its short running time of 89 minute the film was a bit of a slog for all to watch and reminded everyone of much better time looping films than this (Groundhog Day, Source Code, Edge of Tomorrow). There was so, so much love for the far superior Edge of Tomorrow from everyone, maybe watch that instead (crosses fingers Netflix will have it soon...) Scores [supsystic-tables id='11'] Arq scored 1.9 overall and this was largely due to the fact that we all agreed it will look and experience would be a lot better in the cinema. It,

In episode #009 of Flixwatcher podcast guests Dave from Fortitude Magazine and Josh from Footbalistically Arsenal return, this time to discuss the Quentin Tarantino modern masterpiece Pulp Fiction.   Unbelievably there are people in the world that haven't seen Pulp Fiction! Dave hadn't, so it was his choice and we thank him for it. Tarantino's Palme d'Or winning second film made in 1994 famed for its groundbreaking non-linear narrative, the bromance between Samuel L Jackson and dazzling script impressed the first-time watcher Dave and was a more than welcome re-watch for Josh, Helen and Kobi. With so many great moments there was much to discuss, the watch, the $5 milkshake, the star-studded cameos, that soundtrack and what is in that briefcase? No one was more happy to revisit this postmodern 90s classic than Helen who praised Tarantino for his strong female characters and the timeless quality of the film. Scores Despite quibbles on our unique scoring system (recommendability is a word?!), watching it on hi

Episode #008 sees Simon from Level Up Human choose the 2015 science fiction film Advantageous. A self-proclaimed sci-fi snob, Simon choose this as it was the most science fiction film he could find on Netflix ...and because he liked the cover image!     Set in a bleak, near-future, urban environment, where we communicate with bots via holographic Skype calls and women are 'completely shelved' after a certain age, the film's protagonist is forced into undergoing an experimental full body swap. It's a future with no animals, not much fun for kids and shopping for her new body is like being on Tinder. Ultimately the film suffers from what Simon calls the 'prototype problem'. Also noted was it's shoddy sci-fi and being inferior to Black Mirror. Despite scoring a relatively low 2.3 (Kobi would recommend Transformers 3 ahead of this!!) and really REALLY annoying Rachel it gave for a surprisingly in-depth discussion and debate on memory, ethics of body swaps, personality and cloning. "Believably bland" a Hollywood r

Happy New Year Flixwatcher fans! We hope you had a fantastically festive film based Christmas and caught up on our previously reviewed films - if you did let us know your Flixwatcher scores by Tweeting us @Flixwatcherpod Our first podcast for you in 2017 is Ep #007 with Dave and Jen from The Family Tree - The Little Prince Netflix Original animation, the choice of Dave. A personal project from director Mark Osborne (Kung Fu Panda & Spongebob SquarePants) to animate the classic novella written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (French aristocrat, writer, poet, and pioneering aviator) in 1943, was also a personal choice from Dave. Remembering it from his childhood as an audiotape and now intrigued to find out how the story translates into this 2015 animation. A film that could be broken up into three parts, the Flixwatcher team and Dave and Jen agreed unanimously that it was gorgeously animated but lacked coherence. There was plenty of discussion on kids films - why we categorise most animation as children's entertai

Episode 6 sees the Flixwatcher team and guests Ben (Top Film Tip) and John (Future Music) reviewing the 2015 Netflix Original Beasts of No Nation. Ben's choice, described in Top Film Tip style "Orphaned African boy is swallowed into the quagmire of #IdrisElba's monstrous child army in crushing spellbinder #BEASTSOFNONATION"  For us first-time watchers the experience was brutal, enchanting, often funny and utterly compelling. The episode #006 crew discussed the how astonishingly well made and at times beautiful the film was, whilst having the backdrop of the unimaginable violence and loss of childhood. Kudos to Idris Elba's remarkable performance as The Commandant, the flawed anti-hero, playing against type and adding depth to a character that could have been reduced to a stereotype. Child actors Abraham Attah (Agu) and Emmanuel Nii Adom Quaye (Strika) gave compelling and assertive performances as the two boys who forge friendship and companionship against the bleakest of outlooks. Despite it being a brutal w

Todd from "The Bitter End" chose the 80's Body Horror Classic "From Beyond" for Episode 5 of the Flixwatcher Podcast!   Todd is a big horror fan and first watched From Beyond as a young boy on VHS and it has stuck with him since then. The episode 005 crew were divided between horror and (Todd and Helen) non-horror (Tom and Kobi) fans so it would be interesting to see what they made of it.   The split was actually quite interesting in that the Bitter End guys both looked favourably on From Beyond. In particular, Todd managed to eek out some more points based on his enthusiasm and allegorical theories behind the film. This was a really interesting choice for a Flixwatcher episode so early on in our run and goes to highlight the depth and variety of choices on the Netflix platform. Scores [supsystic-tables id='6'] The overall Flixwatcher Rating for From Beyond is a surprising  3.3! This was not expected going into the recording session but goes to show the courage in Todd's conviction. From Beyond scored highe

It was Jay from "How to Write a Tune" chose the film for Episode 4 of the Flixwatcher Podcast! Podcast! He claimed it would be the "Artsy Fartsy" choice and appeal to the true cinephile in him. It was noted as being beautiful and creepy and noted for being a film of essentially being two distinct parts; lovely bits at the start and then the part where it started to go dark and creepy! The episode #004 crew had a lot of time for "The Talented Mr Ripley", letting Beth how beautiful the film looks as well as the interesting character study helmed by Damon is he spirals into aware of homicidal mania! It was really interesting to go back and review a younger Matt Damon together with Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Cate Blanchett. This was pre-Jason Bourne Matt Damon and it showed in his physicality. It was also a really great to see Philip Seymour-Hoffman in the guise of Freddie who would ultimately starts to untangle Tom Ripleys web of deceit. Scores The overall Flixwatcher Rating for The Talented Mr Ripley

Ep #001 - Pirates! An Adventure with Scientists with Tom and Felix of Wooden Overcoats In our first episode, we chat about Pirates! An Adventure with Scientists/ A Band of Misfits (depending on where in the world you live) as chosen by Tom of Wooden Overcoats! Tom had never seen it before and chose it to bury a grudge with a former co-worker who said that it was rubbish. We were also joined by Felix from Wooden overcoats, who had no Idea what a Christmas Ham was. The Aardman classic Pirates! (Insert your favourite ending here) tells the story of the “Pirate Captain” and his quest to become “Pirate of the Year” even though he gets beaten every year by better Pirates as voiced by Lenny Henry, Salma Hayek and Hugh Grant. Pirates! is one of the most densely packed films since Airplane!.. and they both have exclamation marks at the end. Scores The Episode #001 crew rated this highly with a 4.2/ 5 so a pretty high standard to right off the bat here at Flixwatcher. The “Recommendability" scores were super

Flixwatcher is a film podcast based around films on Netflix. Flixwatcher is hosted by Helen Sadler and Kobi Omenaka. Every episode discusses and rates a film from Netflix as chosen by special guests from other podcasts using the unique Flixwatcher scoring system.  We tackle classic films including Woody Allen's "Manhattan" and "Pulp Fiction" , Netflix Originals such as "Amanda Knox" and "Beasts of No Nation" through to bargain bin b-movies. The choice of the films is given wholly to the podcaster guests and team Flixwatcher have no say in the matter! Tune in every week to get Netflix film recommendations and rejections with spoilers guaranteed! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices