The Movie Mull

What We've Been Watching XMAS Special: Dear Santa, Tokyo Godfathers, About A Boy, That Christmas

This week, the mulls are back with a Christmas What We've Been Watching Special... Neil starts us off with a review of Jack Black-starring Dear Santa, Justin enjoys re-watching the Hugh Grant comedy drama About A Boy, Darren heads back to 2003 to catch-up with that year's Japanese anime cult-classic Tokyo Godfathers, and our host Richard wraps things up by talking about the new Netflix animated adaptation of Richard Curtis and Rebecca Cobb's children's books, That Christmas (as a bonus, we also sneak in a few words about Red One which has just been released on Amazon Prime!).
Wishing all of our listeners a very happy Christmas - hope you all have time to enjoy one of your favourite Christmas movies. 

The Greatest Character Actors

For this week's episode, Neil asks us to think about our favourite character actors... those performers who turn up - often in a supporting role - and make the scene, the whole movie even, that much better.  Or maybe they're the sort of actor who completely transforms themselves for every role - disappearing inside the character. 
Who are those performers that you just love to discover when you sit back to watch? Listen in and then let us know your favourites too.  

What We've Been Watching - Kneecap, Femme, Saturday Night, Gladiator 2

For this week's What We've Been Watching episode, the mulls are back with four new reviews... First up is Darren who loved Kneecap (released in cinemas earlier this year and now appearing on Prime), Richard then tells us all all about emotional drama Femme which has recently landed on Netflix, Neil gives us a preview of the film based-on-true-life events that led to the very first Saturday Night Live (coming to UK cinemas early in 2025), while Justin wraps things up with an in-depth review of Ridley Scott's long-awaited sequel Gladiator 2 likely to be found still playing at cinemas near you today.

The Very Best of Christopher Nolan

Whether we're travelling through Leonardo DiCaprio's brain in Inception, or swinging across Gotham with The Dark Knight, or solving a mystery while stepping back through time... Christopher Nolan has brought us some of the most thought-provoking blockbuster moments of the past two decades and more.
This week, the movie mull team sift through all of his filmography to decide on the ultimate Top 5 movies created by this highly-acclaimed director and writer.
Listen in and then let us know your favourite film in the Nolan-verse and what makes it special. 

Best of the Year (So Far!) - Recorded LIVE at Grays Town Park Cafe

At the start of November, three of our mulls (one was away on his holidays!) were invited down to Grays Town Park Cafe to record another very special live episode.
Among other things, we talked about our favourite movies of 2024 - so far, at least!  With a couple of months of releases still to go at the time of recording, these lists may change, but at the moment these are the top films from this year that we'd really recommend you check out - many of which are now available on DVD or streaming. 
We'll be back at Grays Town Park Cafe for further live recording in 2025.  Follow us on social media to find out the next date - and, if you're not too far away, we'll see you there for plenty of movie chat, a great coffee and some delicious cake! 

Both Sides of the Camera: Who are the greatest actor/directors?

For this week's episode, our host Justin brings us a topic for discussion raised by one of our lovely listeners.  Who are the greatest directors who started their film career on the other side of the camera? 
Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood, Bradley Cooper, Greta Gerwig, George Clooney, Ben Affleck, Mel Gibson... The list is vast, but who are the actors that have had the most influential career (so far!) from the director's chair? What are the skills that lend themselves to each of these roles? What might inspire an actor to take on that directorial responsibility? 
Listen in, then let us know your thoughts and favourites... 

What We've Been Watching - Killer Heat, Salem's Lot, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person

This week, the team (minus Neil who is on holiday this week) are back with three more reviews... Richard starts us off by telling us all about Killer Heat, a crime mystery drama that has just landed on Prime, then Justin reviews the latest attempt to adapt Stephen King's vampire classic Salem's Lot this time for the big screen; and Darren rounds things off with his thoughts on vampire-coming-of-age-teen-romantic-comedy: Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person, which is available to watch now on Mubi. 

Halloween Horror Special

For a special recording, three of our mulls got together on All Hallows Eve to talk about some of the most iconic horror figures in cinema.  
From Dracula and the Wolfman, to Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers, to Ghostface and Art the Clown... they talk about the appeal of horror and the staying power of some of these characters.  
Trick or Treat? Do you have a favourite horror character that you love to be scared of? Use the comments or find us on social media to let us know...

What We've Been Watching - Challengers, The Cat and the Canary, A Different Man, Tuesday

For this week's What We've Been Watching episode, the Movie Mull team have reviews of another four films for you:
To start us off, Richard gets a chance to catch up with Luca Guadagnino's early 2024 release, Challengers; then Justin brings us an under-seen nugget of golden age Hollywood cinema - The Cat and the Canary; Darren has a review of Aaron Schimberg's comedy-thriller A Different Man; and finally our host Neil wraps things up with fantasy-drama Tuesday.
Listen in - and then let us know what you've been watching.  We'd love to hear your recommendations for films that you'd like to hear us reviewing on the podcast. 

Recasting 'Die Hard' - LIVE PODCAST SPECIAL

The Movie Mull gang are back with another episode recorded with a wonderful live audience... and, spoiler warning, this one gets a little messy!
This week, the team are challenging themselves to do the impossible.  Can they recast festive-action-classic Die Hard for a modern remake that does the original justice? Probably not, but they'll have a lot of fun trying!
Listen in and then get in touch with your dream cast!