Aussie and the Scotsman talk movies

This week we review the 2017 biographical crime thriller film directed by Ridley Scott.

Based on John Pearson's 1995 book Painfully Rich: The Outrageous Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Heirs of J. Paul Getty, it depicts the events surrounding the 1973 kidnapping of John Paul Getty III and the refusal of his grandfather, the multi-billionaire oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, to cooperate with the kidnappers' extortion demands.

The film sta...

This week we review the 1973 historical adventure drama prison film Papillion directed by Franklin J. Schaffner.

The screenplay was based on the 1969 autobiography by the French convict Henri Charrière.

The film stars Steve McQueen as Charrière ("Papillon") and Dustin Hoffman as Louis Dega.

Henri Charrière is a safecracker nicknamed "Papillon" because of the butterfly tattoo on his chest.

In France, he is wrongly convicted of murde...

This week we are delighted to welcome Pip Mushin to the studio.

Pip is a highly accomplished Australian actor, director, and producer with extensive experience in theatre, film, and television. 

Pip earned critical acclaim for directing Avenue Q and Falsettos. His major stage directing credits include The Book of Mormon, Evita (starring Tina Arena), and Fiddler on the Roof (starring Anthony Warlow). 

In film, Pip wrote and directed...

This week we discuss the best of Robin Williams.  

Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951 – August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created spontaneously and portrayed in drama and comedy films.

Williams is regarded as one of the greatest comedians of all time.

He received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, ...

This week we review the 1969 American road drama film Easy Rider written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda, and directed by Hopper.

Fonda and Hopper play two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South, carrying the proceeds from a cocaine deal with a young Jack Nicholson in tow.

The success of Easy Rider helped spark the New Hollywood era of filmmaking during the early 1970s.

With ...

This week we review the 1991 American psychological thriller film Cape Fear directed by Martin Scorsese which is a remake of the 1962 film.

This film is awful!

It stars Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte and Jessica Lange.

The film tells the story of a convicted violent rapist who, by using his newfound knowledge of the law and its numerous loopholes, seeks vengeance against a former public defender whom he blames for his 14-year imprisonm...

This week we review the 1965 American musical drama film The Sound of Music produced and directed by Robert Wise and starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.

The film is an adaptation of the 1959 stage musical composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.

It is based on the 1949 memoir The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria von Trapp and is set in Salzburg, Austria.

It is a fictional retelling of ...

This week we are delighted to welcome Elise Esther Hearst to the studio.

Elise is an award-winning writer and performer based in Melbourne, Australia.

Elise trained at the Royal Court Theatre in London and has been a playwright-in-residence at Melbourne Theatre Company and Griffin Theatre.

Her best-selling debut novel, One Day We’re All Going to Die, was published by Harper Collins in 2023 and was shortlisted for The Age Book of th...

This week we review the 1976 American neo-noir psychological drama film Taxi Driver directed by Martin Scorsese.

Set in a morally decaying New York City following the Vietnam War, it stars Robert De Niro as veteran Marine and taxi driver Travis Bickle, whose mental state deteriorates as he works nights in the city.

The film also features Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Leonard Harris and Albert Brooks (in...

This week we review the 1995 American crime thriller film Seven.

It stars Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman, with Gwyneth Paltrow, and John C. McGinley in supporting roles.

Set in an unnamed, crime-ridden city, Seven's narrative follows disenchanted, nearly retired detective William Somerset (Freeman) and his newly transferred partner David Mills (Pitt) as they try to stop a serial killer from committing a series of murders based on t...

This week we review the 1986 American sports drama film The Color of Money directed by Martin Scorsese. It is the sequel to the 1961 film The Hustler. 

The film stars Paul Newman reprising his role as "Fast Eddie" Felson, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor.

The film also stars Tom Cruise playing a pool hustler, and features Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as the girlfriend of Cruise's character. The plot follows the trio...

This week we review the 2020 American apocalyptic survival disaster thriller film Greenland directed by Ric Roman Waugh.

Starring Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin the film follows the family as they fight for survival before a planet destroying comet hits earth.

Get the popcorn ready and buckle up - this is a better than average disaster movie but the Aussie manages to ruin it with his ridiculoulsly in depth analaysis of a film th...

This week we review the 1951 American psychological thriller film noir Strangers on a Train produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, based on the 1950 novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith.

It was shot in late 1950, and released by Warner Bros. on June 30, 1951, starring Farley Granger, Ruth Roman and Robert Walker.

The story concerns two strangers who meet on a train, one of whom is a psychopath who suggests that they "ex...

This week we review the 2000 Australian crime drama film Chopper starring Eric Bana as Mark 'Chopper' Read.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie - it's an all Aussie podcast as the boys recreate the "cash - no cash here" scene and discuss this Australian classic in detail.

Nominated for a well deserved 9 AACTA (Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts) awards this is a fantastic movie showcasing the life of Chopper.

What is true and wh...

This week we review the recently released (2 days ago) 2025 American superhero film Superman based on the eponymous character from DC Comics.

Written and directed by James Gunn, it is the first film in the DC Universe produced by DC Studios and the second reboot of the Superman film series.

David Corenswet stars as Clark Kent / Superman, alongside Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion, and ...

F1 (2025)

This week we review the recently released F1 movie - which is a 2025 American sports drama film, starring Brad Pitt as a racing driver who returns to Formula One (F1) after a 30-year absence to save his former teammate’s underdog team, APXGP, from collapse. 

Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Tobias Menzies, and Javier Bardem also star. 

The film was directed by Joseph Kosinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. 

This podcast co...

This week we discuss the 2008 historical film drama Hunger directed by Steve McQueen, starring Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham, and Liam McMahon.

The film stars Fassbender as Bobby Sands, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) member who led the second IRA hunger strike and participated in the no wash protest in which Irish republican prisoners tried to regain political status after it had been revoked by the British gove...

This week we are delighted to welcome actor, comedian, and impressionist Jim Meskimen to the podcast.

Jim joins us via zoom from LA where we discuss his career as an artist, animator, actor and impressionist.

Jim has starred in 5 Ron Howard movies including Apollo 13 and Frost/Nixon as well as an acting career that spans the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, The Marvelous Mrs Mazel, Parks and Recreation and most recently Landman.

Jim regale...

This week we review the 2015 American biographical crime comedy-drama film The Big Short.

This is one of our earlier podcasts so it's short and sweet.

It documents how the 2007–2008 global financial crisis was triggered by the United States housing bubble.

The film stars Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, and Brad Pitt and some surprise cameos who break the fourth wall to explain concepts such as subprime mortgages and col...