Failed Critics

It's getting a bit musky in the FC HQ this week as Steve Norman, Owen Hughes and Callum Petch engage in their very own sausage party to review Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's latest collaboration. The foul-mouthed animated comedy pretty much divided the group down the middle, but you'll have to listen to find out who hated it, who thought it was fine, and who loved it. Elsewhere on the pod: hooked on an Ashton Kutcher-fix, Steve reviews time-travelling sci-fi The Butterfly Effect; Owen realises he should watch a film before coming on a film podcast so squeezes in a first viewing of Roger Corman's Piranha; and Callum revisits an old favourite in Scott Pilgrim vs the World to see if he still likes it in the same way as he used to. Plus there's quizzing, recommendations, chat about who is a chan of Jackie Fan (who isn't a Jackie Fan chan?) and Callum comprehensively guides us through this year's London Film Festival line-up. Join the same trio again as well as the returning Tony Black next week for (sigh)... &

Welcome to this week's episode of the Failed Critics Podcast where we're once again Steve Norman-less. But don't panic! Tony Black is here to spare you the agony of having to listen to Owen Hughes attempt to host the show. Tony and Owen were also joined by special guests and lovely chaps Daryl Bär and Ben Challoner from the Sudden Double Deep podcast, whose wit, intelligence and fantastic insults make them a more than welcome addition to Failed Critics. Together the team try to come to terms with the news of Gene Wilder's passing breaking just minutes before recording started, as well as perusing the BBC Culture poll of the top 100 films of the 21st century, plus a quick glance at the latest figures around who earns what in Hollywood. The main releases this week include: the latest Jason Statham action vehicle Mechanic: Resurrection; a barrel of laughs and a barrel-sized Jonah Hill in the "based on a true story" black comedy War Dogs; and dystopian thrills and not-much-bloody-spills with The Purge:...

Murdered in his sleep, chopped up into tiny pieces and stuffed down the back of Paul Field's sofa. That's what we presume is the reason behind the Underground Nights co-host taking over duties from the absent Steve Norman this week as he joins Owen Hughes and Andrew Brooker for this week's triple bill podcast. Each of the trio picks three films that have frightened them - not necessarily the scariest films they can think of, but rather, those that have at some point in their lives scared them beyond their senses. The theme for this triple bill was chosen with FrightFest in mind, which kicks off on Thursday this week and has a mini-preview of a couple of films that the team are keeping an eye out for. There's also room in the whopping 2 hour run-time for the Failed Critics to chat about more controversy over Sausage Party after last week's damning indictment of the way that film's producers have been treating the animators. This time, it's the Swedish age-rating system that feels the full force of the...

Awright, settle down you slags. The Failed Critics Podcast is here, keep your hair on you bunch of Berkley Hunt's. Influenced by the paedo-hunting vigilante killers in the expectedly awful geezer-movie Mob Handed, hosts Steve Norman and Owen Hughes are up to no good with their partner in crime, Callum Petch. As well as a full-on dismantling of the aforementioned since-proclaimed "worst movie" that Owen and Steve have ever made each other watch (nudging out the likes of Kill Keith, United Passions and Spice World), we also cover the news this week that the animators on Sausage Party have been dicked on. Or.. weinered on? Anyway. We also have reviews of the first ever entry into the expanded DC universe* with Wes Craven's 1980's cult creature feature, Swamp Thing (*that's a joke), the bizarre / wonderful / strange / odd / quirky / surreal / [delete as applicable] film The Lobster, plus Callum deals a blow for nostalgia as it turns out that Highlander isn't actually all that good, really. Main releases... &

Wearing skimpy clothes and carrying a baseball bat with a miserable face carved into it with a compass, Steve "Har-leaky Quim" Norman is not about to let your perception of his sexual promiscuity define him as he wanders in to lead this week's podcast, all about DC's latest entry to their extended movie universe: it's David Ayer's rogues-done-good ensemble actioner, Suicide Squad. Taking pot-shots at the film with his uber-cool Nerf missile launcher strapped to his bogey-covered sleeve, Andrew "Deadsnot" Brooker lends a slightly-crusty hand on this week's episode. As does Owen "The Inch-and-less" Hughes, possessed by the spirit of a stroppy old misanthropic witch, but you probably can't tell that there's anything different about him compared with any previous podcast appearance in fairness. Suicide Squad gets a once over from the ragtag bunch of misfits spoiler-free, before a post-credits review that delves more deeply into some of the finer points of the plot, should you wish to listen to us prattle on... &#

Refusing to stay down on the mat and not allowing our coach to throw in the towel, the Failed Critics are steadily climbing to their feet for one final round of the sports triple bill. The first of which was concluded back in August 2012, in time for the London Olympics. This one, coincidentally, is being released just ahead of the Rio Olympics! Almost as if it were intentionally planned that way... Hosts Steve Norman and Owen Hughes are joined by Andrew Brooker and - fresh from his local Richer Sounds with a brand new microphone - Brian Plank. Each Failed Critic chose their three favourite sports movies. Did Owen try and shoehorn in Brewster's Millions again? Did Steve just list the three Mighty Ducks movies? Did Brooker choose a film featuring a sport that isn't American Football? Is there a single book about sports that Brian hasn't read? You'll have to listen to find out. Also this week, due to the quick turnaround in podcasts, with the last Star Trek Beyond episode only released a few days ago, not... &#

Welcome to another episode of the Failed Critics Podcast, boldly going where we've only been once before. That is to say, it's another episode without any guests! Steve Norman and Owen Hughes are left to their own devices, and yet still end up discussing two new releases. They review the latest sci-fi franchise to become a trilogy in Star Trek Beyond - well, one of them can review it as the other hasn't seen it (all) - as well as Spielberg's adaptation of everybody's favourite childhood author, Roald Dahl's classic, The BFG. Elsewhere on the show, the duo run through as many of the trailers from San Diego Comic Con as they could get their hands on, plus Steve's reaction to The Ouija Experiment, his booby-prize for losing last week's quiz. There's also enough time for some appreciation for The Purge films ahead of next month's release of Election Year, as well as a quick appreciation for Andy Samberg's latest comedy, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, which is also due out exactly one month from today....

Welcome to this week's Failed Critics Podcast, where the traditionally entirely-male line-up has been replaced, with hosts Stephanie Norman and Olivia Hughes, and their guests Andrea Brooker and Brianna Plank - and if anything, it's an improvement over the originals. The re-imagined, re-booted, re-failed foursome review the comedy film that seemingly hasn't been able to escape public opinion over the past fortnight (for both good and bad reasons) - that is Paul Feig's Ghostbusters, starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Chris Hemsworth. The Ghostbusters appreciation doesn't stop there for one of the guests, as prior to our main review, Brooker enthused over fan-doc Ghostheads, which is available on Netflix. As, coincidentally, is the latest Netflix Original, the sci-fi fantasy drama Stranger Things, which receives heaps of praise from both Steve and Owen. We're all about the praise on this episode apparently as Brian also lavishes some on Guy Ritchie's spy-comedy from last...

Welcome to this week's edition of the Failed Critics Podcast, where hosts Steve Norman and Owen Hughes are joined by special guest Paul Field to tackle a few new releases (and one not-so-new release). One new release that isn't reviewed (despite what was suggested on last week's podcast), due to an administrative cock-up of gargantuan-Stay-Puft proportions, is Ghostbusters. Sorry about that. You'll just have to tune in again next week. However, instead, Owen and Steve strived to stay awake long enough during the slog that was The Legend of Tarzan in order to share their thoughts with you all, whilst Paul survived an 80-mile round-trip specifically to see Nicolas Winding Refn's latest divisive feature, The Neon Demon. Elsewhere this week: Steve takes a nostalgia trip all the way back to the mid-90's for The Bus That Couldn't Slow Down or Speed Up Fast Enough To Escape the Simpsons Meme (aka Speed); Paul digs out the best fan-fiction he can find after watching Slash at the Munich Film Festival (and by...

Influenced by this week's triple bill, getting ideas above their station and blowing a huge amount of money on an extravagant holiday because they didn't quite know what else to do with it, Steve Norman and Owen Hughes return in a feature-length edition of the Failed Critics Podcast. With the help of their good friend Liam, the trio ramp things up to 11 and have a great time doing it! I mean, that's what you do when you turn an otherwise weekly serialised show into a big-budget production, right? Send all your mates on holiday to piss about in the sun whilst blowing huge wads of cash on a subpar (albeit much, much longer) episode of what you normally do? Well, at least this episode isn't subpar, even if it is longer than usual, as the Failed Critics each choose their three favourite movie adaptations of TV shows and/or characters. Everything was up for grabs, from "much loved" family flicks like The Simpsons Movie (nobody chose it), PopEye (not a chance) and The Flintstones (you must be kidding), to... &

With temporary host Paul Field getting to the ballot box and voting in blind panic to leave the Failed Critics Podcast after two long successful weeks, we finally have our Steve Norman back! Luckily, Steve hasn't done a Roy Hodgson as his team of Owen Hughes and Andrew Brooker don't bottle it on the grandest stage of all. Assuming that you of course agree that the "grandest stage" is of course a free audio podcast. This week's episode features reviews of three brand new releases, with a main review of Roland Emmerich's sci-fi disaster feature (well, what other kind of film was he going to make?) Independence Day: Resurgence. Set 20 years after the original, the aliens have come to reap their revenge - only this time, they're... just... going to do the same thing again. Probably because they knew there would be no Will Smith this time. Owen and Brooker also find time to discuss a fantasy movie worth watching as the Italian-French-English Tale of Tales arrives in cinemas - and on VOD services such as Curzon...

Uh-huh-huh-huh-uh. Uh-huh-huh-huh-uh. Cool. It's the second ever Failed Critics commentary! Think of this podcast as less like an insightful DVD commentary for 90's comedy Beavis & Butt-Head Do America, and more like a watch-along-with as the team talk over Mike Judge's cult classic. Speaking of the team, Steve Norman sits this one out so it's up to Owen Hughes to host on his lonesome. Thankfully Matt Lambourne returns from last year's Blair Witch Project commentary podcast, who is also joined by Mike Judge mega-fan Paul Field. Just like last time, the film was streamed via Netflix UK, so if you want to watch Beavis & Butt-Head Do America underneath our commentary (which is the advisable way to listen to this podcast!), then we’ll tell you exactly when to hit the play button.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Welcome to this week's edition of the Failed Critics Podcast. With Steve Norman away on holiday, it was up to Underground Nights's host Paul Field to sit in the driver's seat and lead Owen and Liam through one hour and 45 minutes of film chat, reviews, discussions and old-man-misery. The show begins as it always does - with a quiz! - before moving on to the latest news including The Passion of the Christ 2 (yes, it's getting a sequel) and Kevin Smith's long-awaited sequel-turned-TV-show Mallbrats. In What We've Been Watching, Paul kicks-off with a review of Israeli director Vladi Antonevicz's exceptional and chilling documentary, Claim To Murder, as he tracks down members of Russia's notorious Neo-Nazi party N.S.O. who have claimed ownership of a brutal beheading video that appeared on YouTube in 2007. Meanwhile, our resident obscurist international-film fan Liam reviews the Shakespearean tribal-love story Tanna, filmed entirely on the remote South Pacific island of Tanna. Lastly, Owen has a few choice...

Welcome to this week's Failed Critics Podcast where hosts Steve Norman and Owen Hughes were joined by both Callum Petch and Andrew Brooker to review three new releases! Book-ending Callum's film-reviewing life in education with trips to Wonderland, he reveals that Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland is the worst blockbuster of the 2010's - and why Alice Through The Looking Glass is no better. We also review Warcraft: The Beginning, confusing Steve no end as he can't tell the difference between it and Warhammer (direct your outrage to @FailedSteve). Finally, we collectively agree that Shane Black's noir-comedy The Nice Guys is nice, guys. Before all of that in What We've Been Watching: Owen puts on his shades and sees They Live for the first time (in years); Brooker peels himself away from the PCC in London after a big-screen showing of True Romance; Callum completes his own Tarantino collection with Inglorious Basterds; and Steve stops watching football documentaries for two minutes to take in Will... &

Your official (not "official" official) 17th best podcast, Failed Critics, as designated by New Media Europe's 'Best UK Podcast of 2016' award. Voting closed on Monday 30th May, with The Failed Critics Podcast ranked 17th out of 100 based on the number of Facebook votes we received. Thank you so much to anybody who helped us achieve this high a position by taking a few seconds to vote. On this week's episode, we draft in Underground Nights' very own Paul Field to help us run through a triple-bill of movie stars, where he and hosts Steve Norman and Owen Hughes each pick three actors whom they consider to be the very definition of the very subjective term 'film star'. Before all of that, Owen barely has chance to make himself comfortable before reviewing the new Michael Bay produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows after seeing it earlier that afternoon. Meanwhile, Paul introduces us to Victoria, a German film shot entirely in one take, and Steve catches up on some Shane Black with The Long...

The lads are back! After a brief hiatus whilst James Mullinger was busy doing actual paid stand-up comedy, rather than fannying around on the internet talking about films with Paul Field, our Underground Nights duo return with a cult comedy special. They tackle the outrageous Danish road trip movie Klown and try and look back on James childhood obsession with the little known Scorsese feature After Hours. There's news - lots of news - as we discover the outcome of James trying to flog more gig tickets than Jerry Seinfeld, they reminisce about over indulging in the 90's, tackle the Cannes film festival and go misty-eyed over the Carry On movies. They end by discussing some listener suggestions and deliver their own Top 5 personal favourite cult comedy movies - and as ever, they discover ever more things they have in common and parallels in their lives.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Welcome to this week's episode of the Failed Critics Podcast, with your hosts ... erm ... Stan? Stuart? Stephen? Steve, Steve Norman, that's the fella, and Owen Hopkins-- I mean, Hughes. They're joined by Andrew Brooker to review, look at, discuss, scratch their heads and generally mull over the latest Fox-driven superhero movie, X-Men: Apocalypse. Before all of that, the trio run through the latest film news to cross their paths; namely the trailers for Ghostbusters (and why it might be OK to not like it), Star Trek Beyond, The Purge: Election Year and Independence Day: Resurgence. There's also room for a discussion about Nicholas Winding Refn's plans to remake Witchfinder General, as well as an astonished glance towards the impressive cast list of Thor: Ragnarok, boasting the likes of Cate Blanchett, Karl Urban and Jeff Goldblum. As ever, the ongoing, never ending quiz battle between Owen and Steve rages on, this week pitting the latter against Brooker as they try to work out which X-Men names are real... &

Hello listeners, what's your boggle? We wouldn't normally try to conjure up the image of a painted wall with the episode title, but we were somewhat shambolic this week, even by our own standards. With host Steve Norman suffering from agonising tooth ache during much of the recording, Owen Hughes and guests Andrew Brooker and Tony Black ran amok. A new round of the quiz kicked the show off, pitting Steve against Brooker and Tony, with Owen in the quizmaster's chair, before the group discussed the potential Fantastic Four sequel and latest Assassins Creed trailer. As ever, What We've Been Watching followed, as Owen revisited 90's classic Demolition Man, Brooker spread the love for recently cancelled sitcom Undateable, and Tony returned to Superman.. er... Returns. Only two new releases made their way onto the podcast. Brutal thriller Green Room was the main feature, but as penance for not seeing anything at all in the last seven days, Steve still attempted to review The Angry Birds Movie without having...

Somebody hit the emergency switch at FC HQ earlier today. Only, what they didn't realise, was that rather than stopping the machinery from whirring so that they could untangle their hair from the press, it instead sent all of the guests that we keep on stasis in their cryochambers shooting straight out of the vents and into a large pile of limbs, flesh and scrawled-on notepads near the FC skip.Bugger. Whilst we sort that mess out, the only two left undamaged were hosts Steve Norman and Owen Hughes who present this week's podcast without the aid of any guests whatsoever. A first for Failed Critics! Actually, all that stuff about cryochambers and a FC HQ is a load of bollocks. We just decided that for an experiment, given that we're in the post-Civil War lull, that Owen and Steve should try presenting the show on their own. Does it work? Well, it's not for us to say, but we still manage to squeeze over 100 minutes out of the pair of them. They look at the solo-Black Widow movie rumours, the Power Rangers...

Battle lines have been drawn. Treaties are being drafted. The U.N. were informed. It's Steve 'Captain Anyway' Norman on one side, using his sense of justice and principles to determine what's right. Opposite is Owen 'Irony Man' Hughes, putting his logic and rational thinking to the test. Listeners, choose your side as Civil War erupts on this week's Failed Critics Podcast! Andrew Brooker and Brian Plank are caught in the crossfire, therefore rather than being referred to as "guests" this week, you can legitimately call them Failed Critics collateral damage. If you haven't guessed what the main review on the latest episode is yet, then go speak to your doctor. But just for clarification, it is indeed the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster, Captain America: Civil War - and boy do we talk, and talk, and talk about this one. We have our usual spoiler-free review later in the show, followed by a Spoiler Alert after the end credits, where the team go into more depth without worrying about ruining the... &