Far From Ideal

For Christmas we put our money where our mouths are and design the perfect Christmas film. Complete with: Muppets, time travel, at least three different flavours of Santa and so much more. Yule love it.

With the reboot on the horizon we revisit Malcolm in the Middle, the sitcom that quietly reinvented TV. Single-camera, progressive storytelling and characters that struggled against a real world with real problems.

After thousands of hours of campaigns, adaptations, video games and more Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves finally cracked it as a mainstream film offering that didn’t play like Jeremy Irons trapped in a nightmare about a PS2 generated dragon. Michael Silver joins us to delve into everything D&D in a tight half an hour where we still have time to detour into discussing: The Truman Show, Free Guy, The Witcher and Critical Role.

This week we talk: horror, comedy, horror comedy and comedy horror. Which films get the balance right? How are the two genres actually very similar? And why are nice comedians like Jordan Peele, Zach Cregger and Kyle Mooney trying to scare us in the first place?

.This week, we talk about all things Tim Burton: the art, the movies, and the man behind the macabre. From Beetlejuice to Big Fish, we dig into how Burton built an entire universe out of being an oddball and why his “weird” still hits decades later. Plus, Hannah’s thoughts on the Design Museum exhibit and whether his magic has faded or just evolved.#timburton #FilmAnalysis #MovieTalk #BurtonExhibition #Filmmaking #Cinematography #PopCulture #ArtAndFilm

.This week on Far From Ideal, we dive into the art of the movie trailer: the ones that tell us the entire plot, the ones that completely lie to us and the ones that are actually amazing. From Scrooged to Tropic Thunder, Oppenheimer to The Fall Guy, we unpack how editing, marketing, and Hollywood hype can either elevate or ruin a film.We debate spoilers, mystery, and why every trailer must last three minutes too long. Plus: horror trailer parodies, Jordan Peele’s genre-bending marketing, and the obvious question: should you even watch a trailer before seeing the movie?

.This week we welcome writer, director, and creative producer Ali Clifton for a deep dive into the future of James Bond. With Denis Villeneuve confirmed as the next director, what does that mean for the tone of 007? Is Villeneuve prepared to do away with his entire identity asa filmmaker and return to the camp roots of Bond? Is a period piece an option? Or will Amazon decide that more dollars can be wrung from a TV series?We also break down casting predictions, from the bookmakers' favourite Aaron Taylor-Johnson to unexpected contenders like Cosmo Jarvis and debate what really makes someone “Bond good-looking.” Then we go off piste: Bond School, multiverse Bonds, or even Bond as a villain. #FarFromIdealPodcast #JamesBond #AliClifton #007 #Bond25 #NextBond #MoviePodcast #FilmDiscussion #DenisVilleneuve #BondPredictions #FilmPodcast

.Adam Sandler: comedy icon, dramatic actor, inexplicable cinematic sadist. This week we get into the highs and lows of a career that defies explanation from Happy Gilmore and Big Daddy to Uncut Gems and his questionable Netflix era. We talk about first exposures, the Happy Madison gang, his “grunge” style of acting, and why Sandler is more Nicolas Cage than anyone else. Plus we introduce the Gilmore scale for rating films. One Gilmore. #FarFromIdealPodcast #AdamSandler #HappyGilmore #UncutGems #MoviePodcast #FilmDiscussion

.We are very lucky to be joined by Emily Manthei, the writer/director of Berlin Loop, an independent film set in Berlin that sees a young woman take on Berlin’s bike thief mafia using a time loop. Getting into her influences and inspirations for the film we range through all the time loop classics, from Groundhog Day to Primer, Palm Springs, Looper and more. Emily’s extensive research even pushes us to discuss the world outside of film, from the poetic Italian physics of Carlo Rovelli’s The Order of Time to metaphysics and consciousness studies. #berlinloop #timeloops #emilymanthei #looper #groundhogday #primer #theorderoftimeEmily Manthei @filmsbyemilymanthei & @berlin_loop_film on IG - https://www.emilymanthei.com/

.This week on Far From Ideal, we delve into Jean-Claude Van Damme’s mind boggling 1996 directorial debut The Quest. This film has it all: pirates, Muay Thai training, Roger Moore selling Van Damme into slavery, and kicking people in the face as a legitimate means of conflict resolution. We also explore Van Damme’s career alongside action legends like Schwarzenegger and Dolph Lundgren, his multiple twin roles, and why Timecop is the best starting point for his oeuvre. And of course we make time to discuss: Twins, Last Action Hero, The Mask, and Mariah Carey’s take on electricity.

This week we’re asking big questions about the world of documentaries: what is the relationship between observer and subject? what is truth? What’s up with Love is Blind? Yes our in depth conversation about documentaries and the streaming era gets sidetracked extensively into talking about reality TV. In a wide ranging conversation we go from Making a Murderer to Symbiopsychotaxiplasm, Love is Blind to Marina Abramović and The Traitors to The Jinx. Is Making a Murderer the blueprint for everything in the streaming era? What happens when a documentary becomes just recycled news in HD? And why do we all keep watching these toxic dating shows?#loveisblind #marriedatfirstsight #neflixdocumentaries #thetraitors #makingamurdererMusic by https://www.bensound.comLicense code: FETENTCZJKOUUJFNArtist: : Marcus P.

Heretic is a film with a deep basement that you’d rather not go into, so join us as we root around down there. Filled with psychological tension, half baked symbolism and Hugh Grant as an actually pretty spellbinding villain, we explore why Heretic’s promising first half collapses under its own ambition. Expect spoilers, discussion of horror versus thriller and tangents that include 1985’s Clue and the Dungeons and Dragons franchise. We also manage to mention: The Exorcist, Seven, Silence of the Lambs, and A24-style horror.#HereticMovie #FilmPodcast #HorrorReview #FarFromIdealPodcast #MovieCritique #HughGrant #PsychologicalThriller #FilmAnalysis #A24Horror #ScreenwritingFails

This week, we dive headfirst into the world of film and TV openings - not just the flashy first scenes, but the often-skipped opening titles that set the tone, build the world, and occasionally warn you that things are about to get weird. From the full credit crawls of 1940s Hollywood to the sleek, skippable sequences of prestige TV, we break down how intros have evolved, what makes a great one unforgettable, and why fonts can make or break a first impression.We talk Dexter, Succession, Napoleon Dynamite, The Sopranos, Westworld, Moon, BoJack Horseman, True Blood, The Simpsons, and more - plus our favourite films ever: Barbie and The Meg 2.Whether you’re the type to always hit “skip intro” or someone who rewatches the Futurama title card for the hundredth time, this one’s for you.@farfromidealpod on Instagram@FarFromIdealPodcast on YouTube

In this week’s report from the frontlines of cinema, we recap Hannah’s trip to this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Glitz, glamour, Cuba Gooding Jr and surprisingly few opportunities to watch films, Cannes has it all. And if you’re thinking “there’s no way in such a jam packed episode that Max can take a long detour to outline the plot of the new season of The Rehearsal” then think again. This being our first full video episode, enjoy seeing our faces alongside the sounds that come out of them.@farfromidealpod on Instagram@FarFromIdealPodcast on YouTube

Equal parts Brideshead Revisited, The Talented Mr Ripley and Kind Hearts and Coronets - a dash of 2000s public school aesthetic - two oversaturated white boys - the joy of Rosamund Pike and Richard E Grant - 1 cup filthy bathwater. This week’s episode features a deconstructed Saltburn served on a bed of disappointment and with a sharp finish of new Harry Potter casting news. #saltburn #barrykeoghan #jacobelordi @farfromidealpod on Instagram@FarFromIdealPodcast on YouTube

This week we’re joined by musician and producer James Berkeley to dive deep into the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Not the James Cameron blue people Avatar, though we do immediately get into a heated discussion of whether that was any good.From the original series to the ill-fated M. Night Shyamalan bomb to the recent Netflix series, there’s a lot of ground to cover. You might think there’s no way to link the cult classic Nickelodeon animation to National Treasure and Aliens, but you would be wrong.@farfromidealpod on Instagram@FarFromIdealPodcast on YouTube

Making a film entirely in one shot is surely one of the most masochistic exercises a filmmaker can undertake. And yet they persist! We cover everything from Hitchock’s classic Rope that mimics a single shot, the experimental and painfully boring foray into digital of Russian Arc, all the way through to the mainstream blockbusters of Birdman and 1917. Eventually we get to the work of Philip Barantini, the current master of the form with his film Boiling Point and recent Netflix limited series Adolescence dominating headlines.@farfromidealpod on Instagram@FarFromIdealPodcast on YouTube

With Kirstie Alley, John Travolta and Bruce Willis as the voice of a baby, Look Who’s Talking was the surprise smash hit of 1989. But does it hold up as a masterpiece of cinema, or is its legacy tarnished by a series of increasingly bizarre and poorly thought-through sequels? To potentially find out some of the answers, listen to this week’s episode, safe in the knowledge that we also spend a good amount of time talking about Con Air.@farfromidealpod on Instagram@FarFromIdealPodcast on YouTube

Damien Chazelle makes films about three things: music, filmmaking and toxic people single mindedly achieving their dreams while the rest of their lives crumble around them. Whether it’s an abusive jazz mentorship, a quest for a spot on the walk of fame or whatever the hell was going on in Babylon, there’s more than enough here to fulfill the Far From Ideal quota.Featuring a special guest appearance by Caroline Ullman. @farfromidealpod on Instagram@FarFromIdealPodcast on YouTube

Tarantino’s most recent film takes him fully into his dude-bro podcast guy era. Featuring: cool cars, movie stars, movie stars driving cool cars and a bizarre revisionist history of the Manson murders in which Sharon Tate is at best a featured extra. We touch on Jackie Brown, Four Rooms, Inglorious Basterds and The Hateful Eight and wonder with so many memorable characters why Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood’s most memorable is a dog. With meta-textual hyper referential filmmaking sometimes if you throw enough shit at the wall you end up with a wall covered in shit. @farfromidealpod on Instagram@FarFromIdealPodcast on YouTube

Fresh off this year’s Berlinale, Hannah takes us behind the scenes of Berlin’s premier film festival. We dive into all the hard hitting topics: the joys and existential horrors of networking, the mystery of “market screenings” (sadly not a cinema supermarket hybrid) and Berlin’s bleak February weather. In spite of that description, the podcast is still slightly more fun to listen to than Tolstoy. @farfromidealpod on Instagram@FarFromIdealPodcast on YouTube

In 2024, M. Night Shyamalan lured moviegoers in with the slick and exciting trailer for his latest directorial misfire, Trap. Featuring the pop sensation that is Saleka Shyamalan, Kid Cudi cosplaying as Lucius Malfoy, and Josh Hartnett swinging for the rafters as a serial killer who seems to embody every Myers-Briggs personality type at once.Perhaps the real trap isn’t just the one set inside the arena—but the psychological prism through which we attempt to make sense of a chaotic and indifferent universe. Or maybe it really is just the cops in an arena.@farfromidealpod on Instagram@FarFromIdealPodcast on YouTube

The rip roaring ride that was the 97th Academy Awards has come and Hannah is hearing about it all for the first time! The sweep for Sean Baker and Anora, the history-making moments for Flow (first Latvian winner), Paul Tazewell (first black man to win Best Costume Design) and Emilia Perez (worst speech ever). We absolutely don’t cover it all this time because another two hour episode would be egregious but we certainly cover some things a bit. Featuring very special guest Ilana Francis.@farfromidealpod on Instagram@FarFromIdealPodcast on YouTube

In this week’s very special episode we look ahead to the 97th Academy Awards. The highs, the lows, the nominees, the snubs and we answer the two very important questions: who will probably win and who should actually win. In one of the weirdest awards seasons in recent times we show remarkable restraint in how little we continue our criticisms of Emilia Perez from last week and astonishing commitment to ignoring the documentary and short film categories. Featuring very special guest Ilana Francis. @farfromidealpod on Instagram@FarFromIdealPodcast on YouTube

What happens when a celebrated French director makes a Spanish language opera about a Mexican cartel leader’s gender transition journey? You get the cinematic… film that is Emilia Perez, a movie that has garnered the second most Oscar nominations of all time while also being one of the most masochistic viewing experiences imaginable. Join us this week as we attempt to make some sort of sense of Emilia Perez. @farfromidealpod on Instagram@FarFromIdealPodcast on YouTube

On another thrilling episode of “Far From Ideal colon Sofa Spuds”, we run the gamut from The Muppets all the way through Ricky Gervais and explode out the other end with the recent horror movie offerings of Nosferatu and Heretic. There’s something for everyone! As long as you’re interested in The Muppets, Ricky Gervais, Nosferatu or Heretic. End bracket.@farfromidealpod on Instagram@FarFromIdealPodcast on YouTube

Madame Web has been trashed by pretty much everyone, including some of those involved with making the film. But is all that criticism entirely fair? Are we simply jumping on the bandwagon? Didn’t all of our mothers go to Peru to extract magic spider venom to cure us of a genetic disease in utero… Metaphorically?If you were worried that we don’t spend enough time criticising Benedict Cumberbatch, put those fears to rest.@farfromidealpod on Instagram@FarFromIdealPodcast on YouTube

This week we ask important questions about the core of high art and cinema such as: Is Spy Kids cool? How many Marvel films have we each seen? And was the score of The Butterfly Effect entirely composed by Limp Bizkit?Be careful not to miss this episode, you may end up in a Slumdog Millionaire situation one day and need to recall information from it. FYI we do not discuss Slumdog Millionaire in this episode. We do, however, touch on: Challengers, Dear Santa and The Ghostbusters Franchise. Lucky, lucky you.@farfromidealpod on Instagram@FarFromIdealPodcast on YouTube

If Greta Gerwig’s 2023 ode to Mattel isn’t ready for the Far From Ideal treatment then too bad because here it is. Classic moments of this episode include: the infamous Oscars ‘snub’, an extensive examination of Max’s Barbie History knowledge and the introduction of our new, original and entirely patented game Six Degrees of Nicholas Hoult. With all that and more we still manage to mention the Fast and The Furious Franchise.@farfromidealpod on Instagram@FarFromIdealPodcast on YouTube

This week Hannah and Max go full free association. From lazily watching the first film that pops up on any given streaming platform to half remembered bits and pieces of decades old TV shows: if you're not wearing a hat then put one on so that you can hang onto it. If you're already wearing a hat, get in touch to let us know what kind.@farfromidealpod on Instagram@FarFromIdealPodcast on YouTube

On this week's thrilling episode Hannah and Max barely mention Bradley Cooper's egregious prosthetic nose in the 2023 Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro. A slew of other actors, topics and films come up throughout including: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I'm Not There, Elvis and many, many more.@farfromidealpod on Instagram@FarFromIdealPodcast on YouTube

A new weekly podcast where Hannah and Max pick cinema to pieces and feast upon its bloated corpse. Sometimes there are games.