Call It, Friendo

This week, we discuss two films about young women forced to become assassins. The first is The Villainess (2017), directed by Jung Byung-gil, starring Kim Ok-vin. According to Jung, the movie was inspired by La Femme Nikita, which he watched at the age of 10. The second is La Femme Nikita (1990), written and directed by Luc Besson. The film stars Anne Parillaud as the title character, a criminal who is convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment before being recruited as a state assassin. Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:00:25) – The Long Walk, Titanic, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, My Life as a Courgette, Three Days of the Condor, Ponyo, Aladdin, Task The Villainess (00:33:50) La Femme Nikita (00:57:20) Coin toss (01:33:40)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two pioneering British folk horror films. The first is The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971). Set in early 18th-century England, it follows the residents of a rural village whose youth fall under the influence of a demonic presence after a local farmer unearths a mysterious deformed skull buried in a field. The second is Witchfinder General (1968). The film is a heavily fictionalised account of the murderous witch-hunting exploits of Matthew Hopkins, a lawyer who falsely claimed to have been appointed as a Witchfinder General by Parliament during the English Civil War to root out sorcery and witchcraft. Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:00:30) – The Summit, King & Conqueror, Mitchell and Webb Are Not Helping The Blood on Satan’s Claw (00:17:55) Witchfinder General (00:48:30) Coin toss (01:21:50)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two films dealing with colonialism in Africa. The first is Cobra Verde, directed by Werner Herzog and starring Klaus Kinski, in their fifth and final collaboration. Based upon Bruce Chatwin's 1980 novel The Viceroy of Ouidah, the film depicts the life of a fictional slave trader who travels to the West African kingdom of Dahomey. The second is White Material, directed by Claire Denis and co-written with Marie NDiaye. The film stars Isabelle Huppert as Maria Vial, a struggling French coffee producer in an unnamed French-speaking African country who decides to stay at her coffee plantation in spite of an erupting civil war. Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:00:30) – Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, Alan Partridge: Welcome to the Places of My Life, Alan Partridge’s Scissored Isle, Barry season four, Robot Dreams Cobra Verde (00:14:20) White Material (00:42:50) Coin toss (01:08:25)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two New York police films from 1981. The first is Nighthawks, which follows Sylvester Stallone and Billy Dee Williams as a couple of undercover detctives tasked with taking down a ruthless international terrorist played by Rutger Hauer. The second is Fort Apache, The Bronx, which stars Paul Newman as Murphy, a veteran street cop who faces numerous daily challenges in one of the roughest neighbourhoods in New York. Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:00:25) – Weapons, Friendship Nighthawks (00:12:15) Fort Apache, The Bronx (00:46:25) Coin toss (01:12:35)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two crime films from director Richard Brooks. The first is Looking for Mr. Goodbar, based on Judith Rossner's best-selling 1975 novel of the same title, which was inspired by the 1973 murder of New York City schoolteacher Roseann Quinn. The film stars Diane Keaton, Richard Gere and Tom Berenger. The second is In Cold Blood, based on Truman Capote's groundbreaking 1966 nonfiction novel. It stars Robert Blake and Scott Wilson as two down-and-out criminals who murder a family of four in small town Kansas.   Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:00:25) – Weapons, Bring Her Back, Peacemaker season one and two, The Northman, Inception, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1, Licorice Pizza, Alien: Earth season one Looking for Mr. Goodbar (00:27:20) In Cold Blood (00:54:50) Coin toss (01:13:15)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two films about people imprisoned overseas. The first is A Prayer Before Dawn (2017), which tells the true story of Billy Moore, a British boxer and heroin addict who spent a number of years incarcerated in Thailand in brutal conditions. The second is Papillon (1973), starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. The film is based on the autobiography of Henri Charrière, a safecracker sentenced to life imprisonment in French Guiana.   Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:00:30) – Karen Pirie season two, Barry season three, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, King of the Hill season fourteen, The Naked Gun, Frozen 2, Aladdin, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight   A Prayer Before Dawn (00:23:50) Papillon (00:54:00) Coin toss (01:28:20)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two crime films set in Jamaica. The first is The Harder They Come (1972), which stars Jimmy Cliff as Ivanhoe Martin, a young man who, after failing to make it as a musician, becomes an outlaw. The film’s soundtrack is famed for bringing reggae to a global audience. The second is Yardie (2018), which tells the story of a young man named D who moves from Jamaica to London in the 1980s and becomes embroiled in the criminal underworld. Yardie was Idris Elba’s directorial debut.   Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:00:30) – Severance season one, The Accountant 2, When We Were Kings, Superman, Talk to Me, Happy Gilmore 2   The Harder They Come (00:31:50) Yardie (01:04:30) Coin toss (01:27:45)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two films from American director John Sturges. The first is Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), which stars Spencer Tracy as a WW2 vet who uncovers a dark secret in a small desert town. The second is Gunfight at the OK Corral (1957), which retells the story of the infamous 1881 shootout featuring Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and the Cochise County Cowboys in the town of Tombstone, Arizona.   Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:01:00) – Jaws @ 50, The French Connection, As Tears Go By, Avengers: Infinity War Bad Day at Black Rock (00:16:00) Gunfight at the OK Corral (00:45:35) Coin toss (01:27:35)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two films from American cult horror director Fred Dekker. The first is The Monster Squad (1987), co-written by Shane Black, which sees a group of young kids take on the Universal monsters. The second is Night of the Creeps (1986), where two uncool college students find themselves at the centre of an alien invasion that turns people into zombies.   Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:00:55) – Sexy Beast, Ocean’s Twelve, Wolfman’s Got Nards The Monster Squad (00:14:05) Night of the Creeps (00:41:45) Coin toss (01:08:50)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two films from French director François Ozon. The first is In the House (2012), which follows a precocious student who infiltrates a classmate’s family life through storytelling, blurring the line between fiction and reality. The second is Swimming Pool (2003), a tense psychological mystery where a reclusive writer’s quiet retreat unravels into a game of seduction, suspicion and blurred identities.   Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:01:00) – Welcome to Wrexham season four, The Bear season four, 28 Years Later, Shifty, F1, The Ballad of Wallis Island, Jurassic World Rebirth, Dune: Part Two, War Dogs, Scanners In the House (00:40:40) Swimming Pool (00:56:00) Coin toss (01:19:50)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two films from American director John Milius. The first is The Wind and the Lion (1975), which blends adventure and political intrigue as a Berber chieftain kidnaps an American woman, sparking an international incident in early 20th-century Morocco. The second is Conan the Barbarian (1982), which charts the mythic rise of a warrior seeking vengeance in a brutal, sorcery-laced world.   Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:01:00) – Dept. Q, Tires season two, The Bombing of Pan Am 103, Goodfellas, The Social Network, Tornado, Prey The Wind and the Lion (00:25:00) Conan the Barbarian (00:56:40) Coin toss (01:23:50)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two films that explore the uncertainty of growing up. The first is Diner (1982), which captures the camaraderie and coming-of-age struggles of a group of young men on the brink of adulthood in 1950s Baltimore. The second is I Vitelloni (1953), which follows five idle friends in a small Italian town as they face the slow, reluctant transition from youth to responsibility.   Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:01:00) – Dept. Q, The Rehearsal season two, The Salt Path, Tires season two, Alien 3 - The Legacy Cut, City of God, Predator: Killer of Killers Diner (00:33:25) I Vitelloni (01:07:25) Coin toss (01:33:20)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com Alien 3 - The Legacy Cut - https://www.a34k.net/ Andor: The Rogue One Arc - https://fanedit.org/forums/threads/andor-the-rogue-one-arc-rogue-one-rescore.29698/

This week, we discuss two films that quietly explore isolation, beauty and the passage of time. The first is Vigil (1984), which follows a young girl in rural New Zealand as she navigates grief, and a mysterious new presence, after her father's death. The second is Days of Heaven (1978), which captures the tragedy of a love triangle set against the sweeping landscapes of the American frontier.   Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:01:00) – American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden, The Phoenician Scheme, Red River, The Last of Us season two, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, The Predator, The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey Vigil (00:35:00) Days of Heaven (00:45:50) Coin toss (01:10:40)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com Vigil (1984) - https://youtu.be/1WSn5BTKjFM?si=3c_7KSFlGbz-LqPV

This week, we discuss two films from acclaimed director Jane Campion. The first is In the Cut (2003), a psychological thriller that delves into desire and danger as a woman becomes entangled in a murder investigation. The second is The Piano (1993), which tells the haunting story of a mute pianist whose arranged marriage in colonial New Zealand ignites a turbulent journey of passion and autonomy.   Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:01:00) – Mogwai: If the Stars Had a Sound, Wild Zero, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, Matewan In the Cut (00:15:30) The Piano (00:47:00) Coin toss (01:14:00)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two depressing Scandinavian films. The first is Aniara (2018), which follows a spaceship of passengers drifting hopelessly through space, confronting existential despair after veering off course. The second is Melancholia (2011), which centres on two sisters grappling with personal and cosmic doom as a rogue planet threatens to destroy Earth.   Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:01:00) – Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, Final Destination: Bloodlines, Andor season two, Rogue One Aniara (00:35:30) Melancholia (00:52:10) Coin toss (01:15:50)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two films starring Jack Nicholson. The first is The Witches of Eastwick (1987), which blends dark comedy and supernatural chaos as three women discover their powers, and a devilish visitor, in a small town. The second is Terms of Endearment (1983), which traces the complex, tender and often turbulent bond between a mother and daughter over decades of love and loss.   Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:01:00) – Dig! XX, Sinners, Thunderbolts*, A Real Pain, Warfare The Witches of Eastwick (00:32:00) Terms of Endearment (01:04:45) Coin toss (01:36:15)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two Martin Scorsese films dealing with Christianity. The first is The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), which presents a deeply human portrait of Jesus, torn between divine duty and earthly desires. The second is Silence (2016), which follows two Jesuit priests facing persecution and crisis of faith while searching for their mentor in 17th-century Japan.   Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:01:03) – Civil War, Drop, Spotlight The Last Temptation of Christ (00:26:20) Silence (00:59:53) Coin toss (01:33:00)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two American sports films from 1979. The first is North Dallas Forty (1979), which exposes the gritty underside of professional American football, where painkillers, politics and profit overshadow the game The second is Breaking Away (1979), which follows a group of working-class friends navigating identity, dreams and class divisions in a college town through the lens of competitive cycling.   Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:01:00) – The Last of Us S02E01, Interstellar, Black Mirror season seven, The French Dispatch North Dallas Forty (00:35:43) Breaking Away (01:04:15) Coin toss (01:34:40)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com Limmy - How American sports sound to me - https://youtu.be/Gz2SX5dwO84?feature=shared

This week, we discuss two classic British films from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. The first is Black Narcissus (1947), which explores the psychological unraveling of nuns in a remote Himalayan convent as desire and isolation take hold. The second is The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), which traces the life of a British officer through love, war and friendship, challenging ideas of honour and aging.   Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:01:00) – Andor season one, The White Lotus season three, The Amateur, Sully Black Narcissus (00:28:00) The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (00:46:00) Coin toss (01:06:30)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two historical dramas about political resistance. The first is Peterloo (2018), which tells the harrowing story of the 1819 massacre in Manchester, where peaceful protesters were met with deadly force while demanding political reform. The second is The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006), which follows two brothers caught on opposite sides of Ireland’s fight for independence and the ensuing civil war.   Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:01:00) – Better Call Saul, Threads, Big Hero 6, Small Things Like These, A Complete Unknown Peterloo (00:39:20) The Wind that Shakes the Barley (01:06:40) Coin toss (01:33:35)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com