Second Take Cinema

This week on the show Jamie and Rory go back to one of the scariest sci-fi movies of all time, described as a "haunted house in space" Alien launched a franchise that remains one of the most well-known in Hollywood, but it all stems from humble beginnings. Jamie and Rory discuss some of the more disturbing themes of the movie and take a look at some of the filmmaking techniques used to bring the Nostromo to life.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jamie and Rory review the classic action movie "Die Hard" widely regarded as an excellent movie, Jamie has to come along with his usual contrarian take and isn't too enamoured by the movie. The boys discuss the reasons behind this and whether or not Die Hard could work with another action hero in the lead.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The third season of Second Take Cinema continues and, since HAUNTED is currently on a break we're continuing to share it with all of our Patreon supporters. In the first episode of the season we discussed the landmark superhero movie "The Dark Knight" and this week may give you tonal whiplash as we're reviewing "Come And See" a harrowing, haunting and relentlessly bleak Soviet movie from 1985 that follows a young Belarussian boy who gets caught up in the Nazi invasion of his country.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Second Take Cinema returns for a third season of movie discussion beginning with the epic "The Dark Knight." A movie that became an instant classic and along with Iron Man sparked the second wave of the superhero craze that we're recently seeing the come-down of. Jamie and Rory look back on this 2008 film to see how it holds up, does it still hold the same meaning and power as before or has the passage of time taken some of the shine out of The Dark Knight. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is it! Our long journey to cover all of the films in the Elm Street franchise comes to a close not with a bang but with a whimper as we look at 2010s "A Nightmare On Elm Street" which failed to breathe new life into the franchise. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A decade in the making, 2003's Freddy vs Jason saw the two slasher icons going at it and represented the end of an era; the final time Robert Englund would play Freddy Krueger on the big screen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The lovely folks at Enigma Releasing kindly offered us the chance to do an early review of their new movie The Last Front. Already available in the United States, The Last Front releases in cinemas across the UK and Ireland on November 1st. Starring Iain Glenn (Game of Thrones) this World War I period drama tells the story of a small Belgian village that is set upon by a passing group of Germans who accuse the village residents of harbouring an anti-German resistance gang. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Often cited as a dry-run for Scream two years later, franchise creator Wes Craven returns to his most infamous creation to deliver a new tale which makes use of meta-narrative and self-referential winks to the audience. Does this first attempt at a meta horror movie from Craven hold up 30 years later? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So this is how it ends, not with a bang but with a whimper. Freddy left the 80s and entered the 90s with a particularly weak entry in the franchise in Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare. That's not to say there isn't anything interesting to be found here; brightly lit, very colourful and with jokes lifted right out of Looney Tunes, this film more than any other displays the ways in which Freddy had become watered down and commercialised for the mainstream audience. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thus begins what many would consider the downslope of the A Nightmare On Elm Street franchise with 1989's part 5: The Dream Child. Returning from the previous movie, Alice (Lisa Wilcox) begins experiencing strange Freddy Krueger-tinged dreams whilst she is awake. Around the same time she discovers that she is pregnant. Could the two things be related? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Dream Master is the highest grossing film in the A Nightmare On Elm Street franchise (excluding crossover movie Freddy vs Jason) which is a remarkable achievement considering how fraught with problems the movie's production was. A Nightmare On Elm Street's 4th entry is a film that, by rights, really shouldn't work; its elements are too disparate, it began shooting without a script, the producer and director who consistently at loggerheads and it had a turnaround time of less than a year after the third one...and yet, somehow, A Nightmare On Elm Street 4 has that "X Factor" that makes it feel much more entertaining and cohesive than it has any right to be. At least, that's Jamie's take on this film, but will Rory agree? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our voyage through the A Nightmare On Elm Street franchise brings us to the third entry; Dream Warriors, which many consider a high point in the franchise's success. Heather Langenkamp returns as Nancy Thompson to do battle once again with Freddy Krueger who is haunting the nightmares of a group of teens residing in a mental health centre. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We continue our trek through the A Nightmare On Elm Street franchise with what may well be the most curious entry in the series. A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge was initially derided upon release as a poor follow up but has been reappraised in recent years with many commenting on the movies underlying homoerotic subtext and the effects the movie had on its leading man's career (for more information see the documentary Scream, Queen!: My Nightmare On Elm Street). Looking back in 2024, how does the movie play today? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Spooky season is upon us and this year we'll be treating you to a bumper crop of Second Take Cinema episodes as we make our way through the entire A Nightmare On Elm Street franchise. We begin, naturally, at the beginning, with Jamie's favourite movie of all time, the movie that very literally changed the course of his life; A Nightmare On Elm Street. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Delving into one of Rory's favourites this week, the boys review 1994's Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. One of the movies that catapulted Jim Carrey to his dominant status over movie comedies in the 90s, the film is a personal favourite of Rory's but not remembered fondly by Jamie. Add in the problematic nature of the films final moments and one has to ask how Ace Ventura: Pet Detective plays in todays world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jamie and Rory look back on what is largely regarded as one of the greatest superhero movies ever made. 2004's Spider-Man 2 sees the return of Director Sam Raimi as well as stars Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Rosemary Harris and J.K. Simmons, joined by newcomer Alfred Molina as the villainous Doc Ock!  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

12 Angry Men gets reviewed by...2 Angry Men, I guess. This black and white classic has been a part of pop culture since it first arrived on the scene and is a film Rory has long waited to discuss on the show. Jamie finally relents and the pair engage in discussion this critically acclaimed film. Do the jurors actually break the justice system? Does the film deserve its sterling reputation? And could you make a modern version of this same story or is it truly a product of its time? Find out, on Second Take Cinema! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jamie and Rory delve into this 2004 comedy that they both missed on initial release but Jamie saw in 2022 and became temporarily obsessed with (watching it 6 times). It's a weird jumble of a film that probably shouldn't work and yet somehow does. It also has what is undeniably one of the best performances of Timothy Olyphant's career.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Second Take Cinema, Jamie and Rory take a look at this 2003 Western featuring Kevin Spacey, Robert Duvall, Anette Benning and Michael Gambon. One is a fan of Western's the other isn't. So how will the movie be received? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jamie and Rory take a look at this 2004 monster-smash epic that tried putting the Universal monsters together long before anybody dreamed up the so called "Dark Universe." Remembered fondly from younger years, how does Van Helsing hold up today? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.