It's another pre-recorded episode while Ed is on holiday, so there's no news this week but there is a lot of discussion about Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, The Lonely Island's mockumentary which was criminally ignored on its release in 2016 despite it being one of the best American comedies of the last 20 years. Ed and Emily talk about the many great jokes, how well the film mimics the films that inspired it, and how its story plays out as a nightmare version of The Lonely Island's own story. Get Donkey rolling everyone because the cult starts here!

Ed's going on holiday for a couple of weeks, so he and Emily pre-recorded some non-topical episodes in which they talk about movies they love. First up, they discuss the bleakly funny and endlessly quotable high school satire Heathers, featuring early career-shaping performances from Winona Ryder and Christian Slater. They discuss the film's prescient examination of alienation, toxic masculinity and performative living, the long afterlife and legacy of the show as a home video staple, and why it's been so difficult to replicate its brilliance in other media.

This week, Ed and Emily discuss the ways in which seeing a movie with an audience can affect their experience of the film itself, in ways both good and bad, as well as the ways in which certain fanbases (i.e. Star Wars and Rick and Morty fans) negatively impact the reputations of the shows and movies they like, and how that complicates the experience of watching those works. They also discuss Danny Boyle's departure from Bond 25, and pleasant TV shows they've seen recently.

00:00:00 - 00:15:56 - Intro & News

00:15:57 - 00:52:33 - Ed & Emily discuss how audiences affect art

00:52:34 - 00:57:16 - SRS Recommends & Outro

On this week's episode, Ed and Emily talk about Play for Today, the BBC's long-running anthology series which provided a platform for some of the best British actors, writers and directors of the '70s and '80s to create exciting, innovative works. They discuss some of the most (in)famous instalments (including Ken Loach's The Price of Coal, Mike Leigh's Nuts in May and Abigail's Party, Alan Clarke's Scum, and Dennis Potter's Brimstone and Treacle) and whether the series left a lasting legacy beyond the careers of the people (but mostly men) who worked on it.

00:00:00 - 00:16:29 - Intro & News

00:16:30 - 00:54:21 - Ed & Emily talk about Play for Today

00:54:22 - 00:59:15 - SRS Recommends & Outro

Here is the Play for Today archive at British Television Drama that Emily references

Here is the Washington Post profile of Jimmy Carter that Ed recommends

Inspired by the news that Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is recasting a major character for thematic and artistic reasons - rather than because the original actor was a nightmare, as is so often the case - Ed and guest host Emily Benita discuss other examples of TV shows taking big risks, and whether the current glut of content has encouraged or lessened experimentation. They also try to make sense of the logic behind the forthcoming changes to the Oscars, and whether the idea of an Oscar for popular movies is self-defeating.

00:00:00 - 00:17:46 - Intro & News

00:17:47 - 01:04:13 - Ed & Emily talk about TV shows taking risks

01:04:14 - 01:10:46 - SRS Recommends & Outro

Ed and guest-host Emily Benita talk about rewatching movies (and TV shows) in this week's episode. Which movies do they return to for comfort and/or catharsis? How have their rewatching habits changed over the years? What do they get out of watching a movie multiple times? They discuss all of these questions, as well as the death of Barry Chuckle, the return of Jean-Luc Picard, and YouTube mistakes.

00:00:00 - 00:16:03 - Intro & News

00:16:04 - 00:46:23 - Ed & Emily talk about rewatching movies and TV shows

00:46:24 - 00:56:18 - SRS Recommends & Outro

Ed is joined by returning guest Emily Benita to talk about horror movies in the 21st century, with a specific focus on movies released during the last four or five years, and whether the genre is currently going through a golden age. They also talk about the latest developments in the Chris Hardwick scandal, the potential damage that could be caused by the Disney/Fox merger, and the Buffy reboot.

00:00:00 - 00:27:17 - Intro & News

00:27:18 - 00:59:22 - Ed & Emily talk about 21st century horror movies

00:59:23 - 01:05:28 - SRS Recommends & Outro

It's been ten years since the release of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, a film which achieved tremendous commercial and critical success, and for many seemed to legitimise the superhero story as a cinematic genre. It also inspired a lot of people to act terribly on the Internet. Matt and Ed look back at the movie and try to decide how well it holds up, and to make sense of its complicated legacy. They also discuss some of the news coming out of Comic-Con, and try to untangle the messy situation surrounding James Gunn's firing by Disney.

00:00:00 - 00:24:25 - Intro & News

00:24:26 - 00:56:59 - Matt & Ed discuss The Dark Knight

00:57:00 - 01:02:32 - SRS Recommends & Outro

Inspired by the upcoming MLB All-Star game, Matt and Ed talk about baseball in movies and TV (though through a mixture of tiredness and lack of time they didn't get to A League of Their Own, which is unforgivable since it's the best), with digressions about Soundcloud rappers, the Toronto Raptors, and The Wine Show.

00:00:00 - 00:35:54 - Intro & News

00:35:55 - 01:07:56 - Matt & Ed discuss baseball in movies and TV

01:07:57 - 01:12:48 - SRS Recommends & Outro

Inspired by a tweet from Mark Kermode, this episode is all about the changing face of cinema, and how we experience films in an age where the traditional cinematic experience is being replaced with something very different. Matt speaks to Jaq Chell and Abi Standish from Cinema for All, an organization which helps communities set up their own cinematic experiences outside of traditional theatrical exhibition. Ed and Matt also talk about the ways in which digital filming and distribution shape film culture, Scarlett Johansson's decision to play a trans character in an upcoming movie, and, of course, WORLD CUP FEVER.

00:00:00 - 00:30:08 - Intro & News

00:30:09 - 00:52:10 - Matt interviews Jaq Chell and Abi Standish

00:52:11 - 01:09:31 - Matt and Ed discuss Cinema in 2018

01:09:32 - 01:17:52 - SRS Recommends & Outro

Inspired by the release of another lackluster Jurassic Park/World movie, Matt and Ed talk about film series that ran too long, wearing out their welcomes with audiences and critics. They also talk about the abuse accusations against Chris Hardwick and the notable silence coming from the comedy and podcast communities, the weird, dumb saga of David Lynch's weird, dumb comments about Donald Trump, and WORLD CUP FEVER.

00:00:00 - 00:10:16 - Intro & World Cup chatter

00:10:17 - 00:23:49 - News

00:23:50 - 00:43:05 - Matt & Ed discuss Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and the Jurassic franchise in general

00:43:06 - 01:14:03 - Matt & Ed discuss other franchises overstayed their welcome

01:14:04 - 01:22:51 - SRS Recommends & Outro

With Matt out due to hay fever-related illness, Ed is joined by returning guest Emily Benita to talk about long movies. Why does it feel like movies are getting longer? Is there a certain kind of story that best suits a longer runtime, or is it all in the way a story is told? Which of the two movies about Abraham Lincoln released in 2012 is better? There's only way to find out: LISTEN TO THE EPISODE.

00:00:00 - 00:06:15 - Intro

00:06:16 - 01:00:31 - Ed & Emily discuss long movies

01:00:32 - 01:06:15 - SRS Recommends & Outro

In one of the loopier episodes in recent memory, Matt and Ed discuss heist movies by way of World War II propaganda films, Birch/Hird confusion, and ill-fated BBC sitcoms of the '90s. They also talk about missing out on Doc/Fest, memories of bad Q&As, and toxic Star Wars fans.

00:00:00 - 00:13:40 - Intro

00:13:41 - 00:41:41 - News

00:41:42 - 01:24:30 - Matt & Ed discuss heist movies

01:24:31 - 01:31:12 - SRS Recommends & Outro

Returning guest Jack Rhoden joins Ed this week to talk about The League of Gentlemen, the much beloved and macabre comedy group who recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of their Perrier award win with three Christmas specials. Those episodes saw the cast return to the horrible, yet charming, then even more horrible town of Royston Vasey in order to reprise their vast array of terrifying and funny characters. Jack and Ed discuss their respective histories with the show, the work that the team has produced in the years since, and which elements of the series feel problematic in 2018 and which feel oddly timely.

Inspired by the hand-wringing over the middling performance of Red Sparrow and this tweet by Zoe Kazan, this week's episode is all about movie stars. How has movie stardom changed since the star system first took shape in the early days of Hollywood? Are there any movie stars in the traditional sense now that Hollywood is so franchise focused? Is stardom ultimately more harmful than helpful? Matt and Ed consider all of the above, as well as which recurring characters from Sex and the City they wouldn't vote for.

00:00:00 - 00:16:36 - Intro & News

00:16:37 - 01:05:12 - Matt & Ed discover Movie Stars

01:05:13 - 01:15:25 - SRS Recommends & Outro

Following on from last year, when Ed picked the best Best Picture winners in Oscar history, Matt and Ed join forces to highlight the times when The Academy got Best Director right. Also, since the episode was recorded mere hours before this year's Oscars, they try to predict the major awards so that their foolishness can be preserved for all time.

Inspired by some recent stories about people rediscovering ER, Frasier and Friends on streaming services, Matt and Ed spend this week's episode talking about the joy of eschewing the glut of new TV shows in order to dig into the classics, as well as what those older shows can teach us about how television, and culture more generally, have changed. They also discuss the great GQ profile of Brendan Fraser, what their great-grandparents would make of their current jobs, and the pitch for the Friends finale that Ed wrote when he was 16.

00:00:00 - 00:05:17 - Intro

00:05:18 - 00:21:11 - News

00:21:12 - 01:14:16 - Matt & Ed discuss discovering older TV shows

01:14:17 - 01:21:25 - SRS Recommends & Outro

Netflix surprised everyone last Sunday when they announced that the third film in the Cloverfield franchise would be debuting on their streaming service immediately after The Big Game, despite nobody having seen it and there being no advance hype or build up. But was this a bold new approach to film distribution, or the result of Paramount, desperate to offload a bad film, finding an outlet for it? Why not both? Matt and Ed address these questions and more as they address the considerable flaws of The Cloverfield Paradox, and the greater conundrum of Netflix itself; a service which has the potential to bring films to a huge audience instantaneously, but which more often than not serves as a place where films go to be forgotten.

They also discuss the first Solo trailer and others bits of Star Wars news, get excited about the forthcoming Black Dynamite followup, and note the deaths of John Mahoney, Reg E. Cathey, and Johann Johannsson.

00:00:00 - 00:04:35 - Intro

00:04:36 - 00:38:17 - News

00:38:18 - 01:23:21 - Matt & Ed discuss The Cloverfield Paradox and Netflix more generally

01:23:22 - 01:31:16 - SRS Recommends & Outro

In this episode - which, despite being inspired by a film called The Irishman and being recorded over St. Patrick's Day weekend, is categorically not a St. Patrick's Day episode - Ed is joined by critic and podcaster Kayleigh Donaldson (@Ceilidhann on Twitter) to discuss Netflix's recent acquisition of Martin Scorsese's long-gestating gangster epic, as well as how the growth of upstart studios and distributors like Netflix, Amazon, A24, Blumhouse and Annapurna Pictures are shaking up the status quo in Hollywood. There's also some talk about whether or not Jeff Bezos is trying to kill God.

Kayleigh's piece on The Irishman, "How Netflix Stole Martin Scorsese's Dream Project From Hollywood" can be found on Screen Rant.

00:00:00 - 00:01:30 - Intro

00:01:31 - 01:10:44 - Ed and Kayleigh discuss The Irishman, Netflix and Amazon's original film slate, the death of the mid-budget movie, Blumhouse. A whole bunch of stuff, really.

01:10:45 - 01:16:50 - SRS Recommends & Outro

Somehow, it's been twenty years since Buffy the Vampire Slayer debuted on the WB, a humble start for a show which would go on to build a huge cult following and fundamentally alter fantasy and sci-fi storytelling on television. To help unpack this momentus occasion, Ed is joined by Zoë Jeyes and Ellie Graham to talk about the highs ("Hush", "The Zeppo", "Once More with Feeling") and lows (that weird sex episode) of the series, its continuing metaphorical richness, and the vagaries of BBC scheduling.

00:00:00 - 00:02:23 - Intro

00:02:24 - 00:59:21 - Ed, Ellie & Zoë discuss Buffy the Vampire Slayer

00:59:22 - 01:04:31 - SRS Recommends & Outro