Beyond The Box Set

Featuring ludicrously OTT gore, Ben Stiller going full r-word and Robert Downey Jr. improbably turning a black face performance into Oscar gold, Tropic Thunder is a Hollywood satire that made us laugh and squirm in equal measure. Poking fun at the egos and eccentricities of A-list movie stars and powerful studio heads, Tropic Thunder follows a dysfunctional cadre of actors - including a faded action star, an Oscar darling who's a little too committed to the method and a drug-addled gross-out icon - as their attempts to complete production of a high budget war movie in the jungles of Vietnam go horribly off the rails.    The movie cleaned up at the box office and won almost unanimously positive reviews, but not without attracting a level of controversy that might make it a much tougher sell in 2019. In this week's episode, we discuss the thin line between outrageous and offensive, the glorious shade this movie throws towards Eddie Murphy and Russell Crowe, and that unforgettable Tom Cruise cameo...  After

Starring Mark Wahlberg as Dirk Diggler, the well-endowed Golden Child of the late 70s porn industry, Boogie Nights established Paul Thomas Anderson as a major directorial talent, and featured breakthrough performances for megastars including Julianne Moore, Don Cheadle, Philip Seymour Hoffman and more - plus the comeback of a lifetime for actual seventies icon Burt Reynolds.  In this week's podcast, we go deep and dirty while discussing the changing face of porn, debate whether anyone would actually want to wield a 14 inch penis, attain possible wig watch nirvana and of course, pitch some sequel ideas to help Wahlberg's Diggler to rise again... ----- Every week on Beyond The Box Set, we take a look back at a notable standalone movie from the past, and shamelessly riff on possible sequel, prequel or spin-off ideas that might bring them back to the big screen. Sometimes we're inspired, sometimes we're insane, but we always rise to the occasion... Our show has received rave reviews from listeners and been fe

Deceptively smart and, like, totally quotable, Amy Heckerling's Clueless redefined the High School comedy genre in the mid 90s, paving the way for the likes of Mean Girls and Easy A. In this week's episode, returning guest Louise Ball joins us this week to pitch some totally bitchin' sequels... Tune into this week's podcast to hear our thoughts on insane 90s fashion, Tai's questionable past, Christian's possible future as a serial killer and whether or not it's creepy to date your non-biological stepbrother.  We also put together some frat party-friendly Clueless drinking games, essentially quote 90% of the dialogue and attempt to imagine what Cher, Dionne, Josh and the gang might be up to in 2019... ----- Every week on Beyond The Box Set, we discuss a classic standalone movie and compete to pitch the most ridiculous sequels, prequels and spin-off ideas to bring them back to the big screen.  We're proud to have been listed as a 'Podcast of The Week' by The Guardian and Podbean, and as a 'Binge-Worthy Pod

As an icy fashion queen who definitely isn't Anna Wintour, Meryl Streep delivers one of the most iconic performances of her career in The Devil Wears Prada. But could she ever be convinced to revisit the role? Adapted from the bestselling novel by Lauren Weisberger, The Devil Wears Prada stars Anne Hathaway as an aspiring journalist who gets a crash course in the fashion industry while working as an assistant for fearsome magazine editor Miranda Priestley (Streep). The film was a surprise smash hit on release in 2003, grossing over $300 million worldwide and helping to introduce Streep to a new generation of moviegoers.  On this week's podcast, we discuss Emily Blunt's aggressive eye shadow, Anne Hathaway's superhuman speed, Stanley Tucci typecasting himself for life and more. After some good old fashioned drinking games, we move briskly on to pitching our own fantasy sequel ideas. ----- Every week on Beyond The Box Set, we discuss a classic standalone movie and compete to pitch the most ridiculous sequel

Be honest, who wouldn't vote for Harrison Ford as President? On the basis of Air Force One, his policies might be a little... problematic, but he's reliably charming, calm under pressure and he can really nail a trailer line. Real presidents have been elected for much, much less... Dubbed 'Die Hard on a Plane' by critics, Air Force One is dated, dumb and hugely entertaining. Join us as we delight in Gary Oldman's ludicrous scenery chewing, play a highly productive game of 'spot the action movie cliche' and pitch a mobile app game that might just change our lives forever... ----- Every week on Beyond The Box Set, we feature a classic standalone movie and compete to pitch the most ridiculous sequels, prequels and spin-off ideas to bring them back to the big screen.  Our show has been listed as a 'Podcast of The Week' by The Guardian and Podbean, and as a 'Binge-Worthy Podcast' by Apple. We release a new episode every Friday morning, so subscribe for free to make sure you never miss an episode.  Beyond The

After our Dangerous Liaisons disaster last week, we clearly needed a change of pace to keep this Glenn Close mini-series on the rails. Enter Mars Attacks! - Tim Burton's campy love letter to 50s B-movies, and a very different role for our current featured actress.  Mars Attacks! unites an impressive ensemble of 90s A-listers who prove more than willing to embrace the silliness - from Jack Nicholson as an opportunistic US President to Sarah Jessica Parker as a ditzy journalist who undergoes a startling canine transformation.  The real stars of the show are Burton's Martians, though. Delightfully vindictive and with no obvious motive beyond causing chaos and destruction, these little green monsters are movie villains for the ages - which makes it a shame that this movie turned out to be a one off. Could our sequel pitches inspire a long overdue revival? One thing's for sure, it couldn't be any worse than Burton's recent Dumbo remake... ----- Each week on Beyond The Box Set, we feature a classic standalone m

Our Glenn Close mini-season - which we're now dubbing 'Close Encounters of the Glenn Kind' - continues with an episode dedicated to Dangerous Liaisons, in which the actress gives one of her most memorably villainous performances as the scheming aristocrat Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil.  Directed by Stephen Frears and co-starring John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer and Uma Thurman, Dangerous Liaisons has it all - intrigue, seduction and many, many wigs. In other words, it should be a perfect Beyond The Box Set movie. Unfortunately, one of us didn't quite end up seeing things that way... Tune into this week's episode to hear our thoughts on bedtime wigs, a classic distracting Keanu Reeves performance, the film's surprisingly abrupt ending and much more, plus drinking games and of course, our sequel pitches.  ----- Every week on Beyond The Box Set, we take a look back at a classic standalone movie, and compete to pitch the most ridiculous sequels, prequels and spin-off ideas to bring them back to the big scree

Having recently discovered that Harry has only ever seen two Glenn Close movies in his life - one of which being Guardians of the Galaxy - we decided to dedicate a season to the iconic 7-time Oscar non-winner. First up, the terrifying 80s erotic thriller Fatal Attraction... In this movie, Glenn stars as Alex Forrest, a successful career woman who reacts rather poorly to being discarded by married sleaze-ball Michael Douglas after a one night stand. It starts as a compelling examination of mental illness and ends as a fairly silly thriller, but Glenn's performance is one for the ages, and the movie was a genre-defining smash on release. Tune in to hear our thoughts on dishwater sex (we're against it), the terrible mistreatment of poor Quincey the dog in this movie, and why Michael Douglas deserved pretty much everything he got... Oh yeah and sequel pitches, drinking games, etc. You know the drill. ----- Beyond The Box Set is a movie podcast with a twist. Each week, we take a classic standalone movie and c

Over the course of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a man lives an entire lifetime in reverse. After sitting through the three-hour runtime, we felt like we could relate to the experience.  Directed by David Fincher from the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a fascinating concept with a fundamentally boring character at the centre. Join us on this week's podcast as we discuss extremely variable CGI work, the intense ick-factor of the old man/little girl love story and why Tilda Swinton gave us a very British case of second-hand tea anxiety... We also have a go at pitching some sequel ideas, including some thoughts on how other notable directors might have handled this story, and a crossover with one of our favourite camp classics from a past episode... ----- Beyond The Box Set is a movie podcast with a twist. Each week, we take a classic standalone movie and compete to pitch the most ridiculous sequels, prequels and spin-offs to bring them back to the big scree

As a special treat, we thought we'd put out this week's discussion of the Oscar-winning silent movie 'The Artist' a few days earlier than usual. Enjoy!

John Carter of Earth? John Carter of Mars? Frankly, as far as we're concerned this unholy mess of a movie should have been called John Carter and the completely incomprehensible plot.  Directed by Pixar legend Andrew Stanton and starring Battleship himbo Taylor Kitsch, the long gestating big screen adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' highly influential adventure novel was a disastrous box office bomb on release in 2012 - although it has since developed a small but vocal band of defenders.  One of those defenders is Brandon T McClure of the Fake Nerd Podcast, who gamely joins us this week to explain his love for this movie and attempt to unpick the seriously overstuffed plot for our benefit.He also sticks around for the usual drinking games and, of course, our attempts at pitching a workable sequel - although given the financials, we wouldn't hold our breath for any of them getting green lit by a studio. Not on this planet, anyway... ----- Beyond The Box Set is a successful movie podcast in which two intre

Like most moviegoers, the last couple of years have kind of soured us on the screen talents of Matt Damon. Movies like Downsizing and Suburbicon haven't exactly made the best use of his talents, to put it mildly. So revisiting The Martian was a timely reminder that he can actually be pretty damn charming when he's actually given decent material to work with. Directed by Ridley Scott, The Martian stars Damon as Mark Watney, a dry-witted space botanist accidentally stranded on Mars during a mission. While awaiting rescue he's forced to face off against exploding potatoes, a diminishing food supply and a lot of disco music. It's a lot of fun, which is a pleasant surprise for a modern Sci-fi movie.  Join us as we discuss key plot points such as Sean Bean's complete lack of accent effort, Jessica Chastain's questionable leadership skills and what the hell Kristen Wiig is doing in this movie. As usual, we also attempt to come up with some plausible sequel ideas to send this movie back into orbit.  ----- Every w

We're back, you bastards! This week's episode may be arriving slightly late, but we hope the choice of movie justifies the wait. The Dressmaker is a real curio - a hilarious Australian revenge comedy/drama starring Kate Winslet, Liam Hemsworth and a lot of hats, wigs and fabulous evening gowns! If you've never seen this movie before, we strongly recommend that you seek it out before listening to this episode - it's an absolute riot, and some of the plot twists are so out-there that we'd hate to ruin them for you! But do make sure you come back, because we have a *lot* to talk about... ------ Beyond The Box Set is a movie podcast with a difference. Every week, our two hosts watch a classic standalone movie and compete to pitch the most ridiculous sequel, prequel and spin-off ideas to bring them back to the big screen. It's a journey through cinema with a dash of creativity and a healthy dose of humour. Our show has been featured in numerous Podcast best-of lists, including The Guardian, Podbean, the Apple

This time last year, The Shape of Water was crowned Best Picture at the 90th Academy Awards. Twelve months on, has the movie lost any of its lustre?  As we bid adieu to another year of Oscar-watching, we decided to revisit Guillermo del Toro's fantastical passion project in our own unique way. Which of course means only one thing - sequels! From an underwater origin story to an Arrival-inspired sci-fi romance, check out our ideas in this week's podcast - in which we also discuss the benefits of practical effects when depicting inter-species romance, enjoy the cartoonish villainy of Michael Shannon, mourn the tragic death of Pandora the cat and much more... ----- Beyond The Box Set is a British movie podcast dedicated to creatively celebrating classic standalone movies... before desecrating them completely. Each week we take a notable one-off film and compete to pitch the most ridiculous sequel, prequel and spin-off ideas to bring them back to the big screen.  You may have read about us in publications su

Was it Mr Green in the Hall with the Revolver? Or perhaps Mrs Peacock in the Billiard room with the Lead Pipe? All the cards are on the table this week, as we conclude our 'movies based on games' mini-series with an episode dedicated to the classic murder mystery farce 'Clue'. Friend of the show Julio Olivera from The Contrarians Podcast joins us this week as we compare notes on convoluted plotting, scenery-chewing character actors, Yvette's ridiculous cleavage and much more... Inspired by the forthcoming reboot starring - sigh - Ryan Reynolds, we also pitch our own sequel ideas for this classic board game adaptation, featuring re-castings and plot twists galore! ----- Each week on Beyond The Box Set, we take a classic standalone movie and compete to pitch the best, weirdest and most ridiculous sequel, prequel and spin-off ideas to bring them back to the big screen. We've been featured in The Guardian, on the front page of Apple Podcasts and as a Podbean 'Podcast of the Week among others, so check us out

It's been a long road, but Oscar season 2019 has finally come to an end. Check out our instant post-show reaction to the shocks, the snubs and everything else that went down in this very hungover bonus episode...

What if a classic college game based around uncomfortable revelations and sexy funtimes... turned deadly? That's the premise of the wholly unoriginal but kinda fun teen horror Truth or Dare, which we actually wound up enjoying a whole lot more than we should probably admit. Released in 2018, Truth or Dare mixes a little bit of Final Destination with a liberal dose of It Follows, as a group of one dimensional college students accidentally fall prey to a sinister demon during a Spring Break bender in Mexico. Critics gave the film a hard pass with a mere 15% on Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences were a little kinder, and the movie wound up grossing a healthy $95 million at the Box Office. This presumably means a sequel is all but inevitable - and we thought we'd get ahead of the curve with ideas for how to continue the story, featuring double the dares, twice the terror and a whole new cast of interchangeable teen stereotypes played by actors in their mid to late 30s... ----- Each week on Beyond The Box Set, we

It's the most wonderful time of the year - Oscar Season! Eight movies have been nominated for the prestigious title of Best Picture of 2018... and having watched them all, we have some opinions! In this very special bonus episode of Beyond The Box Set, we rank this year's Best Picture nominees from worst to first, and predict who we think will be taking home Oscar Gold on Sunday night... The contenders (in alphabetical order) - Black Panther - Blakkklansman - Bohemian Rhapsody - The Favourite - Green Book - Roma  - A Star is Born  - Vice

A high octane racing thriller based on a popular video game franchise, Need For Speed should have been in pole position for a box office victory lap, but ultimately even the acting talents of Aaron Paul could get it across the finish line... On this week's episode of Beyond The Box Set, we discuss the questionable morality of street racing, Michael Keaton's literally phoned-in cameo appearance and debate whether Rami Malek's horrible supporting turn in this film made us re-evaluate how much we really want him to win an Oscar for Bohemian Rhapsody... As usual, we also conclude with our own sequel pitches for this movie - including an Oscar baiting legal drama and a prequel that fills in the surprisingly detailed back story built into the original. All this plus drinking games, listener submissions and more! ----- Each week on Beyond The Box Set, we take a classic - or questionably classic - standalone movie and compete to pitch the best, weirdest and most ridiculous sequel, prequel and spin-off ideas to br

B12 - You sunk my battleship! To kick off our new 'movies based on games' mini-season, podcasting legend Phil Better joins us to discuss the frankly ludicrous 2012 Hasbro cash-in 'Battleship' - starring Taylor Kitsch, Brooklyn Decker and Rihanna in a concept so thin it barely covered a single movie, let alone a potential franchise... Nevertheless, we're not ones to shy away from a challenge, so after we've finished dissecting the horrible dialogue, dreadful pacing and the unnerving sense that Battleship is less a movie than a 130 minute propaganda piece for the US Navy, we go all in on some sequel ideas - most of which involve extending the Hasbro cinematic universe to ever more ludicrous ends... ----- Beyond The Box Set is a podcast dedicated to pitching sequels, prequels and spin-offs to classic standalone movies. From E.T. to Titanic and everything in between, for over two years and 100+ episodes, we've dedicated our lives to milking cash cows even the most hardened studio exec wouldn't dare touch... Y