Any wittertainee's out there..?

Listen to both the Kermode/Mayo podcast and the Empire podcast (which recently started making references to getting the first two in as guest hosts). Both are good, in very different ways and both sometimes irritate, in very similar ways.

Kermode and Mayo are in no way restricted by commercial concerns in expressing their opinions however Kermode is quite ardent about allowing his own political agenda informing his reviews. When this coincides with mine he's right (tots obvs), however sometimes it does come across as quite evangelical. He and Mayo's interview with the creators of Anomalisa really frustrated me with their, apparently clueless, baiting of Kauffman and friend regarding Inside out, a film which had already beaten theirs in a number of awards. S&M apparently couldn't fathom why their interviewees grew increasingly taciturn and hostile, when they were the instigating factors. They've subsequently turned the incident into an amusing anecdote of how the Anomalisa pair were uncouth, impolite and condescending towards them rather than a cautionary tale of not poking a bear when you know it's already in a bad mood. So fun, but sometimes is right up it's own arse.

Empire does wander but it's vastly more trustworthy than the magazine has become (I feel like the pressure to write positive reviews in exchange for exclusives and set access has poisoned the magazine 'well' entirely). They'll regularly disagree with ratings given in the magazine and go on wild tangents, which I enjoy, but which I imagine could be irritating to someone with a different sense of humour.

Optimalprimerib wrote: »

I only started listening to to it about a year ago, and I am still trying to find this famous iwitter app.

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.ct14.wittr

iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/ie/app/iwittr/id1084218610?mt=8

Optimalprimerib wrote: »

The reviews are generally solid, but I think that if they have a guest they like on, talking about a film they are in , they tend to go easy on the film. Michael Fassbender and assassins creed is a case in point.

This I agree with big time.
I am an LTL, but it seems to have gotten worse recently.
"Friends of the show" like Amma Assante and Danny Boyle seem to get a very easy ride.

Hello to Jason Isaacs

RE Empire Podcast I listen to it as well, but the main guy Chris Hewitt with his stupid intros and laughing at his own "jokes" can grate a tad.
I do really enjoy the spoiler podcasts though, but tend to skip the interviews as they are a bit bland.

Ciaran_B wrote:

Ah, that's a bit harsh on Chris. I quite like his 'two colleagues of such lethal cunning' bits. I think I prefare the Empire pod to Kermode and Mayo now.

I love the empire spoiler podcasts, wouldn't mind if Wittertainment did more spoiler discussions at the end the pods. One thing I think the Empire pod could do better is if they read out questions a week in advance and then they could do listeners suggestions as well as their own next on the next pod.

I listen to it. I usually skip the intro though and go straight to the top 10. I listen to a couple of the reviews and a lot of the interviews.

I don't mind the banter stuff, it's grand. But I wouldn't miss it. I do enjoy listening to their opinions on movies though. Particularly because they always come across as guys who love film. Even for some pretty bad films they'll still find ways to enjoy them.

The staple criticism of Kermode that he doesn't get comedy is quite true - you have to take his comedy reviews with a pinch of salt. Similarly with reviews of musicals (and this is true of virtually all movie reviewers), somehow they seem to be able to look past whether or not the actors can sign the musical and review it with that as a relatively unimportant factor. For my enjoyment of a muscial, whether the cast are up to the singing required is a prerequisite for me to enjoy it. For that reason I found Sweeney Todd pretty awful, but it got okay reviews. Les Mis I found pretty good (but dear God Russell Crowe was brutal), but it got fairly flat reviews I thought.

A bit gutted....this is the best film podcast about for me :(

Aww, that's absolutely gutting! One of the few pods I never miss an episode off (at least, the Prime crew episodes), even if sometimes I fall behind.

Wonder who they'll choose to replace them. Hopefully Ben Bailey Smith/Doc Brown in Simon's place anyway... for Mark's spot, anyone except Robbie Collin!

I actually haven't listened since Christmas but I would still look at Mark's reviews on YouTube. Still sad though, I always skipped it when the subs were on.

Agree with a lot of that. Found the replacements quite poor any time they were on and I swiftly switched off.

Anyways, judging by Marks tweet and the specific line "end of the show on 5 live" it seems as if they have plans in place to continue elsewhere.

I think it will be back somewhere else. I found the podcast this week quite emotional. I have been listening for a looooong time. There is definite demand for it I would think.

Kermode on film (which I would recommend) is well worth a listen...but isn't quite the same.

I pretty much switch off when i hear the stand ins. They're just very meh.

The two lads have the biggest movie podcast in the world don't they? They probably just want to make the money themselves for it rather than let bbc keep it. I wonder could Spotify or someone be about to snap them up?

They won't have the same pull for guests elsewhere though. They'll still have great pull but I wonder will they just miss out on the odd top guest.

If they go out on their own I would hope they do a bit more spoilery discussions.

I wish but nope