Rob Miller (Creative Industry Insight podcast) and Tom Salinsky (Best Pick podcast) return to Flixwatcher to review Rob’s choice The Stranger.

The Stranger is a 2022 psychological crime thriller film, written and directed by Thomas M. Wright it is based on the non-fiction book The Sting: The Undercover Operation That Caught Daniel Morcombe's Killer by Kate Kyriacou. It stars Sean Harris as Henry Teague, the lead police suspect in the disappearance and murder of a young boy. Joel Edgerton is undercover police officer ‘Mark Frame’, who under the guise of being part of the criminal underworld gains the trust of Henry that will hopefully help them secure a confession.

The Stranger is a text book example of a slow burn. It eschews a more traditional storytelling approach taken by undercover cop dramas and focusses on the internal conflict of those who go undercover and the complexities of male bonding.

It’s slightly unconventional approach and intense viewing experience meant it was tricky to score highly on recommendability, which isn’t to say it isn’t very good, just that it isn’t a casual watch. Scores across the remaining categories bring the overall rating to a very respectable 3.58.

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Episode #295 Crew Links

Thanks to Episode #295 Crew of Robert from @CIIPodcast and Tom from @BestPickPod

Find their Websites online at https://t.co/epyYr1teN8

and at https://twitter.com/CIIPodcast

Please make sure you give them some love

More about The Stranger

For more info on The Stranger, you can visit The Stranger IMDb page here or The Stranger Rotten Tomatoes page here.

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Anna Smith (Girls on Film podcast) and Savina Petkova (MUBI Notebook, Little White Lies) join Flixwatcher remotely to review Anna’s choice The Swimmers.

The Swimmers is a 2022 biographical film directed by Sally El Hosaini that tells the incredible true story of Syrian refugee sisters Yusra and Sarah Mardini (played by real life sisters Nathalie and Manal Issa).

The film begins in Damascus with both Yusra and Sarah as aspiring Olympic swimmers, against the backdrop of bombs their normal life is changed forever. With their cousin they leave Syria and take the perilous boat journey across the Aegean Sea in a dingy. When the boat is overloaded Yusra and Sarah swim alongside the boat to prevent it from sinking and saving the other refugees lives. Their journey to Germany continues overland and they eventually arrive Berlin where Yusra meets Sven who helps her to achieve her Olympic dream.

The Swimmers is an unusual mix of incredible real-life story (the boat crossing) and underdog sports story (Yusra’s participation in the 2016 Olympics) which makes for a slightly uneven film. The film also takes a number of creative license decisions that lean towards a more Hollywood approach. Scores for The Swimmers were very high across all categories giving a very impressive overall score of 4.09.

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Episode #294 Crew Links

Thanks to Episode #294 Crew of Anna Smith (@annasmithjourno) and Savina Petkova (@SavinaPetkova)

Find their Websites online at https://twitter.com/GirlsOnFilm_Pod

and at https://twitter.com/deadline

and at http://annasmithjourno.com/

and at https://twitter.com/kingsfilm

and at https://twitter.com/FIPRESCI

and at https://twitter.com/EuroFilmAcademy

Please make sure you give them some love

More about The Swimmers

For more info on The Swimmers, you can visit The Swimmers IMDb page here or The Swimmers Rotten Tomatoes page here.

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Rob and Ellie from KVIKMYNDAPOD join Flixwatcher to review Rob’s choice Crank.​

Crank is a 2006 action film from directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor and starring Jason Statham as hitman Chev Chelios.

While asleep Chelios is injected by Chinese synthetic drug by small-time criminal Ricky Verona, which inhibits the flow of adrenaline, slowing the heart and will eventually kill Chelios.

Chelios learns of this via a DVD recording and calls his Mafia surgeon Doc Miles who advises him to keep his adrenaline up by engaging in risky behaviour. Cue 88 minutes of the Stath driving recklessly, fighting with the police, taking drugs - including epinephrine, and having sex in public with Eve (Amy Smart) his girlfriend.

Crank is a wild, insanely silly, occasionally offensive and innovative action film. Filmed on digital it allowed the directors to adopt a Gonzo approach to filming which adds to its overall feeling of craziness.

Recommendability for Crank were pretty good, repeat viewing and engagement ratings were boosted by the sweet 88 minute runtime to give an overall rating of 3.38.

[supsystic-tables id=292

Episode #293 Crew Links

Thanks to Episode #293 Crew of Rob and Ellie from KVIKMYNDAPOD​

Find their Websites online at https://twitter.com/historyextra

and at KVIKMYNDAPOD - Listen on Spotify - Linktree

Please make sure you give them some love

More about Crank

For more info on Crank , you can visit IMDb page here orRotten Tomatoes page here.

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Michelle and Liz from Two Women Chatting podcast return to Flixwatcher remotely to review Michelle’s choice It's Complicated.

​

It's Complicated is a 2009 Nancy Meyers rom com. It stars Meryl Streep as Jane, a successful bakery owner and Alec Baldwin as Jake, Jane’s ex-husband who is now in a relationship with a much younger woman. While attending their son Luke’s graduation in New York they end up having drinks in the hotel bar and reminiscing about their time together. One thing leads to another and they end up having sex. Jake is thrilled and continues to pursue Jane when they return home. Jane is less thrilled and finds herself juggling the advances of her ex-husband and a new love interest in the form of Steve Martin’s, sensitive architect Adam.

If you are familiar with Nancy Meyers films then you won’t be surprised to see luxurious interiors, glamorous empowered women relaxing with wine together and in this case of It's Complicated, older men and women having and enjoying sex.

The overall vibes of It's Complicated is frothy and light, some of the behaviour has dated - in particular Jake’s borderline obsessive stalker behaviour - but it is mostly harmless. Scores for recommendability from Michelle and Liz were very high, slightly lower scores for repeat viewing gives an overall score of 4.03.

[supsystic-tables id=291

Episode #292 Crew Links

Thanks to Episode #292 Crew of Liz and Michelle from Two Women Chatting

Find their Websites online at https://linktr.ee/TwoWomenChatti

and at https://www.twowomenchatting.com/

Please make sure you give them some love

More about Its Complicated

For more info on Its Complicated, you can visit Its Complicated IMDb page here or Its Complicated Rotten Tomatoes page here.

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Mel and Bethany from Movement is Life, a podcast series from Intelligent Health, join Flixwatcher to review Mel’s choice Your Place or Mine.

Your Place or Mine is a 2023 romantic comedy starring Reese Witherspoon as Debbie and Ashton Kutcher as Peter. The film starts in 2003 where Debbie and Peter hook up at a party and have a one night stand. 20 years later they are best of friends even though Debbie is now a single mum living in LA and Peter is a successful business man living in New York. On Peter’s birthday they arrange a house swap so Debbie can attend a course and Peter can look after Debbie’s son, Jack.

Predictably, Debbie and Peter end up together but in a slightly complicated way. Your Place or Mine has shades of The Holiday with the house swap but the dodgy CGI ruins any romantic feelings for New York. There isn’t really a meet-cute and the realisation of their real romance is a bit icky.

It was universally agreed by Flixwatcher and guests that Your Place or Mine is a tragic misfire, zero chemistry between Reese and Ashton and convoluted plot. Recommendability scores for Your Place or Mine were not great and with a run time of nearly two hours, way longer than it needs to be, the engagement wasn’t high either and it scores 2.88 overall.

[supsystic-tables id=291

Episode #291 Crew Links

Thanks to Episode #291 Crew of Bethany @_bradio and Mel from @Intelligent_Hlt

Find their Websites online at https://twitter.com/Intelligent_Hlt

and at https://twitter.com/GoldsmithsUoL

and at https://twitter.com/Disabilitea_Pod

and at https://twitter.com/unlock_theatre

and at https://linktr.ee/BethanyBroomfieldJones

and at https://twitter.com/drwilliambird

and at https://www.intelligenthealth.co.uk/

Please make sure you give them some love

More about Your Place or Mine

For more info on Your Place or Mine, you can visit Your Place or Mine IMDb page here or Your Place or Mine Rotten Tomatoes page here.

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If you enjoyed this episode of Flixwatcher Podcast you probably know other people who will like it too! Please share it with your friends and family, review us, and join us across ALL of the Social Media links below.

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Tom Salinsky (Best Pick podcast) and Rob Miller (Creative Industry Insight podcast) join Flixwatcher to review Tom’s choice Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio.

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is a 2022 stop-motion animated musical fantasy, directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson. Loosely based on the 1883 Italian novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, this version reimagines the story of Pinocchio, set in fascist Italy between World War I and II. It won the 2023 Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

Geppetto (David Bradley) is a woodcarver who tragically loses his beloved son Carlo, who is killed during a bombing raid. He carves a wooden boy which The Wood Sprite (Tilda Swinton) brings to life and assigns Sebastian J. Cricket (Ewan McGregor) to teach and guide him. Geppetto is initially terrified by Pinocchio and then frustrated by his antics and is forced to send him to school. But on the way he is tricked by Count Volpe (Christoph Waltz) and his monkey Spazzatura (Cate Blanchett) and ends up in their circus.

Not surprising then that Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio shares many visuals and themes found in his other works like The Devils Backbone or Pan’s Labyrinth. The stop-motion is unbelievably detailed and clearly a labour of love. Scores for recommendability were mixed, Pinocchio looks beautiful but some of the songs don’t land and it is on occasion too terrifying and sad to be a children’s film, however it still manages to score a very respectable 3.33 overall.

[supsystic-tables id=290

Episode #290 Crew Links

Thanks to Episode #290 Crew of Robert from @CIIPodcast and Tom from @BestPickPod

Find their Websites online at https://t.co/epyYr1teN8

and at https://twitter.com/CIIPodcast

Please make sure you give them some love

More about Pinocchio

For more info on Pinocchio, you can visit Pinocchio IMDb page here or Pinocchio Rotten Tomatoes page here.

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Sophie Paluch and Mis Trujillo from Auddy return to Flixwatcher remotely to review Sophie’s choice Constantine.

Constantine is a 2005 adaptation of DC Comic’s Hellblazer comic book based on the character created by Alan Moore. Directed by Francis (I am Legend) Lawrence it stars Keanu Reeves as John Constantine, an exorcist who can communicate with angels and demons and travel between earth and hell.

It also stars Rachel Weisz as Angela, a LAPD detective investigating the suicide of her twin sister, Tilda Swinton as a half breed Archangel Gabriel, Peter Stormare as Satan/Lucifer, Pruitt Taylor Vince as Father Hennessy, Djimon Hounsou as witch doctor Papa Midnite, Shia LaBeouf as Constant’s driver Chas Kramer and Gavin Rossdale as a half breed demon Balthazar.

Perhaps unfairly reviewed when it came out, Constantine has since found a loyal and enthusiastic fanbase and a sequel was announced to be in the works in late 2022 with Keanu and Francis Lawrence returning.

Recommendability scores for Constantine were pretty generous, some dodgy CGI helped bump up the overall score as they are best seen on a small screen which gives an overall rating of 3.74.

[supsystic-tables id=289

Episode #289 Crew Links

Thanks to Episode #289 Crew of Mis Trujillo (@Miz_Trujillo) Sophie Paluch (@pouchatron) from AuddyShows

Find their Websites online at https://twitter.com/Managethatpod

and at https://twitter.com/podimo_global

and at https://twitter.com/Kitschinc

and at https://twitter.com/Larkhilluk

and at https://twitter.com/PromotePodcast

Please make sure you give them some love

More about Constantine

For more info on Constantine, you can visit Constantine IMDb page here or Constantine Rotten Tomatoes page here.

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If you enjoyed this episode of Flixwatcher Podcast you probably know other people who will like it too! Please share it with your friends and family, review us, and join us across ALL of the Social Media links below.

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Reece Beaumont (R&M: A Conversation On Cinema and The Cinematique Podcast) and Leslie Pitt (Fatal Attractions podcast and Hustlers of Culture podcast) return to Flixwatcher remotely to review Reece’s choice Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a 2019 French historical drama written and directed by Céline Sciamma. Marianne (Noémie Merlant), is a painter and teacher who has been commissioned to paint a portrait of Héloïse (Adèle Haenel) who is to be married off to a Milanese nobleman. Héloïse has refused to pose for all portraits and was previously living in a convent and is to be married in place of her older sister who committed suicide. Despite the initial frostiness, they develop a short but passionate relationship.

Despite the high regard for Portrait of a Lady on Fire the recommendability scores were tricky as a French lesbian period drama is a difficult film to recommend to everyone. However, Flixwatcher were more generous with their recommendability and scores in the other categories were high to give an overall score of 4.25.

[supsystic-tables id=288

Episode #288 Crew Links

Thanks to Episode #288 Crew of Leslie Pitt (@Afrofilmviewer) and Reece Beaumont from (@ReosPositivePOV)

Find their Websites online at https://twitter.com/Setthetape

and at https://twitter.com/empiremagazine

and at https://twitter.com/FatalAttractPod

and at https://twitter.com/CultureHustlers

and at https://linktr.ee/ReosPositivePOV

Please make sure you give them some love

More about Portrait of a Lady on Fire

For more info on Portrait of a Lady on Fire, you can visit Portrait of a Lady on Fire IMDb page here or Portrait of a Lady on Fire Rotten Tomatoes page here.

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Linton Stephens (BBC Classical Fix) and Bertie from director duo “Bert and Bertie” return to Fixwatcher to review Linton’s choice Call Me by Your Name.

Call Me by Your Name is a 2017 coming of age romantic drama, directed by Luca Guadagnino with a screenplay by James (Merchant Ivory Productions) Ivory, based on André Aciman’s novel of the same name.

Set in northern Italy in the summer of 1983 it tells the story of the passionate but ultimately doomed romance between 17-year-old Elio (Timothée Chalamet) and a 24-year-old visiting graduate student Oliver (Armie Hammer).

The allure of Call Me By Your Name is undeniable, from the beautiful setting, the 80s nostalgic soundtrack, a moving performance by Chalamet and the all familiar joys and pain of the experience of your first love.

Call Me by Your Name isn’t without some controversy, the age gap between Elio and Oliver has been seen as problematic and in 2021 a series of allegations of abuse by Hammer makes watching in 2023 difficult.

Scores for recommendability for Call Me by Your Name were very high, only dropping a few across repeat and small screen gives a very impressive overall rating of 4.35.

[supsystic-tables id=299

Episode #287Crew Links

Thanks to Episode #287 Crew of Linton Stephens and (@LintonStephens) Bertie from BertAndBertie

Find their Websites online at https://twitter.com/bbcradio3

Please make sure you give them some love

More about Call Me By Your Name

For more info on Call Me By Your Name, you can visit Call Me By Your Name IMDb page here or Call Me By Your Name Rotten Tomatoes page here.

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Lillian Crawford (AUTISM through CINEMA podcast, Listen to Lillian, Little White Lies) and Laura Venning(BBC Culture, Little White Lies, Empire Magazine) return to Flixwatcher to review Lillian’s choice The Lure.

The Lure (Daughters of Dancing is its Polish title) is a 2015 Polish horror musical, directed by Agnieszka Smoczyńska. It is a very loose reworking of The Little Mermaid, this version is set in 1980s tells the story of two sirens, Golden and Silver, who emerge from the sea and end up performing in a nightclub with the house band Figs n' Dates.

The Lure is quite possibly the weirdest film on Netflix. Difficult to describe, it is a dark fairy tale but it is also a glorious musical with some amazing 80s power ballads.

It also proved to be quite polarising - fishy or sexy - depends how where you fall on mermaids?! If you enjoyed other sex-fish fantasy films and fish you’ll definitely find lots to enjoy here. Despite the weirdness The Lure still scores high on recommendability and engagement to give an overall rating of 4.01.

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Episode #285 Crew Links

Thanks to Episode #286 Crew of Lillian Crawford and (@lillcrawf) Laura Venning (@laura_venning)

Find their Websites online at https://twitter.com/BBC_Culture

and at https://t.co/1hwBIvwVP1

Please make sure you give them some love

More about The Lure

For more info on The Lure, you can visit The Lure IMDb page here or The Lure Rotten Tomatoes page here.

Final Plug! Subscribe, Share and Review us on iTunes

If you enjoyed this episode of Flixwatcher Podcast you probably know other people who will like it too! Please share it with your friends and family, review us, and join us across ALL of the Social Media links below.

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