This powerful but very entertaining movie depicts the efforts of lawyer Bryan Stevenson and his Equal Justice Initiative to force a retrial of Walter “Johnny D” McMillian in 1990s Alabama. Michael B Jordan and Jamie Foxx lead a strong cast in this quest for justice in the face of deep-rooted bigotry and bias. We examine the degree of their success as portrayed in the movie and, of course, how much of the depiction is true to the real events as known.
Mar 08, 2021•1 hr 24 min
In this, the final episode of 2020, Martin flies solo as he embarks on T&T 3, looking at common misconceptions through the medium of lemmings and trying to approach some complex societal issues from a fresh perspective. With a review and listener feedback at the end of the show along with festive greetings from the HbH crew, it’s a short farewell to an interesting year.
Dec 23, 2020•41 min
This week sees Martin joined by Sean Munger and Cody Climer from the Green Screen podcast as they join forces to examine this 1988 movie about primatologist Dian Fossey and her efforts to study and protect mountain gorillas in Rwanda. It’s a wide-ranging show and with due apologies for the length of time you’ve all had to wait for this episode, we do hope it’s worth it.
Dec 06, 2020•1 hr 43 min
In 1973, former men’s tennis No1 Bobby Riggs challenged women’s champion Billy Jean King to a $100k exhibition match. Riggs, an unapologetic chauvinist, gambler and hustler was 55 years old but still confident he could beat the best of the current female players. This week’s movie looks at the depiction of the lead-up and the match itself in this 2017 movie, starring Emily Stone as Billy Jean King and Steve Carrel as Bobby Riggs. Join us as we examine how accurate this portrayal proves to be. No...
Oct 10, 2020•1 hr 29 min
This week sees the welcome return of Ray Harris Jr from the long-running History of WWII Podcast as we examine 2019’s Midway, derided by critics yet loved by audiences. Not for the first time, we side very much with the audience and find ourselves surprised by director Roland Emmerich and writer Wes Tooke’s efforts to be as accurate as possible. Naturally, for an HbH featured movie, it stars Woody Harrelson too. It’s a long episode but we hope it’s worthy of your time.
Sep 19, 2020•2 hr 24 min
This week sees the second outing of the T&T supplementary. Join Martin as he examines the multiple issues involving the African American community in the US and how this has been depicted in a number of movies already covered by HbH including Glory, Selma and Hidden Figures, attempting to interpret the meanings, both obvious and subtle that these movies have brought to light.
Sep 07, 2020•1 hr 2 min
This week we are joined by Des Latham, regular guest host, this time in his capacity as the host of Plane Crash Diaries, Des being a keen aviator and student of aviation safety. We look at 2016’s Sully, detailing the incredible landing on the Hudson River in mid-New York by Captain Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger in January 2009 after his Airbus A320 airliner suffered a double engine failure after hitting a flock of geese. We hope you join us for this episode as two pilots, one fixed-wing (Des) and...
Aug 06, 2020•1 hr 40 min
Welcome to the first episode of Thoughts & Themes in which Martin will look for the themes and deeper meanings within Braveheart and Gladiator plus references to Kingdom of Heaven and 300. We look beyond the factual errors which all of the featured movies contain and ask whether there is a deeper truth concealed beneath the surface. The result may be…. unexpected….. or it would have been until I said that. Do join us and let us know your thoughts through: Website: www.historybyhollywood.com ...
Jul 25, 2020•44 min
We dive into the 2018 Netflix movie starring Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson as the two ex-Texas Rangers who led the pursuit of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, seeking to bring to an end their murderous crime spree. The movie takes a very different perspective to the 1967 Bonnie & Clyde film and we will attempt to both fact-check this recent release and also highlight the differences in focus, after we covered the original movie in Episode 51. We like the movie a lot and strongly urge anyo...
Jul 18, 2020•1 hr 23 min
News of the amended planned episodes plus a new addition to the HbH library; Thoughts and Themes will launch towards the end of July 2020, complete with a new variation of our theme music.
Jul 11, 2020•15 min
This week sees Martin joined by Chris Wimmer, host of both Infamous America and Legends of the Old West podcast series’ who brings an expert eye to the examination of 1988’s Young Guns, the story of Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War, starring many of the so-called Brat Pack in the forms of Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen, Lou Diamond Phillips and Kiefer Sutherland.
Jun 20, 2020•1 hr 58 min
This episode examines the 1980 movie The Coal Miner’s Daughter, telling the story of the early life and subsequent early career of Loretta Lynn, one of the matriarchs of Country music, from her tough Kentucky childhood to becoming a Country legend, singing about the real life ups and downs of being a working-class, rural American woman. Sissy Spacek won the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Loretta but how close to the truth does the movie stay? We hope you’ll join us to find out.
Jun 06, 2020•1 hr 17 min
Episode 73 Zulu Dawn. Sunday 17th May 2020. This week we focus on 1979’s Zulu Dawn, a much-underrated and little-known prequel to 1964’s Zulu, concentrating on Lord Chelmsford’s advance into Zulu territory and the disastrous battle of Isandhlwana which took place the day before the action at Rorke’s Drift. For this episode we are delighted … Continue reading "Episode 73: Zulu Dawn"
May 16, 2020•2 hr 18 min
Whatever people think about Hustler magazine founder Larry Flynt, he fought a number of legal battles for the right to publish, battles which effectively became a universal fight for the right to free speech. This 1996 movie resonates today as we will look at the historical accuracy of the movie and some of the points … Continue reading "Episode 72: The People vs Larry Flynt"
Apr 18, 2020•1 hr 57 min
Episode 71 Denial, 22nd March 2020. In our latest outing we examine 2016’s movie telling the story of Professor Deborah Lipstadt, an American historian and author who wrote a book about Holocaust deniers in which she named David Irving, a British amateur historian as a case in point. He sued her in 2000 in the UK’s civil courts and this movie tells the story of that court case. Rachel Weisz stars as Prof Deborah, Timothy Spall as Irving and Tom Wilkinson as Deborah’s veteran barrister, Richard R...
Mar 21, 2020•1 hr 38 min
Martin and Jules arrive at the conclusion of the movie, examine both its accuracy and entertainment but stress that despite the very high entertainment value, as far as provoking thought and discussion about wider topics, this movie is far greater than the sum of its parts. It’s been a lengthy journey, the total coverage actually exceeding the length of the movie but we believe that it’s a movie that warrants such detailed examination. We hope that you agree.
Mar 07, 2020•42 min
Join Martin and guest-host Jules with the continuing story as the Winklevoss brothers turn up the heat on their efforts to stop Mark Zuckerberg developing his Facebook concept, still complaining that he had stolen their idea and we meet Sean Parker, portrayed by the annoyingly talented Justin Timberlake who leaps aboard the Facebook bandwagon, much to the irritation of Eduardo Saverin. As the poster says, you don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies.
Feb 29, 2020•45 min
This week sees us dive into the main body of the show for which we are joined by software engineer and HbH’s theme music composer Jules Cisek who has some fascinating insights into the world of IT and Silicone Valley, primed to hit us all with large dollops of factainment. Fabulously watchable though The Social Network is, we will keep our eye on any divergence from the known facts.
Feb 22, 2020•51 min
This week’s episode is 2010’s portrayal of the genesis of Facebook with Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg played by Jesse Eisenberg. Directed by Fight Club’s David Fincher and written by the West Wing screen writer Aaron Sorkin the movie has been praised for bravely stark portrayals of such recent events and active protagonists and equally criticized by some of those very same protagonists but everyone agrees that it’s a very watchable movie. Sorkin has admitted that his main focus is a l...
Feb 15, 2020•39 min
Episode 69.2 Frost/Nixon Part 2. We rejoin the action as the interviews begin, the wily veteran politician determined to retain control of the narrative and to try and rehabilitate himself in the eyes of the American people. Frost’s research team, serious journalists, are desperate for their man to pin the ex-President down, ask some tough questions and elicit some form of admission of guilt but Frost himself seems more concerned about viewer numbers and attending celebrity parties.
Feb 01, 2020•51 min
Episode 69.1 Frost/Nixon Part 1. Adapted from the play of the same name and starring the same two actors in the title roles, Michael Sheen and Frank Langella, this movie attempts to tell the story of a series of interviews between disgraced former US President Richard Nixon and a most unlikely interrogator in the form of British variety show host David Frost. With facts so well known, it should prove quite possible to establish how accurately the movie portrays the events. We hope you will join ...
Jan 25, 2020•51 min
Episode 68 Shakespeare at the Cinema Part 2: Richard III (1955). Laurence Olivier’s Richard III is renowned for portraying King Richard as a Machiavellian conspirator, reveling in his villainy and driven by personal ambition. To take as objective a view as possible, HbH is joined by a proper expert; author of historical fiction and host of The Wars of the Roses Podcasts, Derek Birks. Derek will lead us through the complex series of conflicts and alliances that saw the climax of the Wars of the R...
Jan 18, 2020•1 hr 47 min
Episode 68 Shakespeare at the Cinema Part 1: Henry V (1989). In this week’s part of the Shakespearean episode we examine Kenneth Branagh’s 1989 adaption of Henry V. Martin flies solo though his monologue is supplemented by multiple clips from the movie, featuring a decent who’s-who of British stage and cinema. Culminating in the battle of Agincourt, we look at the accuracy or lack thereof of Shakespeare’s account of this period.
Jan 11, 2020•1 hr 38 min
Episode 67: The Insider Part 3 of 3. As we hurtle toward the end of another year and HbH’s third birthday, we conclude our look at The Insider, wrap up the reality and let you know what became of the various protagonists.
Dec 29, 2019•36 min
Episode 67: The Insider Part 2 of 3. We continue our focus on this powerful movie about Jeffrey Wigand, tobacco industry whistleblower and, aware of the time of year, take the opportunity to wish all of you a happy HbH holiday season.
Dec 22, 2019•39 min
Episode 67: The Insider Part 1 of 3. We embark on an examination of this 1999 film about a tobacco industry whistle-blower trying to get his story out on national television. Starring Russell Crowe, Al Pacino and Christopher Plummer, the protagonists face legal challenges by the huge tobacco corporations and for the journalists, resistance from their own corporate management. It has just as much resonance and relevance today as it did in the late 90s but how closely is its message based on true ...
Dec 14, 2019•45 min
Episode 66 The Untouchables Part 3 of 3. This week we conclude our examination of The Untouchables, wrapping up the movie but also looking at how the legends of Eliot Ness and Al Capone have grown in popular culture. Much of what is said about these two towering figures of early twentieth century crime-fighting is drawn from artistic sources such as books, movies and TV shows. Has the truth been lost amongst the legends? And is the truth any less dramatic? We hope to reveal the answers to these ...
Dec 07, 2019•41 min
Episode 66 The Untouchables Part 2 of 3. We continue our examination of The Untouchables. With the team complete, Eliot Ness and his Untouchables can get to work taking apart Al Capone’s illicit booze trade. But at what cost? Join us to find out and how much of the movie’s drama is borne out by the real events of the period.
Dec 01, 2019•40 min
Episode 66 The Untouchables Part 1 of 3. Welcome to our first three-part episode under our new format. This week we start our examination of The Untouchables, the 1987 star-studded story of Eliot Ness and his Untouchables, taking on Al Capone and the Mob in Prohibition-era Chicago. Starring Kevin Costner and Robert de Niro as the two antagonists, ably supported by Sean Connery winning his only-ever Oscar, Andy Garcia and Charles Martin Smith making up the team of good guys. We hope you enjoy the...
Nov 23, 2019•45 min
Episode 65: Monster Part 2. The concluding episode covering 2003’s Monster, about Florida serial killer Aileen Wuornos. We wrap up the movie synopsis, the final reality checks and draw our conclusions. We hope you join us.
Nov 17, 2019•37 min
