As the pod's first season run comes to end, we doff our caps to some of the best sporting content currently available - from basketball trailblazers to battered bastards of baseball and the civil war currently dividing golf. And while Aidan makes the case for Formula 1 as a spectator sport, Simon rails against the myth that the Superbowl is actually worth fighting sleep for.
The pod tears up with national pride as it runs through some of the great pieces of cinema created here down through the years. And do the best ones always involve the English as the villains? Simon regrets having never worked with Neil Jordan - and then remembers that he did. And it turns out Roy Keane has more money than God.
The pod has a reasoned and illuminating back and forth on those occasions when a TV show has decided to go one more season even though what has gone before cannot be improved upon - they know who they are (The Wire, Line of Duty etc). Flipping the theme, Simon reminds us of those shows that went too early, leaving fans begging for more - we don't know who they are (Wayne? Agent Carter? Surviving Jack?!) And some egghead in the States has finally attained scientific proof that the perfect face ex...
The pod gives you the rundown on the good, the bad (they're mostly bad) and the completely unnecessary spin-offs we've had to endure over the years. Only Fools and Horses has two spin-offs?! Sticking to the theme, Simon imagines what his character from Bachelor's Walk is doing now. And what were those TV shows that you absolutely had to be home for back in the days long before streaming? Aidan's choice had red bathing suits, lots of slow motion and David Hasselhoff. (No, it's not Knight Rider.)...
No nerfs, just buffs, as the pod delve into their gamer past and explore some of the titles that have given them severe carpal tunnel flare ups in the pursuit of progress, not least 'The Last of Us', which is now a nine-part live action series on Sky. Simon recalls the time he stubbornly wasted three months of his life, persisting in shooting at the wrong target in the original Sniper game, convinced that was the only way to finish it. He nearly lost everything... And we find out what game the l...
The pod trawl through some of the good and the great music documentaries for your listening and viewing pleasure, with Aidan mounting an emotional and evocative plea for us to check out how U2 made Achtung Baby. And Simon has list-mania as he goes through what TV we officially missed last year and yet more films coming our way in 2023.
The pod looks ahead to some the big films and TV coming your way in 2023, including a Willy Wonka prequel nobody asked for and Cillian Murphy in a film worthy of his talents. And, how many times can one man watch the Godfather films and still find them interesting? An unhealthy amount is the answer. Simon also mounts a stirring defense of the third film in that most vaunted of trilogies.
A wonderfully festive installment of GLS with (shock horror) Simon, Aido, Uncle Brian and JC all in studio to bask in the warm loving glow of Christmas time. That aside, JC has turned quiz master with a set of film questions so tough, so fiendishly rottten, that even Brian is left howling due to the psychological torture. How many films have De Niro and Scorsese make together? What won the Best Film Oscar in 1942? What film was set in the fictitious town of Springwood, Ohio? Tune in to find out!...
The Bear or The Offer? The Quiet Girl or Licorice Pizza? The pod looks back on some of the best film & TV they have experienced over the past 12 months. SPOILER: Black Adam didn't make the cut. And as the all the loose ends start to be tied up in Qatar, our WC quiz has reached its final. Can Simon keep his cool? Will John bring the trophy home?.....it's all too tense!
The pod dons a red suit, white beard and cheerful demeanour as we slink down a festive chimney of Christmas movie classics and hear how Aido and his brother would eat raw stuffing and beat several shades out of each other on Christmas eves of yore. We continue our jaunt down memory lane with fond recollections of our first forays into the workforce.... some maniac gave a 16-year-old Simon Delaney the keys to a forklift! And as the beautiful game unfolds in Qatar, our WC quiz has reached the semi...
The onslaught of games, the questionable quality of the punditry, Brazil looking great, a controversial host nation, England guaranteed to bottle it in the knock-out stages and reminiscing about Italia 90' - the podcast has caved in to the allure of the beautiful game. Oh, and there's a fiendishly tough World Cup quiz. Let's be 'avin you!
We celebrate our Lord and saviour Bono with three accounts of our brush with greatness - oh, and in case you have been in a coma recently, he has a memoir out at the moment. Aidan thinks it's an audio book sans pareil. While discussing his murky past as a professional poker player, JC reveals the opponent who scooped the biggest pot he ever took part in. The opponent was once a resident on Albert Square and did Daz commercials for a time - can you guess who it was?
We celebrate the sublime and absurd movies of Michael Bay, one of the last true auteurs in mainstream cinema if Brian Lloyd is to be believed (does he not just blow stuff up?!). And an unstoppable force meets immovable objects as Brian takes part in the most infuriatingly difficult film quiz to date - to say he gets a little overexcited is an understatement, he stops just short of doing one-arm press-ups on the studio floor.
We are in the trenches this week with a deep dive into some of the great depictions of war on the big screen. Apocalypse Now or Downfall? Platoon or Paths of Glory? The pod engage in a non-violent diplomatic exchange to tease out the most impactful examples in the genre. And Simon & Aidan recall, in minute detail, the worst atrocities they've committed against fashion. Somebody call The Hague.
We tee up season two of the very sharp and very dark ensemble comedy, The White Lotus. Aidan decides to rip up the GLS rule book entirely by recommending a film he hasn't seen - highly unorthodox, Aidan. And Simon has another set of extremely tough TV quiz questions - can John exact revenge after last week's debacle? *cue tense quiz music*
We heartily recommend Martin McDonagh's latest featuring messrs Farrell and Gleeson. A film Brian Lloyd feels can help us all look at how we conduct ourselves in daily life and whether we should change... Aidan tells us how his dreams of a career in the defence forces were shattered early on, driving him on to broadcasting excellence, and most importantly this week, we (literally) hear the depths of collusion taking place in the second round of our super tough TV quiz. The bastards.
We heartily recommend Ethan Hawke's masterful docu-series about Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, The Last Movie Stars, and comb through what we think are some the great man's best roles. And Simon turns quiz master by testing Aidan and JC's knowledge of British TV with a set of devilishly tough questions....who will prevail? Tune in to find out!
The podcast welcomes back producer JC, who as a bleary-eyed new dad has been bingeing on the great detectives of the big and small screen during those late-night bottle feeds - we launch an investigation of our own into the genre. Simon expresses his disgust for period dramas and tries desperately to maintain his composure amid various technical difficulties - blooper reel at the very end, folks!
This week the gang discuss the latest Boris Johnson drama starring Kenneth Branagh, they take a 'climactic' trip across Canada and end up in Amsterdam with Brian. There may also be added Barbara Streisand as you do.
This week the lads discuss Colin Farrell's intriguing latest offering, Brian breaks down a new Marilyn Monroe biopic, Aidan gets a letter from TOM HANKS and even Dean Gaffney makes an appearance. There's a LOT going on.
Brian is back from his Blackbird Witness Protection Programme and has the definitive word on the most talked about film of the year. Aidan enjoys a tense trip to Munich and Simon has a great TV tip for anyone who enjoys passing the time watching an abandoned classic car get some love.
Beaming in from Berlin, Simon joins Aidan to discuss why he's there (or not) and the lads chat about the new series of Sky's most popular comedy EVER, the brilliant Brassic, which returns for a 4th series. Aidan also shares his Berlin related recommendation; Simon gets into it about Better Call Saul and there's a new quiz which goes about as well as you'd expect.
After four long, tense and fraught years, the wait is over. The Blackbird has landed and Brian Lloyd finally got to see his cinematic white whale but was it a case of it being worth the wait or be careful what you wish for? (We think we can all guess the answer to that one) On less aggravating territory Simon recommends a forgotten movie gem from the 90s, a remarkable find on Antiques Roadshow and Aidan does a deep dive into 13 Lives the biographical survival film based on the Tham Luang cave re...
We travel deep inside Brian Lloyd's four-year obsession with Michael Flatley's magnum opus 'Blackbird', and why he needs it to be as bad as we all think it could be. And we look at discusses two football documentaries that sum up the sport - a provincial Welsh football team's rise from obscurity with a little help from Hollywood in 'Welcome to Wrexham', and the British press tearing down beleaguered England manager Graham Taylor in the never-bettered 'An Impossible Job'.
What are some of the great sequels, what films should have been left well alone and does anything top Grease 2 for sheer awfulness?!? Simon outlines his sequel to the new Idris Elba vehicle 'Beast' as Aidan, Brian and John furiously take notes. And we ask discuss what constitutes a great 'sleepover' film - does it just have to have been made in the 80's?
Bressie joins the podcast to discuss the beauty of the Fleadh Cheoil, his own considerable podcasting prowess and the reasons why he went from avoiding horror movies to bingeing the genre on a daily basis over the last two years. And with millions of Man United fans hurting at this moment in time, Bressie and Simon put Gary Neville to shame with their theories as to why the Red Devils have lost their mojo.
Simon and Aidan welcome the multi-talented Paul Howard to the podcast where he espouses the virtues of everything from prestige TV to cheesy Saturday evening viewing in days of yore. Paul and the lads tease out their complex feelings on Sylvester Stallone. He's good as Rocky, but otherwise a bit crap. And Simon remembers a simpler time when parents would lock their children in cars so they could go boozing.
One of the true gents of show business, Danny O'Carroll, joins the podcast to discuss his box-set binges, beating his Love Island addiction and being part of the amazing club that is Mrs Brown's Boys. We get into some top-flight Netflix comedy specials and the personal trauma that drives stand-ups everywhere. And GLS tries to figure if Adam Sandler is an offensive dullard or an actor with real range.
Simon, Aidan and Brian delve into some works of literature that lit up the screen and some that fell far short, and they find it's a very uneven field. The pets of superheroes are now getting their own film, and that's no bad thing. And what would The Godfather films have looked like had Mario Puzo insisted they leave in a rather bawdy subplot?
As Simon's experience attests, a golden script is not always going to be a golden goose - it can often turn into quite the turkey. John welcomes the darkness of a new prison drama and recommends a few others for good measure. Brian is hugely underwhelmed by what he saw in the cinema this week, but at least he got to avail of the air con there - it's f**cking hot, people!
