Salutations applications, and welcome to a new episode of The Awesome Friday Podcast. We're back after a two-week hiatus and talking about two of the year's most anticipated movies. First up, freshly t streaming services and premium rental, Matt Reeves's noir-inspired take on the caped crusader, The Batman . Following that, the newly released to cinemas film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent , in which Nicolas Cage plays the role he was born to play: Nicolas Cage. There are JustWatch power...
Apr 24, 2022•54 min•Season 1Ep. 45
The third Wednesday of every year is National Canadian Film Day, a nationwide event that celebrates the best in Canadian cinema. This year is no different, and tomorrow's event promises to be one of the best yet, with screening events in every province and territory and around the world. This morning I sat down with Jack Blum, executive director of Reel Canada (the organisation that puts National Canadian Film Day on), to speak about this year's event, the tribute to the late Jean-Mac Vallée, an...
Apr 19, 2022•20 min•Season 1Ep. 44
Greetings programs! Welcome to another Awesome Friday interview! Joining me this time is Jonas Chernick, who produced, co-wrote, and stars in the film Ashgrove. Ashgrove is the story of a scientist played by Amanda Brugel, who may be the key to solving a worldwide pandemic and is forced to take a few days for herself and her family. Chernick plays her husband, and we sat down to talk about the film, what it's like shooting a movie during a pandemic, and more. HOMEPAGE LINK: There are streaming l...
Apr 14, 2022•28 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Greeting programs, and welcome to the Awesome Friday Podcast. This week we’re taking a closer look at the new ridiculous (in a good way) Roland Emmerich film Moonfall and the Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi led series Our Flag Means Death. Spoiler alert we loved both of these things , so come and join us for a love fest. Ed. Note: We had technical difficulties while recording this episode; some interference cropped up that we didn’t hear during recording. While I could minimize it, I couldn’t elimi...
Apr 10, 2022•52 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Salutations applications, and welcome to an Awesome Friday Interview with actor Shawn Doyle! A native of Newfoundland, Shawn has been working steadily in film and television since the early 1990s, and in just the last few years has racked up an impressive filmography that includes recurring appearances in The Expanse, Hannibal, Cardinal (for which he won a Canadian Screen Award last year) and most recently Star Trek: Discovery. This year he has two films in the Canadian Film Festival, Ashgrove a...
Apr 04, 2022•28 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Greetings programs and welcome back to the Awesome Friday Podcast. This week is a little different than most weeks, instead of two things we are covering a whole bunch of things in a grab bag format. There have just been too many things to narrow it down you see, so join us for brief discussions about The 94th Oscars and the slap heard ‘around the world, Halo, Marvel’s Moon Knight, and the films of the Canadian Film Festival. Join us! We want to say welcome and thanks for listening to all our li...
Apr 03, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Salutations applications and welcome to a new episode of the Awesome Friday Podcast! This week we're taking a closer look at two new films: First, director Adrian Lyne's new film Deep Water starring Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas, recently released on Amazon Prime here in Canada and Hulu in the US, followed by Richard Linklater's latest animated nostalgia piece, Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood. Join us! We want to say welcome and thanks for listening to all our listeners, new and old; we appr...
Mar 27, 2022•59 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Greetings programs! Katie Boland is a Canadian actor, writer, director, and producer. She is probably best known for her television appearances and the web series she created, Long Story Short. However, this year, Katie made her feature film directorial debut with We’re All In This Together, a story about a dysfunctional family brought together by absurd events. Not only is she the film’s director, though, but she also adapted it from the best selling book, produced it, and starred in it as estr...
Mar 24, 2022•23 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Welcome back to Awesome Friday, on a Sunday! In this week's episode, we speak at length about a little movie you might have heard about from last year, Spider-Man: No Way Home , which has finally come to home video. Then it's onto a new release from Focus Features, The Outfit, a single location mystery thriller starring Mark Rylance and Zoey Deutch. Join us! You can find streaming links (where available) to both films and all of our other content at this episode's homepage. Meanwhile, relax and ...
Mar 20, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Welcome to a special episode of the Awesome Friday Podcast in which I sit down with director Seth A Smith to talk about his film Tin Can . Tin Can played at both Fantasia Festival last year and the Vancouver International Film Festival, which is where I originally saw it. It is now getting a wide release from LevelFILM, and Seth and I sat down on Zoom to talk about it. You can find links to buy or rent Tin Can, as well as all of our other content, at this episodes' page at AwesomeFriday.ca CONNE...
Mar 18, 2022•22 min•Season 1Ep. 36
It's Awesome Friday on a Sunday! This week we're talking about West Side Story, which has just been released to Disney+, and the new Ryan Reynolds starring Netflix family action movie The Adam Project . There are streaming links and our ratings on this episode's homepage . Join us! We want to thank you all for listening. We do appreciate every one of you. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a like, review, and subscribe on your podcasting platform of choice, and if you can spare...
Mar 13, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 35
Greetings programs! We’re a day late in posting this episode of the podcast, but to make up for it, we’re talking about three, yes three, excellent movies for you to watch. First up is Pixar’s Turning Red, their first feature set in Canada and another surefire hit for Disney+. Second, we’re talking about the Disney+/Hulu original Fresh, a romantic thriller that goes to some very unexpected places. Last but far from least, we’re talking about the sophomore film from Kogonada, After Yang , a quiet...
Mar 07, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 34
On this week’s podcast, we take a closer look at the hit AppleTV+ comedy The Afterparty and the upcoming Disney+ drama The Dropout . You can find streaming links as well as both Matt and Simon's ratings for these series on this episode's homepage . We want to thank you all for listening. We do appreciate every one of you. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a like, review, and subscribe on your podcasting platform of choice, and if you can spare a few bucks, you could support us...
Feb 27, 2022•52 min•Season 1Ep. 33
Greetings, programs, and welcome to another edition of the Awesome Friday Podcast. This week we’re tackling two new horror movies: First, the latest Texas Chainsaw Massacre , and then the newly released period-set gothic werewolf movie The Cursed . Join us! As always, we want to thank you all for listening. We do appreciate every one of you. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a like, review, and subscribe on your podcasting platform of choice, and if you can spare a few bucks, ...
Feb 20, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Greetings, programs, and welcome to another Awesome Friday! This week is a little different; we're covering the latest film from Pedro Amaldóvar, Parallel Mothers , which, as it turns out, is an excellent segue into our second topic: the recently announced nominations for the 94th Academy Awards. This episode runs a little longer than our average, but we think it's worth it! As always, we want to thank you all for listening. We do appreciate every one of you. If you like what you hear, please co...
Feb 13, 2022•1 hr 23 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Greetings programs and welcome to a very special episode of the podcast. This week we’re joined by Avalon Fast, director of Honeycomb , a new indie feature playing as part of the Slamdance Film Festival. We talk with her at length about her film and the experience of making it, as well as a quick recap of some more favourites of the festival. As always, we want to thank you all for listening. We really do appreciate every one of you. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a like, r...
Feb 06, 2022•51 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Hello and welcome to a new episode of our games podcast! This week I travel deep into the Grid for a VR special, with Oculus Quest’s answer to Portal (yes, really), and then a reminder of why Valve is the best in the business of games design. Put on your VR headset of choice* and join me! *VR headset not required VR gaming has been threatening to disrupt the industry for many years, yet never quite living up to its promises. But between ‘ Virtual Virtual Reality ‘ and ‘ Half-Life: Alyx ‘, it’s s...
Feb 04, 2022•24 sec•Season 1Ep. 29
Greetings programs! This week on the Awesome Friday Podcast, we talk about two new series, both from Disney. First up is The Book of Boba Fett , which has aired five episodes and is struggling to figure out precisely what it wants to be. Next, Pam & Tommy , the upcoming miniseries starring Lily James, Sebastian Stan, and Seth Rogen, depicts a specific moment in 90s pop culture with staggering accuracy and honestly. You can find streaming links for both of these titles and tons of other conte...
Jan 30, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Hello and welcome to the first Awesome Friday Games Podcast of 2022! This week I’m discussing two games that are connected to graphics vs. mechanics. Hey! Listen! The first game this week is ‘ JETT The Far Shore ‘, a title that will leave you exhilarated and frustrated (often at the same time). Then, we take a look at the game getting all the buzz this week, ‘ Vampire Survivors ‘ (that I also call a variety of things including ‘Vampire Survival’, so please excuse my memory). Hope you enjoy it! A...
Jan 27, 2022•32 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Greetings programs! This week on the podcast, we’re talking about Macbeth and Peacemaker. One is a timeless tale of a power-hungry man who tries to take control of his life with a trail of unthinkable violence, and the other is Macbeth. Both of them are excellent, too. We also discuss James Gunn as a writer and director, which goes to some interesting places, especially in the wake of further revelations about Joss Whedon. As always, we want to thank you all for listening. We really do appreciat...
Jan 23, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Greetings programs! In the latest episode of the podcast, Simon and I are discussing two films just released for home audiences in Canada: Marvel’s Eternals and The Matrix Resurrections . Join us! You can find streaming links for both of these films at this episodes homepage . As always, we want to thank you all for listening, and if you like what you hear, please consider giving us a like, review, and subscribe on your podcasting platform of choice, and if you can spare a few bucks, you could s...
Jan 16, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Greetings programs and welcome to the first Awesome Friday Movie Podcast episode of 2022! In this episode we take a look back over some of our favourites from the year past. Join us! We cover a lot of things in this episode, and here’s where we’ve covered about them previously: Review: ‘Midnight Mass’ is another excellent horror story from Mike Flanagan and one of the best series of the year Awesome Friday Movie Podcast: ‘Star Wars: Visions’ & ‘Midnight Mass’ Tribeca 2021 Review: ‘The Novice...
Jan 09, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Greetings programs! Welcome to episode 20 of the Awesome Friday Movie Podcast. This week we’re talking about a classic and its recent sequel: Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and Mike Flanagan’s Doctor Sleep. You can read our prior coverage of Doctor Sleep here: Review: ‘Doctor Sleep’ shines in more ways than one Matt’s Favourite Films & Performers of 2019 As always, we want to thank you all for listening, and if you like what you hear, please consider giving us a like, review, and subscribe on...
Dec 19, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Welcome to the new episode of the Awesome Friday Games Podcast! And as you can see from the title, this week it's all Halo, all the time. There's a little reflection on Halo's significance on its release in 2001, then a look at Halo Infinite and how it compares to the divisive Halo 4. Enjoy! Check out all our episodes and more at AwesomeFriday.ca
Dec 17, 2021•32 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Greetings programs and welcome to another edition of the Awesome Friday Movie Podcast. This week Matthew and Simon are taking a look at the new season of Netflix’s The Witcher and Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story. You can find prior coverage of these titles here: Review: ‘The Witcher Season 2’ is a cool, confident continuation and improvement of the story that began in season one Review: ‘West Side Story’ reinvents a classic with modern context And of course you can find all this and...
Dec 12, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Hello there, and the warmest of welcomes to this week's Awesome Friday Games Podcast! This week Simon takes a dive into why 'Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy' makes such a strong case for game of the year, and also looks into the endless thrills of the Spec OPs missions in 'Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2'. Be sure to hit up this episodes homepage for more !...
Dec 09, 2021•25 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Hello! Welcome to the new Awesome Friday Games Podcast! This is a new weekly dive into a new game and a classic title from the archives, and pairs beautifully with our movie podcast like Laphroaig and parmesan. As someone who has very little time to play anything these days, I’m always interested in what catches my attention, so I’m looking forward to sharing that with you. I also have recently found a place for my large collection of classic games spread over multiple consoles, so I’ll choose o...
Dec 03, 2021•33 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Greetings, programs, and welcome to the 18th edition of the Awesome Friday Movie Podcast! This week we're talking about The Humans , an adaptation of a Tony Award-winning play with an all-star cast, and Hawkeye, the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Join us! You can read our prior coverage of The Humans and Hawkeye here: Review: 'Hawkeye' premiere episodes are lighthearted fun Review: ' The Humans ' uses horror tropes to heighten family drama despite not being a horror movie You can...
Nov 28, 2021•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 18
Greetings programs and welcome to the latest edition of the Awesome Friday Movie Podcast! This week we are looking at two new Netflix movies. First up, The Harder They Fall , a western starring Jonathan Majors, Idris Elba, and a host of other talented actors. Second, Tick, Tick… Boom! , the new film adaptation of famed Rent composer Jonathan Larson’s one-man show directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda and starring Andrew Garfield. One of these movies we have differing opinions on, the other we unabashed...
Nov 14, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Greetings programs! This week on the Awesome Friday Movie Podcast we are taking on the new Tom Hanks boy-and-his-dog-and-his-robot-post-apocalyptic-road-trip movie Finch and the most expensive movie Netflix has ever made, the Ryan Reynolds, Dwayne Johnson, and Gadot adventure heist movie Red Notice . Join us! You can read prior coverage of each film here: Review: ‘Finch’ has Tom Hanks in fine form on a post-apocalyptic road trip with a naive robot and a dog Review: ‘Red Notice’ coasts on the str...
Nov 07, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 16
