A Very Special Crombies: Project Hail Mary
Two unlikely oddballs are thrown together under increasingly stressful circumstances. But enough about us - we review Ryan Gosling's new science fiction buddy movie!
Apr 03, 2026•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 171
Weekend At Crombie‘s
Some movies don‘t deserve what the box office and critics did to them.
But then again, some of them really do.
James and Huw dig up forgotten movies and walk them around one more time.
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Episodes
Vol 8, Episode 3: The Straight Story
This 1999 David Lynch film has Richard Farnsworth as Alvin Straight, telling the true story of his epic journey on the back of a lawnmower. Not what we would have expected from a David Lynch movie, and certainly gives new meaning to the phrase, 'drive safely, deer'.
Mar 13, 2026•1 hr•Ep. 170
Vol 8, Episode 2: Miracle Mile
It's 1988 and Anthony Edwards and Mare Winningham star in a movie that gives us one of the biggest tonal shifts on screen. Join us to discuss final requests, the coolest pigeon ever, and how many times we can say 'helicopter pilot' in one sentence.
Feb 06, 2026•58 min•Ep. 169
Vol 8, Episode 1: The Grifters
It's 1990, and Stephen Frears directs this neo-noir thriller with Anjelica Huston, Annette Bening and John Cusack. And if you must drink a glass of water during your listen, please consider using a plastic sippy-cup.
Jan 23, 2026•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 168
Vol 7, Episode 13 - A Year In Review
It's everyone's favourite episode, where James crunches the numbers without mercy. There's some thrills and shocks in the data that has been dredged from the films of this past season. Enjoy!
Jan 02, 2026•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 167
The Twelve Days of Crombie: Elf
I just like to smile, smiling's my favorite.
Dec 24, 2025•37 min•Ep. 166
The Twelve Days of Crombie: The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
Oh, this is more fun than choking chickens.
Dec 23, 2025•47 min•Ep. 165
The Twelve Days of Crombie: The Christmas Chronicles
I'm Santa Claus, Teddy, not Yoda.
Dec 22, 2025•43 min•Ep. 164
The Twelve Days of Crombie: A Charlie Brown Christmas
I never thought it was such a bad little tree.
Dec 21, 2025•30 min•Ep. 163
The Twelve Days of Crombie: In Bruges
How can all those canals and bridges and cobbled streets and those churches, all that beautiful fairytale stuff, how can that not be somebody's thing?
Dec 20, 2025•45 min•Ep. 162
The Twelve Days of Crombie: Batman Returns
Why is there always someone who brings eggs and tomatoes to a speech?
Dec 19, 2025•50 min•Ep. 161
The Twelve Days of Crombie: Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale
The real Santa was totally different. The Coca-Cola Santa is just a hoax.
Dec 18, 2025•35 min•Ep. 160
The Twelve Days of Crombie: Krampus
I'm old enough to know when life is coming at me with its pants down.
Dec 17, 2025•39 min•Ep. 159
The Twelve Days of Crombie: The Night Before
Show me the 'Elf Face'.
Dec 16, 2025•44 min•Ep. 158
The Twelve Days of Crombie: Bad Santa
I wished for a purple elephant, but now I want a pink elephant!
Dec 15, 2025•37 min•Ep. 157
The Twelve Days of Crombie: Carol
Just when you think it can't get any worse, you run out of cigarettes.
Dec 14, 2025•47 min•Ep. 156
The Twelve Days of Crombie: Meet Me In St Louis
It'll take me at least a week to dig up all my dolls in the cemetery.
Dec 13, 2025•47 min•Ep. 155
Vol 7, Episode 12: Soul Man
It's 1986, and the way you can tell is because it produced this college comedy about a white law student who pretends to be black in order to qualify for a scholarship. Starring C. Thomas Howell and Rae Dawn Chong, who appeared to crash their careers on this one, but at least met each other and got married.
Dec 05, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 154
Vol 7, Episode 11: Searching for Bobby Fischer
It's 1993 and Steven Zaillian directs the tale of a young prodigy in a brave attempt to make chess cinematic. With a line-up that includes Ben Kingsley, Laurence Fishburne, Joan Allen, Joe Mantegna, Robert Stephens, William H. Macy, Dan Hedaya, Laura Linney and Tony Shalhoub, this cast goes deeper than a Sicilian Defense.
Nov 07, 2025•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 153
Vol 7, Episode 10: The Ascent
It's 1977, and Larisa Shepitko directs her final film about two partisans struggling for both life and soul in World War II Belarus. Naturally, hilarity ensues. A profoundly moving and beautiful film, it would nonetheless take a stronger spirit than either of our hosts possess to watch it more than once.
Oct 03, 2025•57 min•Ep. 152
Vol 7, Episode 9: Fire and Ice
It's 1983, and this rotoscoped animation unites director Ralph Bakshi with legendary sword n' sorcery artist Frank Frazetta. The 80s were a prime time for low budget dark fantasy, and this reads like a Choose Your Own Adventure book. Although, in this case, none of the protagonists ever chose to wear more clothes.
Sep 12, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 151
The Legend of Crombie‘s Gold 5.6: Megalopolis
We close the series with the tale of another futuristic city in the form of Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis. The city of New Rome is torn between feuding oligarchs, and only one visionary can save us all. Coppola self-financed this film when the studios turned it down. So there's that. The Legend of Crombie‘s Gold examines a series of thematically-linked films - this time, we've chosen films that looked to the days ahead: the Future Is Now!
Aug 20, 2025•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 150
The Legend of Crombie‘s Gold 5.5: Children of Men
Alfonso Cuarón's 2006 near-future dystopia tells of societal collapse and widespread intolerance following population crash. Breathtakingly shot and performed, just try not to think on how prescient it's become. The Legend of Crombie‘s Gold examines a series of thematically-linked films - this time, we've chosen films that looked to the days ahead: the Future Is Now!
Aug 19, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 149
The Legend of Crombie‘s Gold 5.4: Akira
This 1988 behemoth of Japanese animation looked at a future metropolis in the wake of a devasting war, covering themes of youth, power, friendship, rebirth and some pretty impressive motorbike skills. The Legend of Crombie‘s Gold examines a series of thematically-linked films - this time, we've chosen films that looked to the days ahead: the Future Is Now!
Aug 18, 2025•51 min•Ep. 148
The Legend of Crombie‘s Gold 5.3: Logan's Run
The future in 1976 was about post-apocalyptic population control, where the age of 30 was terminal and Michael York was its ruthless enforcer. The Legend of Crombie‘s Gold examines a series of thematically-linked films - this time, we've chosen films that looked to the days ahead: the Future Is Now!
Aug 17, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 147
The Legend of Crombie‘s Gold 5.2: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Another masterpiece of futurism, this time from Stanley Kubrick as his 1968 film explores human evolution, destiny, exploration, artificial intelligence and just how far a primate can throw a bone. The Legend of Crombie‘s Gold examines a series of thematically-linked films - this time, we've chosen films that looked to the days ahead: the Future Is Now!
Aug 16, 2025•1 hr•Ep. 146
The Legend of Crombie‘s Gold 5.1: Metropolis
We start at the very beginning: Fritz Lang's 1927 expressionist masterpiece of a futuristic urban dystopia. They don't make 'em like this any more. The Legend of Crombie‘s Gold examines a series of thematically-linked films - this time, we've chosen films that looked to the days ahead: the Future Is Now!
Aug 15, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 145
Vol 7, Episode 8: K-PAX
It's 2001 and this character piece of science fiction and mystery brings together Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges, along with Bono's sunglasses. With a big shout out to our listeners in the Lyra constellation, 1000 light years away.
Aug 08, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 144
Vol 7, Episode 7: Quest For Fire
It's 1981 and Everett McGill, Ron Perlman and Nameer El-Kadi play three cavemen (Ron Perlman was an easy casting, to be fair) who are searching the wilderness for that most precious resource: love (and also fire). A remarkable prehistoric fantasy adventure from director Jean-Jacques Annaud, and a mere 80,000 years later, we have the technology to podcast about it.
Jul 11, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 143
A Very Special Crombies: The Ballad of Wallis Island
We return to our Very Special catalogue to look at arguably the best Tim Key folk music comedy set on a Pembrokeshire island.
Jun 20, 2025•55 min•Ep. 142
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