Diminishing Returns
312 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 months ago - ★★★★★ - 17 ratingsThe podcast where film-fans, Sol Harris and Allen Turing, take a guest on a journey to Development Hell to discuss a film, then pitch their ideas for the sequel.
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Episodes
246 - Steptoe and Son (with The British Sitcom History Podcast)
February 14, 2021 23:55 - 53 minutes - 38.6 MBWhat is this? A crossover episode? Yes. Diminishing Returns collides with The British Sitcom History Podcast this week, with a look at the 1972 film spin-off of classic sitcom Steptoe and Son.
245 - Valentine's Day Special: Eyes Wide Shut (with Calvin Dyson)
February 07, 2021 23:55 - 1 hour - 233 MBIt's Valentine's Day so things are about to get sexy. But it's also a Kubrick episode so things are probably also about to get cold and meticulous and obsessive. Phwoar!
244 - Wonder Woman 1984 (with Alana Johnston)
January 31, 2021 23:55 - 1 hour - 50.1 MBDiminishing Returns are joined by Alana Johnston to tackle the divisive WW84 (or Wonder Woman 1984, depending on who you ask). To quote Alana: "It's a wild ride".
243 - Escape Room (with Calvin Dyson)
January 24, 2021 23:54 - 55 minutes - 42.5 MBWe forgot to delay our episode when Escape Room 2's release got delayed from this week, so screw it. Here's an episode about Escape Room featuring Calvin!
242 - Stroszek (with Dallas Campbell)
January 17, 2021 23:54 - 55 minutes - 126 MBWe're keeping things highbrow, this year, as we follow last week's Kes episode with an episode (finally) tackling the enigma that is Werner Herzog. Joining us to look at his 1977 film, Stroszek, is one of our most exciting guests to date: Herzog-expert, Dallas Campbell!
241 - Kes (with Frankly, My Dear)
January 10, 2021 23:55 - 1 hour - 139 MBWe're joined by Lianna Holston and Siena Jeakle of Frankly, My Dear, a podcast where two people who don't watch movies watch their way through the AFI Top 100. Given that we're British, we thought we'd subject them to something from the BFI Top 100, instead, so here we are: Ken Loach's classic slice of social realist drama, Kes.
241 - Kes (with Tossed Popcorn)
January 10, 2021 23:55 - 1 hour - 139 MBWe're joined by Lianna Holston and Siena Jeakle of Tossed Popcorn (formerly Frankly, My Dear -- as referred to in the episode), a podcast where two people who don't watch movies watch their way through the AFI Top 100. Given that we're British, we thought we'd subject them to something from the BFI Top 100, instead, so here we are: Ken Loach's classic slice of social realist drama, Kes.
240 - Totalinishing Returnsall (with Calvin Dyson, Scott Chambers, Gareth Allen and Judey Bignell)
January 03, 2021 23:55 - 1 hour - 48.3 MBIntroducing Wandy Newman Sings Diminishing Returns, the brand new album featuring never-before-heard outtakes from past Diminishing Returns recording sessions!
239 - Review of the Year 2020: Part II (with Calvin Dyson)
December 27, 2020 23:55 - 2 hours - 309 MBWe're so nearly there... 2020 is nearly over. But first, we need to have a frank discussion about Peninsula, Tremors: Shrieker Island, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, Tenet, Bill & Ted Face the Music, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run and Mank... in that order. Also: a fun music quiz. Who will win? Allen or Calvin?
238 - Review of the Year 2020 (with Calvin Dyson)
December 20, 2020 23:55 - 1 hour - 233 MBIt's that time again where we release truncated Diminisode edits from our Patreon (available for $1 a month at patreon.com/dimreturns) into the wild alongside a whole load of extra commentary, quiz games and more! This week covers Cats, Bad Boys for Life, Dolittle, Sonic the Hedgehog, the 2020 Oscars, The Jesus Rolls and the live-action remake of Mulan. Come back next week for the rest of 2020 including Tenet, Mank and more!
237 - Christmas Special: Die Hard 2 (with Calvin Dyson)
December 13, 2020 23:55 - 1 hour - 62.2 MBAs is now Christmas tradition, we threw a selection of Christmas movies out to our Patreon subscribers and let them choose which one we should cover for what is now the fifth Christmas special of Diminishing Returns (that's almost as many as One Foot in the Grave). They chose Die Hard, so Calvin was furious - hear all about it, now!
236 - Monsters, Inc. (with Calvin Dyson)
December 06, 2020 21:42 - 55 minutes - 126 MBFirst up: vote for Sol's iHeart podcast pilot, Development Hell, at nextgreatpodcast.com Now then... tying into the upcoming release of Pixar's Soul, we let Patreon select a Pixar film for us to cover on the show. They went with Monsters, Inc., so here we are.
235 - Con Air
November 29, 2020 23:55 - 1 hour - 144 MBFirst of all, head over to https://nextgreatpodcast.tongal.com and vote for Sol's new podcast pilot, Development Hell, to go to series at iHeartRadio! (It's nothing to do with that previous Development Hell show). Then you can listen to this week's episode with a clean conscience as Sol repeatedly begs you to go and vote in between discussing Con Air with Allen and preparing/eating his dinner. Yep, this week's episode is a bit of a shambles. But it's a Nicolas Cage film so that's appropri...
234 - Best in Show (with Kate Sketchley)
November 22, 2020 23:55 - 50 minutes - 38 MBIn a move we bet nobody saw coming, Diminishing Returns brings you its first Christopher Guest episode!
233 - Citizen Kane (with Calvin Dyson)
November 15, 2020 23:55 - 57 minutes - 131 MBAfter three weeks of zombie movies, SpongeBob and the worst James Bond movie ever made, it's about time Diminishing Returns got stuck into something a bit high-brow for a change. That's why we gave our Patrons the option to select a film off the American Film Institute's list of greatest movies ever made. Thankfully, they chose Citizen Kane, which also ties into the upcoming release of David Fincher's Mank, so here we are!
232 - Die Another Day (with Calvin Dyson)
November 08, 2020 23:54 - 1 hour - 72 MBIt's the end of the Pierce Brosnan era! Die Another Day is famously Sol and Allen's go-to answer to "worst James Bond movie of all time". Does it live up (down?) to the hype? As usual, Calvin is on hand to try and keep them in check.
231 - The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
November 01, 2020 23:55 - 1 hour - 180 MBTying into the UK-release of Sponge On the Run, the third SpongeBob SquarePants movie, we're covering the previous two SpongeBob SquarePants movies, which is going to be interesting to say Allen has never seen a single episode of the series before...
230 - Podcast of Horror V.III: Day of the Dead (with Calvin Dyson)
October 25, 2020 23:55 - 1 hour - 65.2 MBThe final, most Halloweeny part of this year's three-part Halloween special takes a look at our two remaining George A. Romero zombie movies: 1985's Day of the Dead and 2005's Land of the Dead. We also touch on Taurus Entertainment's continued attempts to draw blood from a stone.
229 - Podcast of Horror V.II: Dawn of the Dead (with Calvin Dyson)
October 18, 2020 22:55 - 1 hour - 118 MBThis year's three-part Diminishing Returns Halloween special continues with the next two movies in George A. Romero's "Of the Dead" zombie franchise: Survival of the Dead and Dawn of the Dead. We take a look at Zack Snyder's 2004 remake, too.
228 - Podcast of Horror V.I: Night Of The Living Dead
October 11, 2020 22:55 - 1 hour - 79.1 MBDiminishing Returns are going big for Halloween, this year, with a three-part "Podcast of Horror" special! We've been wanting to cover George A. Romero's "Of the Dead" zombie franchise for years, now, but we've finally found a solid place to fit them all in in a way that can do them justice. Looking at the films in the order of their internal chronology, we're starting, this week, with Night of the Living Dead, its hundreds of remakes and Diary of the Dead.
228 - Podcast of Horror V.I: Night of the Living Dead
October 11, 2020 22:55 - 1 hour - 79.1 MBDiminishing Returns are going big for Halloween, this year, with a three-part "Podcast of Horror" special! We've been wanting to cover George A. Romero's "Of the Dead" zombie franchise for years, now, but we've finally found a solid place to fit them all in in a way that can do them justice. Looking at the films in the order of their internal chronology, we're starting, this week, with Night of the Living Dead, its hundreds of remakes and Diary of the Dead.
227 - Teen Wolf (with Jeff Davis)
October 05, 2020 00:10 - 1 hour - 200 MBIt's a particularly exciting week for Diminishing Returns - not because of the films we're covering (definitely not). No, it's an exciting week because we're joined by the one and only Jeff Davis to discuss all things Teen Wolf, including its transition from a questionable Michael J. Fox vehicle into a sexy, teen-drama series on MTV.
226 - Murder on the Orient Express (with Calvin Dyson)
September 27, 2020 22:55 - 1 hour - 64.7 MBMurder, murder, murder! In a Diminishing Returns first (not counting that Diminisode where we covered Knives Out), we take a look at a murder mystery movie! It's Murder on the Orient Express, taking aim at the 1974 Sidney Lumet film starring Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot and the 2017 Kenneth Branagh version in anticipation of its sequel, Death on the Nile, which was due out this week but has since been delayed until December. We considered delaying this episode but figured we couldn't be bo...
225 - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
September 20, 2020 22:55 - 1 hour - 159 MBWe had arguably the most exciting episode of Diminishing Returns yet all lined up, but our special guest had to postpone at the 11th hour, leaving us scrambling for content. We popped on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and two and a half hours later, we recorded this: an unusually impromptu edition of the podcast. Fret not, though, because we have yet another incredibly special guest coming up two weeks from now...
224 - Watchmen (with Development Hell)
September 13, 2020 22:55 - 1 hour - 67.3 MBWhat is this, a crossover episode? Diminishing Returns are joined by Development Hell, the brand-new podcast from Sol Harris and Conor Murray that examines the history of movie projects that never got made. Why? To examine one of the most infamous cases of a film to spend many years in Development Hell, only to finally make its way up and onto the big screen: Watchmen. Is there a legitimate place for Zack Synder? Where does the film fit into the DC universe now that The Flash is going to go...
224 - Watchmen (with How Didn't This Get Made?)
September 13, 2020 22:55 - 1 hour - 67.3 MBWhat is this, a crossover episode? Diminishing Returns are joined by How Didn't This Get Made? (who, confusingly, were going by "Development Hell" when this was recorded), the brand-new podcast from Sol Harris and Conor Murray that examines the history of movie projects that never got made. Why? To examine one of the most infamous cases of a film that nearly never got made, but eventually fought its way out of Development Hell, only to finally make its way up and onto the big screen: Watchme...
223 - Diminulum Unreturnable (with Calvin Dyson & Dan Straw)
September 06, 2020 22:55 - 1 hour - 142 MBIn an effort to make the show more woke, Definitely-Not-Racist Liam Neeson takes a look at some never-before-heard, deleted moments from previous Diminishing Returns recording sessions.
222 - Vampire's Kiss
August 30, 2020 22:55 - 1 hour - 148 MBIt's finally here: Diminishing Returns doing a Nicolas Cage episode! If you've never seen (or heard) of Vampire's Kiss, don't let that put you off as we're going to hold your hand through what is quite an obscure relic. Audio clips abound, along with a Nic Cage quiz and the birth of a new phrase, destined for the Oxford English Dictionary: "Cinematic Concealism".
221 - Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (with Gareth Allen)
August 23, 2020 22:55 - 1 hour - 212 MBBill & Ted Face the Music is finally upon us, after years (followed by additional months of delay-based) waiting! To mark this most excellent of occasions, Sol and Allen are joined by Gareth to discuss Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey.
220 - The Meg (with Calvin Dyson)
August 16, 2020 22:55 - 1 hour - 54.7 MBIt's the surprise return of #CalvinsSharks, the poorly named sub-series of Diminishing Returns episode where Calvin makes us cover shark movies! Except this time, it's Allen making Calvin do it. "It" being Jason Statham vehicle The Meg. Why? Well, you name another shark movie worth doing that we haven't already covered...
219 - The World Is Not Enough (with Calvin Dyson)
August 09, 2020 22:39 - 1 hour - 196 MBWe're whizzing through the James Bond franchise because what else is there to do in 2020 but watch old movies? This time, it's The World Is Not Enough. Is this finally the film to win over Sol and Allen? Obviously not, but it's a funny journey, we promise.
218 - The Christopher Nolan Season Rises (with Gareth Allen)
August 02, 2020 22:55 - 1 hour - 213 MBChristopher Nolan Season comes to a thrilling and much-better-thought-through conclusion than The Dark Knight Rises with this: "The Christopher Nolan Season Rises", a look at the third Nolan Batman movie, Interstellar and an in-depth look at Dunkirk (following us touching on it in our 2018 Oscars episode, where we covered all of the Best Picture nominees). Gareth Allen joins us to lend a third voice among the split opinions that dominate this episode.
217 - The Christopher Nolan Season (with Emily Slade)
July 26, 2020 22:54 - 1 hour - 240 MBDiminishing Returns continue their exploration of Christopher Nolan's filmography with the help of Emily Slade, on hand to guide them through The Prestige, The Dark Knight and Inception.
216 - Christopher Nolan Season Begins (with Paul Brear)
July 19, 2020 22:55 - 1 hour - 73.8 MBOur hotly anticipated Christopher Nolan Season launches with a look at the first third of his career, comprising of Following, Memento., Insomnia and Batman Begins. Paul Brear joins us for a discussion that also spans the chronological cut of Memento. and the original, 1997 version of Insomnia of which Nolan's film was a remake. Listen, then come back next week for The Prestige, The Dark Knight and Inception!
215 - Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga - Live! (with Calvin Dyson and Emily Slade)
July 12, 2020 22:55 - 1 hour - 178 MBIt's Diminishing Returns' second live show! Presented here for those of you who couldn't join us on the night (and those of you who'd like to listen again). We needed to fill a week in the schedule at the last minute, so we thought we'd cover the new Netflix release Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. Calvin and Emily join us to defend, while Allen regales with tales of his time spent on the movie's set.
214 - Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
July 05, 2020 22:55 - 1 hour - 61.4 MBContinuing our two-week discussion of Sacha Baron Cohen, we pick up from the failure of Ali G Indahouse to discuss the relative success of Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan followed by Bruno and a little epilogue touching on Who Is America?.
Specialer Announcement
July 04, 2020 16:09 - 2 minutes - 5.27 MBWe're doing another live episode - and this time, it isn't exclusive to Patreon. Anyone can come along and take part in the fun, this coming Tuesday, the 7th of July, at 8pm (BST). We'll be broadcasting over Zoom. Check out social media accounts at Facebook (facebook.com/diminishingreturnspodcast), Twitter (twitter.com/dimreturnspod) and Instagram (instagram.com/dimreturnspod) for the log-in information, which should be posted sometime shortly after 7pm. The info will also be posted on our...
213 - Ali G Indahouse
June 28, 2020 23:10 - 1 hour - 199 MBWhat started as a throwaway joke: Sacha Baron Cohen Season - posed in one of our Patreon-exclusive Diminisodes - springs into bizarre reality (but not particularly bizarre by 2020 standards). This week, we're covering Ali G from his origins on The 11 O'Clock Show, through Da Ali G Show, Ali G Indahouse and culminating in Ali G in da USAiii. We're also covering The Dictator and Grimsby so that we don't have to worry about them next week, when we do Borat, Bruno and Who Is America?.
212 - Train to Busan (with Grace Miller)
June 21, 2020 22:55 - 1 hour - 42.3 MBDiminishing Returns takes a much-needed trip back into zombie territory to coincide with the upcoming (South Korean) release of Peninsula, the sequel to Train to Busan. Sol and Allen are re-joined by Grace Miller and they take a little look at animated prequel Seoul Station, too.
211 - Hamlet (with Nicky Diss)
June 14, 2020 21:00 - 1 hour - 220 MBIt's another Patreon vote episode... sort of. This week, we asked our Patrons to give us suggestions for an episode and then we held an internal Diminishing Returns vote to select a victor. Our choice was Tom Patten's suggestion to cover the 1996 Kenneth Branagh version of Hamlet, so that we could get into a hot-take debate regarding literature. William Shakespeare: good or rubbish? Joining us, this week, is theatre (and, you know, Shakespeare) director, Nicky Diss!
210 - Tomorrow Never Dies (with Calvin Dyson)
June 08, 2020 12:39 - 1 hour - 62.9 MBBack on Bond! Calvin is determined to get us through the Brosnan era ahead of No Time to Die's release in November. This is our second step towards that goal, looking at Pierce's second time playing James: Tomorrow Never Dies! Listen for discussion of a wealth of name-actors and even No Time to Die's potential for a Best Picture nomination at the coming Academy Awards.
209 - Taxi Driver
June 01, 2020 09:49 - 1 hour - 213 MBA rare non-franchise turn for Diminishing Returns - and our first real Martin Scorsese episode: a look at Taxi Driver, complete with Robert De Niro's (madness in the) method and how we'd react if taken to a porno theatre on a date.
208 - Pareturns of Dimin Memory (with Calvin Dyson, Judey Bignell, Daryn Ashcroft and more)
May 24, 2020 22:55 - 1 hour - 45.4 MBYou know the drill with these outtakes episodes by now: we needed a week off so we're releasing a load of never-before-heard material (unless you're one of our Patreon subscribers, in which case, you've had access to this episode for almost a year, now). This is all stuff cut from previous episodes for the sake of time or because it went too far off on a tangent. But it still makes for good listening, so hear we are. Guests this week, include Calvin Dyson, Judey Bignell, Daryn Ashcroft, Sco...
207 - Starship Troopers (with Gareth Allen)
May 17, 2020 22:55 - 1 hour - 67.7 MBAfter last week's live antics, we're going back to basics with a conventional Diminishing Returns episode looking at Starship Troopers, Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation, Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, Starship Troopers: Invasion and Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars.
206 - Diminishing Returns Live! (with Calvin Dyson and Emily Slade)
May 10, 2020 22:55 - 2 hours - 110 MBA special live episode of the podcast, originally broadcast exclusively to Patreon subscribers on the 28th of April, 2020! (Please forgive the shaky audio quality - we're normally much better than this, but we're also not normally live). That's right, this whole corona virus lockdown pushed us to hold a special video stream event: a live episode of the podcast. Hopefully the first of many. Listen to this - the edited audio version - or head over to our official YouTube page to watch the (mo...
205 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (with Emily Slade)
May 03, 2020 21:34 - 1 hour - 74.6 MBOur epic trilogy comes to its conclusion with this: The Returns of the Diminishings (our third episode covering The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and, this time, looking specifically at The Return of the King). Emily Slade is this week's Lord of the Ringer, ushered in to defend the franchise against haters, Allen and Sol.
204 - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (with Grace Miller)
April 26, 2020 23:08 - 1 hour - 68.1 MBThe trilogy of episodes covering The Lord of the Rings enters the exciting middle part as we turn our heads to The Two Towers, with the help of Grace Miller.
Special Announcement
April 23, 2020 11:56 - 3 minutes - 2.31 MBDiminishing Returns will be broadcasting a special, live episode at patreon.com/dimreturns on Tuesday the 28th of April 2020 at 8pm BST. The episode will be broadcast as a video, so you'll get to see us as well as listening to us, for once. It will involve Sol, Allen, Calvin and a special guest or two, as well as a Q&A section for viewers to get involved.
203 - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (with Sean Morrison)
April 19, 2020 22:34 - 1 hour - 70.7 MBCorona virus has demolished the slate of movie releases we had episodes planned to tie into, so we scrambled for something else to do and asked Patreon which trilogy they'd like us to cover out of the ones we haven't done yet. The Lord of the Rings was the overwhelming winner, so here we are: the first of three episodes covering the first of three movies (no one mention The Hobbit).
202 - This Is England (with Thomas Turgoose and Andrew Ellis)
April 13, 2020 22:52 - 2 hours - 89.6 MBIt's a very special week at Diminishing Returns as we welcome the hosts of Overrated Everything podcast for a crossover! Did we mention that the hosts of Overrated Everything are Thomas Turgoose and Andrew Ellis who played Shaun and Gadget in This Is England? We probably should have done, because that's the film we're covering this week... We're also looking at the three miniseries follow-ups This Is England '86, '88 and '90 and, as always, chatting about the possibility of another sequel...