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
53 - The Mummy
June 04, 2017 23:38 - 1 hour - 63.3 MBDiminishing Returns heads back to the Universal Monsters franchise (now known as Dark Universe apparently) to explore the The Mummy movies (1932's The Mummy, The Mummy's Hand, The Mummy's Tomb, The Mummy's Ghost, The Mummy's Curse, Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy, 1999's The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, The Scorpion King and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor - as well as Hammer's 1959 remake). We're not exactly sure how we feel about the new Tom Cruise movie coming out, but we talk throug...
52 - Suicide Squad
May 29, 2017 12:22 - 1 hour - 193 MBIn a Diminishing Returns first, here's an episode about a film that we did an episode tying into (yes, we've been going so long that things are going to start getting meta). If you haven't already heard it, got and listen to our Review of the Year 2016 episode, in which Calvin and Allen butt heads over whether Suicide Squad is a solid action movie or complete and utter dross. Afterwards, come back and listen to this one in order to hear Sol cast the deciding vote All before some of the usua...
51 - Pirates of the Caribbean
May 21, 2017 22:00 - 1 hour - 99.8 MBIn which we take a look at all four films in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise (The Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man's Chest, At World's End and On Stranger Tides) in the run up to Dead Men Tell No Tales / Salazar's Revenge (depending on where you live). Lots of talk of pirates, Johnny Depp, zombies, monkeys... pretty much anything and everything you could want... ...and, as always, we pitch our own ideas for what the sequel should be. This week, Sol and Allen actually pitch real seque...
50 - Alien season: The Prometheus Unology
May 14, 2017 22:41 - 1 hour - 168 MBAlien season concludes with our Prometheus episode. If you missed the last two week's, we highly recommend listening to the entire trilogy as we cover the real Alien movies (the quadrilogy), the shit Alien movies (vs. Predator) and, this week, the sort of in-the-middle Alien movie (Prometheus). Opinions on this one vary between the group (spoiler alert: Calvin loves it, Sol and Allen hate it), so there's some great back and forth and discussion, not to mention a chance to hear Calvin's impre...
49 - Alien season: The Alien vs. Predator Duology
May 08, 2017 08:44 - 1 hour - 85.1 MBWe're continuing our Alien season, in anticipation of Alien: Covenant, by taking a look at the somewhat less acclaimed Alien vs. Predator spin-off series made up of AVP: Alien vs. Predator and AVPR: Aliens vs. Predator - Requiem - two of the most stupidly titled films ever made. Chat includes the likes of the original quadrilogy, Prometheus and Batman for some reason - and, as always, we pitch our own ideas for Alien vs. Predator 3. If you're enjoying Alien season, be sure to come back next...
48 - Alien season: The Alien Quadrilogy
May 01, 2017 09:47 - 1 hour - 71.3 MBAlien season is here! In the run up to the release of Alien: Covenant, we're taking a huge look at the Alien series starting with the core franchise (Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection).
47 - Guardians of the Galaxy
April 23, 2017 20:34 - 59 minutes - 136 MBGuardians of the Galaxy, the bad boy of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is discussed in the latest edition of Diminishing Returns, which looks at its place within the superhero genre as a whole, the meteoric rise of Chris Pratt (as well as the work of other cast members Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, John C. Reilly, Benecio Del Toro and Howard the Duck), and, as always what Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 might have been, with three pitches for alternative sequels.
46 - Psycho
April 17, 2017 10:03 - 1 hour - 66 MBThis week, we take a stab at Calvin's favourite film of all time (Psycho) and its surprisingly many sequels and off-shoots (Psycho II, Psycho III, Bates Motel - the TV movie, Psycho IV: The Beginning, Psycho - the Gus Van Sant / Vince Vaughn remake and Bates Motel - the TV series). The sequel pitches are also particularly on form here, as Calvin dusts off an old Psycho sequel idea he had as a youth, Allen pitches a very different TV series based on the films and Sol takes the podcast into it...
45 - The Fast and the Furious
April 09, 2017 22:41 - 1 hour - 246 MBThe Fast and the Furious franchise (The Fast and the Furious, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Fast and Furious, Fast Five, Furious 6 and Furious Seven) shows no signs of slowing down any time soon, and with the impending release of The Fate of the Furious (aka Fast and Furious 8), we decided to take a retroactive look at the franchise and do the usual thing of pitching our own sequels to the films. Topics include the differences between Vin Diesel and Dwayne 'The Rock' J...
44 - Tremors
April 04, 2017 16:00 - 1 hour - 196 MBThis week, we take a break from the huge blockbuster fare that's been dominating our output lately and focus in on this classic B-movie franchise starting with 1990's Kevin Bacon vehicle: Tremors and followed by a number of sequels (Tremors II: Aftershocks, Tremors 3: Back to Perfection, Tremors 4: The Legend Begins and Tremors 5: Bloodlines, not to mention a SyFy TV series, an upcoming Tremors 6 and an upcoming Amazon original series). Listen through headphones in order to minimise risk of ...
43 - Ghost in the Shell
March 27, 2017 13:23 - 1 hour - 73.3 MBOur love of discussing films where an actor portrays a character of another race culminates here, in an episode focused on Ghost in the Shell, the seminal 1995 anime adaptation of the manga of the same name and, also, the upcoming live-action remake starring Scarlett Johansson. Is the old film any good? Does the new film look any good? How many puns based on the title can we think of? All of these questions are addressed and more in yet another thrilling installment of Diminishing Returns.
42 - Power Rangers
March 19, 2017 22:15 - 59 minutes - 54.1 MBGo, go Diminishing Returns! Power Rangers will soon find new life in the movie of the same name, so we felt it apt to look back to our nostalgia (or lack of, depending on which host you're talking about) for the series, compiled from a re-edited Japanese series, Super Sentai, combined with new footage featuring American 'teens'. As always, we round things off by pitching our own takes on what the new Power Rangers movie should have looked like.
41 - Live-Action Disney Remakes
March 13, 2017 00:10 - 1 hour - 187 MBDisney's new take on Beauty and the Beast follows hot on the heels of films like The Jungle Book, Pete's Dragon, Cinderella, Maleficent and Alice in Wonderland. Is the new trend of Disney remaking all of its animated classics harmless, nostalgia-driven fun or a tragic symptom of the end of cinematic creativity? We explore that as well as aforementioned films, Disney's upcoming slate of (at least) 17 further remakes and our pitches for the remakes that Disney should greenlight next. Oh and, al...
40 - King Kong
March 05, 2017 22:46 - 1 hour - 56.9 MBWith Kong: Skull Island upon us, we take a look at the long history of King Kong films, starting with the 1933 original, but also the 1976 and 2005 remakes, Son of Kong, King Kong vs Godzilla, King Kong Lives and, even, some lost Japanese Kong movies. As always, things are rounded off with pitches for what the next entry in the King Kong franchise should have been.
39 - The Wolverine
February 26, 2017 22:23 - 1 hour - 78.5 MBLogan is upon us and, so, we take the opportunity for a Wolverine retrospective, looking at X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Wolverine and Hugh Jackman's role in the X-Men films to date, including X-Men, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse. Also discussed are the future of the franchise - will there be a Deadpool crossover? (Probably not). And, as always, we round things off with pitches for what the next Wolverine movie should be.
38 - Oscars 2017
February 19, 2017 20:53 - 2 hours - 135 MBThe 89th Academy Awards take place in a week, so it seemed like a good time to explore all nine of this year's Oscar Best Picture nominees (Arrival, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Lion, Manchester by the Sea and Moonlight). Also included in this episode: - discussion and exploration of Oscars (and other film awards like the BAFTAs) in general, including years past - the hosts predict this year's Oscar winners in various categories - The 1st Annual Dim...
37 - Thunderball
February 12, 2017 23:07 - 1 hour - 84.4 MBFinally, Diminishing Returns makes its long-awaited return to the James Bond franchise! In this episode, the hosts (Allen Turing, Sol Harris and YouTube's premiere James Bond reviewer: Calvin Dyson) look at the 4th entry in the 007 series, Thunderball, before pitching their own ideas for direct sequels that could have been. Somehow, Frasier manages to sneak back into the mix, too, just like it did in last week's Fifty Shades of Grey episode.
36 - Fifty Shades of Grey
February 05, 2017 21:53 - 1 hour - 74.4 MBIn which we learn far more than anybody wanted about the show's three hosts (Allen Turing, Calvin Dyson and Sol Harris) and what they choose to do with their bodies. With the impending release of Fifty Shades Darker, the Diminishing Returns gang take a look at Fifty Shades of Grey - the book and the film - and, as usual, pitch their own ideas for the sequel. As if 50 Shades and the hosts' sex-lives weren't enough, the discussion also repeatedly turns towards Kelsey Grammer for some reason, ...
35 - The Ring
January 29, 2017 21:28 - 1 hour - 61.3 MBThis week, the Diminishing Returns gang (Sol Harris, Allen Turing and Calvin Dyson) dig up a time-capsule in the form of this episode of the show that was recorded in October 2016 to coincide with the release of the new entry in the The Ring franchise: Rings. When Rings was delayed to 2017, so, too, was this episode which covers every film in the franchise to date, as well as all of the Japanese The Grudge (or as they're known in their native language, Ju-On) movies.
34 - Resident Evil: Retribution
January 23, 2017 03:15 - 1 hour - 76.3 MBIn one corner, we have Calvin, who loves these films. In the other corner, we have Sol, who considers them to be the worst film-franchise of all time, and Allen, who watched them for the first time in order to record this episode. If you think things got heated when Calvin and Allen went head-to-head over Suicide Squad, you ain't heard nothing yet! In anticipation(?) of Resident Evil: The FInal Chapter (not to mention the game Resident Evil VII: Biohazard), this episode covers the Resident Ev...
33 - M. Night Shyamalan season: The Happening
January 15, 2017 19:07 - 1 hour - 82.9 MBThe third part of any trilogy is almost always the weakest, but in this, the conclusion of the Diminishing Returns M. Night Shyamalan season, we continue to buck trends with, quite possibly, the strongest episode in the series - well, it's because it's more fun to complain about bad films than praise the good ones, isn't it? Though the focus of this episode and its sequel pitches are on The Happening, it also covers The Lady in the Water, The Last Airbender, Devil, After Earth, The Visit and...
32 - M. Night Shyamalan season: The Village
January 09, 2017 13:28 - 1 hour - 71.8 MBIn anticipation of the master(?) of suspense's upcoming film, Split, M. Night Shyamalan season continues with a look at Signs and The Village, the latter of which also gets the Diminishing Returns sequel-pitch treatment.
31 - M. Night Shyamalan season: Unbreakable
January 02, 2017 00:32 - 1 hour - 58.7 MBDiminishing Returns (Sol Harris, Allen Turing and Calvin Dyson) bring you an episode on M. Night Shyamalan! Yes, in anticipation of the director/writer/sort-of-actor-but-not-really's upcoming film: Split, Diminishing Returns brings you M. Night Shyamalan season. Over the next three weeks, Diminishing Returns shall chronicle the meteoric rise and fall of the career of the infamous film-maker. In this, part 1, we look at M. Night's early work, making pit-stops at Praying with Anger, Wide Awake ...
30 - Review of the Year 2016
December 25, 2016 22:48 - 1 hour - 101 MBIt's Boxing Day, and in less than a week, it'll be 2017, so why not get comfy in your favourite chair, help yourself to a nice plate of Christmas leftovers and recover from yesterday's antics with a nice, relaxing Diminishing Returns? Well, we say "relaxing", but this one gets pretty full-on at times as film-Scrooge, Allen Turing, repeatedly butts heads with Calvin Dyson and Sol Harris regarding the movie offerings of 2016. This is a retrospective episode of the show, looking back at the las...
29 - It's a Wonderful Life
December 18, 2016 23:44 - 1 hour - 52.2 MBIt's the Diminishing Returns Holiday Special, so gather your family around the fireplace and sit down to enjoy a festive feast of film discussion, ideas for sequels to It's a Wonderful Life and general Christmas cheer. Merry Christmas!
28 - Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
December 12, 2016 00:19 - 1 hour - 76.4 MBDiminishing Returns (Calvin Dyson, Sol Harris and Allen Turing) finally take on the grandfather of franchise-filmmaking with a look at the original Star Wars trilogy and their own ideas for Star Wars sequels. The prequels and The Force Awakens are briefly touched on, but the real focus of this episode is Episodes IV through VI (A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi). Those other films will have to wait until the next Star Wars episode.
28 - Star Wars
December 12, 2016 00:19 - 1 hour - 76.4 MBDiminishing Returns (Calvin Dyson, Sol Harris and Allen Turing) finally take on the grandfather of franchise-filmmaking with a look at the original Star Wars trilogy and their own ideas for Star Wars sequels. The prequels and The Force Awakens are briefly touched on, but the real focus of this episode is Episodes IV through VI (A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi). Those other films will have to wait until the next Star Wars episode.
27 - Black Christmas
December 04, 2016 22:19 - 47 minutes - 35.9 MBWhat better film to get you into the festive spirit than this horror classic in which a senseless killer harasses and murders his way through a sorority house? If you can think of a better way to honour the birth of baby Jesus, then the Diminishing Returns gang (Calvin Dyson, Allen Turing and Sol Harris) would like to hear it. As usual, they discuss the film (1974's Black Christmas) before pitching their own ideas for sequels.
26 - Roar
November 28, 2016 00:12 - 41 minutes - 38.4 MBThis episode of the podcast explores the little known, 1981 film Roar, in which Noel Marshall, Tippi Hedren and Melanie Griffith spend an hour and a half surrounded by lions, tigers and other assorted big cats before learning to be a family again. It was a movie produced by, essentially, throwing a load of actors and lions into a house together and filming what happened. The end result is every bit as fascinating as you'd expect and, as usual, Calvin Dyson, Allen Turing and Sol Harris are on ...
25 - Frozen
November 20, 2016 21:20 - 1 hour - 59.6 MBWith Moana soon upon us, Diminishing Returns (Calvin Dyson, Sol Harris and Allen Turing) attempt to fathom the mammoth cultural and financial success of Disney's 53rd "classic", Frozen. As usual, things culminate with each of the gang pitching their own idea for a sequel, but not before Allen tries his usual schtick of attempting to sap the fun out of everything. Don't worry, though; he fails.
24 - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
November 13, 2016 21:05 - 1 hour - 92.8 MBSince making its debut almost 20 years ago, Harry Potter has shoe-horned itself into books, movies, video games, websites, stage-plays and, now, episodes of the Diminishing Returns podcast. With the impending release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the gang take a look at the Potter movie franchise and pitch their own takes on a 9th movie set in the wizarding world.
24 - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
November 13, 2016 21:05 - 1 hour - 92.8 MBSince making its debut almost 20 years ago, Harry Potter has shoe-horned itself into books, movies, video games, websites, stage-plays and, now, episodes of the Diminishing Returns podcast. With the impending release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the gang take a look at the Potter movie franchise and pitch their own takes on a 9th movie set in the wizarding world.
23 - Jaws: The Revenge
November 07, 2016 11:23 - 1 hour - 105 MBYou yell "barracuda", everybody says, "Huh? What?" You yell "shark", we've got a new episode of Diminishing Returns on our hands, in which Calvin Dyson, Sol Harris and Allen Turing talk through the Jaws movies, culminating in 1987's infamous Jaws: The Revenge, before pitching how they'd continue the franchise.
23 - Jaws
November 07, 2016 11:23 - 1 hour - 105 MBYou yell "barracuda", everybody says, "Huh? What?" You yell "shark", we've got a new episode of Diminishing Returns on our hands, in which Calvin Dyson, Sol Harris and Allen Turing talk through the Jaws movies, culminating in 1987's infamous Jaws: The Revenge, before pitching how they'd continue the franchise.
22 - Halloween
October 31, 2016 00:59 - 1 hour - 61.6 MBWhat better film to discuss in the first Halloween episode of Diminishing Returns than John Carpenter's iconic, 1978 slasher movie of the same name? Listeners beware; you're in for a scare! (Special thanks to xDimebagx for creating the ambient soundscape used in the opening sequence).
21 - Iron Man
October 24, 2016 10:24 - 1 hour - 62.5 MBDiminishing Returns cast their minds back to 2008; a simpler time in which superheros weren't constantly venn diagraming around and getting up in each other's faces all the time. What would a sequel to Iron Man look like without our modern notions of shared universes?
20 - Goldfinger
October 16, 2016 22:41 - 1 hour - 70.6 MBWe were going to do an episode about The Ring this week, but then Rings got delayed until 2017, so here's another James Bond episode instead.
19 - The Da Vinci Code
October 09, 2016 23:28 - 1 hour - 67.1 MBIn which the Diminishing Returns trio seek to uncover the truth about how to best sequelise the film adaptation of 2003 best-selling novel: The Da Vinci Code.
18 - Super Mario Bros.
October 02, 2016 21:35 - 1 hour - 55.2 MBNot content with trying something new last time, this episode sees the gang pitching how to adapt the Super Mario Bros. games to the big screen.
17 - Tim Burton
September 25, 2016 22:47 - 1 hour - 97 MBIn another slightly format-bending episode, Diminishing Returns take a look at the career of Tim Burton, all the way from his early short films up to the upcoming Miss Peregrine's House of Weird Kids. Instead of pitching sequels, Allen, Calvin and Sol pitch what they would like to see Tim pick up as his next project.
16 - Evil Dead
September 18, 2016 22:39 - 1 hour - 84 MBSeason 2 of the wonderful Ash vs Evil Dead will soon be upon us. In anticipation, the gang take a whistle-stop tour of the franchise, then pitch their own ideas for new Evil Dead movies. Groovy.
16 - The Evil Dead
September 18, 2016 22:39 - 1 hour - 84 MBSeason 2 of the wonderful Ash vs Evil Dead will soon be upon us. In anticipation, the gang take a whistle-stop tour of the franchise, then pitch their own ideas for new Evil Dead movies. Groovy.
15 - Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
September 11, 2016 22:31 - 1 hour - 58.4 MBWe at Diminishing Returns decided to take control of our lives and start a podcast (an aural diary, if you will). In this, the 15th episode, we take on fellow diarist, Bridget Jones and, as always, pitch ideas for the future.
15 - Bridget Jones's Diary
September 11, 2016 22:31 - 1 hour - 58.4 MBWe at Diminishing Returns decided to take control of our lives and start a podcast (an aural diary, if you will). In this, the 15th episode, we take on fellow diarist, Bridget Jones and, as always, pitch ideas for the future.
14 - Pink Flamingos
September 04, 2016 21:10 - 41 minutes - 38.3 MBIf you're not familiar with Pink Flamingos, then be warned: this episode sees Diminishing Returns discuss things as repulsive as cannibalism, incest and Donald Trump. Disclaimer: We had some technical issues with Allen's microphone in this episode - if you're new to the show, rest assured that the audio quality tends to be better.
13 - From Russia With Love
August 28, 2016 19:04 - 50 minutes - 46.6 MBDiminishing Returns return (without diminishing) to the James Bond franchise in order to pitch sequels to 1963's From Russia with Love.
12 - Ben-Hur
August 21, 2016 17:44 - 57 minutes - 132 MBIn which Diminishing Returns have a religious awakening thanks to the 1959 cinematic epic Ben-Hur.
11 - The Office
August 14, 2016 21:22 - 55 minutes - 127 MBDiminishing Returns discuss all things The Office in anticipation of Ricky Gervais' film David Brent: Life on the Road.
10 - It Follows
August 07, 2016 23:41 - 59 minutes - 137 MBDiminishing Returns follow their last episode with an episode about how they'd follow It Follows.
9 - Batman
July 31, 2016 22:50 - 1 hour - 273 MBDiminishing Returns presents a Batman epic, spanning 2 hours, in which Allen, Calvin and Sol embark on a whistle-stop tour of the screen iterations of Batman, covering everything from the 1943 movie serial to the upcoming Suicide Squad. Oh, and Superman also.