Tysto film commentaries
268 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsCommentary and analysis of movies and TV shows
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Episodes
No Time to Die
December 31, 2021 03:09 - 2 hours - 110 MBTweet Join me and my long-lost guest and Bond aficionado Martin (AKA Faldor) as we look deep into Daniel Craig’s last outing as James Bond. We compare the film to other spy films, the Fleming books, Knives Out, the work of Vladimir Putin, and other Bond films, which I struggle to remember, especially SPECTRE, despite … Continue reading No Time to Die →
Friday the 13th (1980)
August 12, 2021 04:48 - 1 hour - 77 MBTweet And we’re back! Barely ten months after our last commentary, Jimmy B and I dive right back in with another horror classic. This time, we examine the slasher flick that started it all (by ripping off Halloween). We get to the bottom of my distaste for horror movies (it’s really just a distaste for … Continue reading Friday the 13th (1980) →
An American Werewolf in London
November 23, 2020 19:00 - 1 hour - 72.9 MBTweet Just in time to be a month late for Halloween, Jimmy B joins me to revisit the 1980s John Landis classic. It stars the Rick Baker & His Amazing Physical Effects, the Dr Pepper guy, and That Guy From The Madonna Movie Your Sister liked, plus Jenny Agutter. We compare this to An American … Continue reading An American Werewolf in London →
Star Wars 9: The Rise of Skywalker
April 28, 2020 04:14 - 2 hours - 140 MBTweet Join Drew and me for yet another rollicking adventure with all your favorite characters from all the Star Wars movies–because THEY ARE ALL HERE. How? Visions, dreams, memories, ancient magic, cloning, holograms, borrowed footage, deleted scenes, computer trickery, or some combination of the above. We praise… well… some things. C3P0 jokes? Daisy Ridley? I … Continue reading Star Wars 9: The Rise of Skywalker →
The Princess Bride
April 19, 2020 13:31 - 1 hour - 91.3 MBTweet Join Jimmy B as he joins me to revisit one of the great family movies of all time. This has been a long time coming, because my original commentary was a complete mess of nonsense. We unabashedly adore it and praise nearly every aspect. This is one in my pantheon of nearly perfect movies. … Continue reading The Princess Bride →
Gremlins (1984)
December 16, 2019 04:45 - 1 hour - 76.9 MBTweet Merry Christmas to all (again)! Happy holidays to those who don’t celebrate Christmas! Jimmy B is back to help me get off my duff and talk about another film. This time, it’s Joe Dante’s tale of Christmas cheer and mayhem (Well, Chris Columbus’s tale, really). We talk about the effects, the acting, the fake … Continue reading Gremlins (1984) →
The Muppet Christmas Carol
December 18, 2018 01:55 - 1 hour - 53.2 MBMerry Christmas to all! Happy holidays to those who don't celebrate Christmas! A solemn welcome to those who don't care for Muppets! Jimmy B is back for a look at one of his--and now my--favorite Muppet films. My-cocaine is Scrooge and Kermit is Bob Cratchit. Statler and Waldorf are ghosts. And the songs are middling but listenable. We compare this extensively to the original novella by Charles Damn Dickens Himself, as well as to other Muppet movies and probably Shakespeare and Steel Magnolias.
Solo
December 02, 2018 23:53 - 2 hours - 76.2 MBJoin Mehul and me as we are joined by Drew to have a trio look at Solo: A Star Wars Story, in which Chewbacca the wookiee befriends a bedraggled Imperial army deserter and coaches him along life's rocky road, full of disappointments and betrayals. We compare it to other Star Wars films, the books, the cartoons, the video games, Willow, Guardians of the Galaxy, Game of Thrones, Avatar, Thor: Ragnarok, The Hunger Games, Serenity, Grand Theft Auto, Marvel universe films, and The Other Side of t...
Starship Troopers
May 27, 2018 04:44 - 2 hours - 72.9 MBJoin Mehul and me for a revisiting of the undaptation of Robert A Heinlein's Starship Troopers. We try to figure out which parts came from the book and which parts were original to the screenplay that had little to do with the book. We notice that it's kind of two movies in one and neither one is much of an actual story. We compare it to other Paul Verhoeven movies, Aliens, Full Metal Jacket, Philip K Dick adaptations, the 19th century British Navy, World War 2 movies, World War 2 itself, an...
The Phantom
May 13, 2018 20:20 - 1 hour - 58.4 MBJoin me as I am joined by Olly to SLAM EVIL with the oddly still watchable comic book movie from 1990s. No, not The Rocketeer. No, not The Shadow. No, not Dick Tracy. Yes: The Phantom! We argue over the cowl and discuss other costume matters. We praise the cast and, especially, the amazing art direction and cinematography, and the seaplanes... but not necessarily the overall mise-en-scene. A certain actor comes in for criticism as well as some of the stunts. We agree the film lacks a certain...
Star Wars 8: The Last Jedi
April 29, 2018 04:39 - 2 hours - 83.9 MBJoin Drew and me for a rollicking adventure following all your favorite characters from The Force Awakens (except the one who died) where they... uh... try to escape the First Order and try to get Luke to return to civilization, and ride some llama-dogs at a racetrack, and some of them eventually meet for the first time... What is this movie about? I guess we praise the acting and set design and dialog but sort of not? We compare it to Phantom Menace and Harry Potter.
The Long Kiss Goodnight
April 23, 2018 16:37 - 1 hour - 67.8 MBJoin John Pavlich of Sofa Dogs as I join him and Jimmy B to talk about The Long Kiss Goodnight. It's a Shane Black thriller about mommies and memories set at Christmas, so it's perfect for April of 2018, AKA the Year With No Spring.
The Truman Show
March 12, 2018 04:02 - 1 hour - 61.1 MBJoin John Pavlich of Sofa Dogs as I join him to talk about The Truman Show. We love the film and praise nearly every aspect of it. I regard it as a nearly perfect film and try to rewrite it as a comedy. We muse about the different levels of meaning, whether or not Truman is crazy (John: it's not paranoia if they're really out to get you; me: oh he's nuts) and why a TV studio with its own ocean doesn't have any working boats. We wax poetical about the art design, writing, and cast, if not the ...
Groundhog Day
January 29, 2018 05:45 - 1 hour - 63 MBJoin John Pavlich of Sofa Dogs as I join him to talk about Groundhog Day. We praise the acting, the plotting, and the locations. We compare it to Edge of Tomorrow, Goethe's Faust, Scrooged, and falling in love. I explain my head canon that makes it all work for me. And we try to decide what would make it better in general.
Star Trek 79 “Turnabout Intruder”
December 25, 2017 20:44 - 56 minutes - 32 MBOlly and I overcome communications issues, swap bodies, and have a look at the final episode of Star Trek! We discuss Shatner's acting, the challenge of doing a body swap episode, the likelihood of fooling the bridge officers, the fact that Spock never met a mutiny he didn't like, and much, much more.
2010: The Year We Made Contact
December 11, 2017 05:04 - 1 hour - 65.4 MBJoin Mehul and me as we again explore the vastness of space and decide whether or not getting mean texts constitutes "contact". We compare it to 2001, 2002, 2003, etc., Contact, Alien, The Abyss, Leviathan, Deepstar 6, submarine movies, Seaquest DSV, Star Trek's "The Tholian Web", and Rocky 5*. We discuss and praise the cast, the miniatures, and cinematography. We mock the slow burn, the Russian tech, and the politics. We suss out the motivations of everyone except the monolith. We try to fi...
Baby Driver
November 27, 2017 05:14 - 1 hour - 67.1 MBFaldor is back! We sit down for a look at Edgar Wright's new flick about the heartwarming romance between boy and his iPod and also a girl he kind of likes, but maybe not LIKE likes, 'cause he's not gonna get all mushy or anything. We compare it to other Edgar Wright films, crime pictures of the '60s and '70s, Reservoir Dogs, Ant-Man, Highlander, James Bond films, John Wick, Layer Cake, Highlander, Harry Potter, Where Eagles Dare, Captain America: Winter Soldier, Oedipus Rex, The Omen, and, o...
Star Trek 64 “The Tholian Web”
November 20, 2017 05:23 - 54 minutes - 31.2 MBOlly and I reestablish contact after slipping thru a rift in the fabric of space-time and a debilitating bout of space madness to talk about "The Tholian Web"! Oh those punctual Tholians cause no end of vexation while Spock tries to catch Kirk on the next swing around the ol' space carousel (or whatever. Honestly, i have no idea what's causing this). It's great fun seeing Spock in charge and endlessly put upon, and it makes wonderful use of the whole cast; even Nurse Chapel! I suggest we cou...
2001: A Space Odyssey
November 13, 2017 05:44 - 2 hours - 5 MBJoin Mehul and me as we explore the vastness of space and discover it full of character actors! We contemplate the nature of the universe, discuss alien life and intelligence, talk about the film's influence on our culture and movies, and generally have a very good time with this slow, contemplative, visual feast of a film. Altho we discuss what we think could have made it better, and altho I don't say it, I consider this to be a nearly perfect film. But is it entertaining...? Eeeee, maybe n...
Duck Soup (1933)
October 30, 2017 04:05 - 1 hour - 44 MBTweet Olly is back, and this time we’re discussing the distressing idea of incompetent clowns taking charge of a country. Will they be able to make Fredonia great again? Will they Frexit? We compare it to other Marx Brothers movies—with and without Zeppo—commedia dell’arte, the Muppets, Bugs Bunny, MASH, Blazing Saddles, and Monty Python and … Continue reading Duck Soup (1933) →
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
October 17, 2017 02:33 - 1 hour - 190 MBJoin John Pavlich of Sofa Dogs as I join him and together we wax poetical about George Romero and his zombie film, the one that all zombie films afterward use as a template. We discuss the enduring format of the siege picture, the race and gender issues, the acting, the direction, the difference between zombies and ghouls (ghouls rule, zombies drool), and of course whether Harry & Helen are Homer & Marge Simpson or Thurston Howell III & Lovey (me: both; John: neither). We compare it to all ...
Titanic (1997)
September 23, 2017 23:35 - 3 hours - 135 MBIt's the 20th anniversary of James Cameron's tour de force romance-on-the-high-seas-gone-wrong Titanic, a film so big it made people briefly think James Cameron wasn't crazy (he is). I'm joined by Mike from Commentary Track Stars and Great Shot Kid and Mehul from the Internet! They love this movie, which more than makes up for the fact I think it's flabby and stilted until shit gets real and a little movie star named Ice Berg shows up. We compare it to Cameron's other movies, other water and...
Commando (1985)
August 27, 2017 18:00 - 1 hour - 85.7 MBWatch along with Jimmy and me as we hark back to 1985 with our mullets and parachute pants and feast our eyes on Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime fighting bad guys and rescuing damsels and also being rescued by damsels. We try to figure out who the real commando is. We count how many times "John Matrix" should have died (5). We laud the roles given to the female characters, even if they're ludicrous and superfluous. We wax poetic about '80s character actors and their credits. We applaud th...
Star Trek 51 “By Any Other Name”
August 14, 2017 04:29 - 53 minutes - 58.1 MBAny day aboard the Enterprise, another fake distress call. What are you gonna do? The money is running out, and sets are thin, but the crew makes the most of what they've got. Olly and I discuss the big ideas (not killing everyone and taking their stuff!), the futuristic fashions (backless coveralls! combovers!), and pacing and dialog ("What is this hu-man emotion called love?"). Oh! And cuboctahedrons galore! More cuboctahedrons than you can shake a stick at!
Star Trek 44 “Trouble w Tribbles”
August 07, 2017 04:01 - 69.3 MBWould you like to buy a small, furry ball of purring love? Just 10 credits, my friend. Olly tries to sell me on this episode, and I'm as grumpy and possible drunk as Kirk is in it. He seems to view Spock as enough of a pet. McCoy can't figure out how to keep animals from procreating. No one recognizes Trelane. All this is Uhura's fault, but how can you blame her: it's the only shore leave she ever gets. Scotty and Checkov fight "Klinguns" in the longest nonsense sequence in the series. I'm bo...
Star Trek 30 “Amok Time”
July 24, 2017 04:41 - 54 minutes - 49.8 MBEpisode 30: "Amok Time", in which Spock once again but most spectacularly comes under the influence of something (hormones) that causes him to show emotion! Olly and I delve into the logic, the character development, the world building (it's literally one building on another world, but hey), and so much more. Checkov! Checkov's wig! Chapel's burning lust for Spock! Spock's lava lamp! Vulcan's principle export (lava lamps)! This has the beautiful Arlene Martel as T'pring, Celia Lovsky as T'Pa...
RoboCop (1987)
July 10, 2017 04:11 - 1 hour - 91.5 MBTweet Join me as I join John Pavlich of Sofa Dogs for Paul Verhoeven’s shoot-em-up classic (no not that one, and no not that one–okay he made a LOT of shoot-em-ups) RoboCop. This is the 1987 one, not the remake that is definitely terrible even tho we didn’t see it. It’s the heartwarming tale of … Continue reading RoboCop (1987) →
Star Trek 29 “The City on the Edge of Forever”
June 19, 2017 04:09 - 55 minutes - 31.8 MBJoin Olly and me as we look into episode 29: "The City on the Edge of Forever". We question the nature of the time portal—sorry: "Guardian of Forever" (nice guarding there, pal, by the way). We question why Kirk brings only part of the landing party thru the portal. We question the use of soft focus on Joan Collins. And we question the problem with a device that records video but can't play it back without being hooked up to a series of old radio tubes. Also, we forget to mentioned "Let's get...
Star Wars: Rogue One
June 05, 2017 04:44 - 2 hours - 81 MBJoin Drew and me for a whirlwind tour of the galaxy, with a cast so vast includes several dead people. It's the heartwarming tale of a pair of ragamuffin lone wolves in a motley band of rogues within a ragtag group of rebels inside a struggling republic fighting a galactic empire with no apparent emperor that nevertheless somehow builds gigantic moon-sized space stations. And it's the tale of how they get a message from a guy who tells them all they have to do to destroy that space station is...
Star Trek 24 “This Side of Paradise”
May 22, 2017 04:43 - 54 minutes - 31.3 MBJoin Olly and me as we look into episode 24: "This Side of Paradise" We compare it to past episodes we've done, other mutiny episodes, "Shore Leave", and Firefly. We fight like Kirk and Spock over Kirk and Spock and whether living on this planet would actually be fine (me: yes; Olly: you have no ambition). We imagine what hospitals would be like once the flowers are put into regular use giving people perfect health but no ambition. And we riff on wigs.
Star Trek 18 “Arena”
May 08, 2017 04:31 - 52 minutes - 30 MBJoin Olly and me as we look into episode 18: "Arena" We discuss the Gorn, the Gorn's gender, the Gorn's name, the Gorn's attractiveness, and the recipe for gun powder.
Star Trek 07 “What Are Little Girls Made Of”
April 24, 2017 04:24 - 56 minutes - 32.3 MBJoin Olly and me as we look into episode 7: "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" (Spoiler: wires and circuits.) We discuss the classic cast, the fact that this is a bottle episode, the similarity to Doctor Who, the attractiveness of Sherry Jackson (and Ted Cassidy), and the possibility that Ruk started out as a robotic couch for an old lady.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
April 10, 2017 04:19 - 2 hours - 79.7 MBTweetJoin me as I join John Pavlich of Sofa Dogs for a dive into the second Avengers film. We compare it to other Marvel films, Frankenstein, and Barb Wire. We praise nearly every part of it but come out feeling like it largely missed the mark. We’re watching the Blu-ray. Cue up the first frame … Continue reading Avengers: Age of Ultron →
Star Trek 00 “The Cage”
March 27, 2017 00:42 - 1 hour - 41 MBJoin Olly and me one our mission to examine Star Trek (the original series) in ten installments (probably at least eleven now, actually). Our first installment is the original pilot starring Jeffrey Hunter, "The Cage", which was later used to cobble together a two-parter called "The Menagerie". It's a fascinating start.
Ex Machina
January 19, 2017 03:57 - 1 hour - 65.5 MBJoin Drew and me and a silent Asian girl for a look into the darkest fantasies of computer nerds: talking to a pretty girl behind a glass wall. We examine the genre, theme, inspiration, and dance moves. We compare it to other Alex Garland films, other streaming films, porn, Greek tragedies, Star Trek, RoboCop, Jurassic Park, Battlestar Galactica, Frankenstein, Dracula, Pinocchio, and porn. And we do an unpaid advertisement for Amazon Video. We imagine ourselves in the Caleb role, the Nathan ...
Batman (1966)
December 18, 2016 01:37 - 1 hour - 64.6 MBOlly is back, and this time we're scrutinizing the fine details of Adam West's Batman. We both love the film for what it is, and praise the cast, writing, and set design. We elaborate on the acting careers of the fine cast and crew. And we analyze its influence (I push the connections to Batman Returns, but perhaps too far). We speculate on the manufacture of batsuits but discreetly do not mention that this batsuit, like Joel Schumacher's, has nipples (of the 100% natural variety). We note t...
Captain America: Civil War
November 17, 2016 02:31TweetJoin me as I join Extended Edition podcast in discussing the heartbreaking story of a military officer rebelling against his mother government and the valiant military industrialist who tries to stop him. Also: a spider-boy and his AILF. On YouTube: Tysto and Extended Edition commentary for Captain America: Civil War
The Muppet Movie
October 16, 2016 04:40 - 1 hour - 57.6 MBPop in your copy of this all-American (and some British) classic while Jimmy and I gush over just about every aspect of it. We compare it to Citizen Kane and Fellini's 8 1/2 and Bicycle Thieves (not in so many words, but basically) and all other great films as well as several other things. It's a road movie, a coming-of-age movie, a hero's-journey movie, and a falling-in-love-with-a -pig movie. I forget to mention Italian commedia dell'arte, but it's that too. It's all things to all people. ...
Young Frankenstein
September 06, 2016 02:02 - 69.5 MBJoin me along with Olly (last name uknown, possibly Fronkensteen) as we peer into the dark depths of taboo science and cinema with Mel Brooks' and Gene Wilder's wonderful Young Frankenstein. We compare it to other Frankenstein movies, other Mel Brooks movies, other Gene Wilder movies, and Brief Encounter. Olly explains how Brooks and Wilder were both crazy in different ways. We insult Gene Wilder's hair. We discuss back-door pilots and how this movie should not be set in Transylvania and why...
The Thin Man
August 15, 2016 04:01 - 56.7 MBOlly is back after a long absence to drink cocktails and discuss the intricacies of the Myrna Loy and William Powell classic The Thin Man. Olly compares it to the book and to the TV show. We analyze the relationship between Nick and Nora and compare it to other movie and TV couples. We compare the plot to other films in the series and other films of other sorts and to Agatha Christie. I mistakenly say Alan Ladd's The Glass Key was first person point of view when it was Robert Montgomery's Th...
Mad Max 4: Fury Road
July 25, 2016 23:33 - 71.9 MBSMEAR YOUR FOREHEAD WITH GREASE! SPRAY YOUR FACE WITH CHROME! DRINK GUZZLEINE IN VALHALLA WITH DONALD TRUMP'S GRANDSON IMMORTAN JOE TRUMP! IT'S MAD MAX: FURY ROAD! WITH JIMMY B! AND ENGINE NOISES! AND ELECTRIC GUITAR! AND a Skype dropout at 1:17:05 but we fix it and everything and HEAD BACK TO GET US SOME WATER!
Spectre (again)
July 06, 2016 00:25Tweet If EON can take another run at Blofeld, so can I! Join me as I join Extended Edition’s Martin and Owen for another perspective on SPECTRE.
Spectre
May 30, 2016 04:23 - 86 MBJoin me as I take on the worst terrorist organization in history, SPECTRE. I compare the film to other Daniel Craig Bonds, other Bonds of other sorts, other action movies, Inglourious Basterds, Jaws, and corporate projects I've worked on. I accuse it of being a really expensive fan film. And I mis-remember which Blofeld had the scar (Donald Pleasence, not Telly Savalas). I praise the acting and the set pieces and the gun butler; I complain about the office and hotel scenes where nothing happ...
Star Wars 7: Force Awakens
May 02, 2016 20:00 - 64.1 MBAfter a long absence, and now much older and wiser, Drew returns to set us straight about Star Wars. And I wreck things and generally act childish. We lament the familiarity of the plot and some character choices. We debate weather Daisy Ridley is actually Keira Knightly (me: yes; Drew: probably not), and whether the stormtroopers are "thick" and/or "phat". We volley back and forth with our deep, deep knowledge of the Star Wars Extended Universe, most of which is made up. We ponder the reas...
Super 8
April 19, 2016 04:43 - 53.3 MBJohn Pavlich and I open up J J Abrams' mystery box and like what we see, if only because it reminds us so much of all the films we loved from our childhood. We heap praise all over the place, repeated forgive it its sins and excesses, and try to nitpick anachronisms. We're watching the Blu-ray. Start right after the Paramount logo on the countdown.
Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation
April 08, 2016 06:01 - 58.7 MBJoin me in watching the fifth and by no means final episode in the Ethan Hunt saga, in which IMF—gasp!—gets shut down and Ethan—gulp!—goes rogue. Insiders turn out to be bad guys! Ethan works with a beautiful mystery woman he isn't sure he can trust! They steal something they don't understand and give it to the villain! I know this sounds like every other Mission: Impossible film! But this one is even better than most of the others! I compare it to the other films, to James Bond (again [too ...
Ant-Man
January 18, 2016 05:26 - 69.3 MBJimmy and I take a rambling look at Marvel's Ant-Man (after a brief bit of confusion over which movie we're watching) and express our (reserved) love for it. We praise the look and art design, the actors, and the writing. And we discuss which aspects of the writing and directing don't work as well.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1×10
November 09, 2015 05:34Tweet Join me as I join Mike from Commentary Track Stars to look at one of Alfred Hitchcock Presents’ Hitch-directed psycho-dramas. Download page
West Wing 1×01 “Pilot”
October 28, 2015 15:30TweetJoin me as I join Mike of Commentary Track Stars to discuss the inaccuracies of THE WEST WING sets. Download page
Guardians of the Galaxy
October 12, 2015 04:14 - 57.7 MBMartin is back! (He has a codename: Faldor. Both of us do. It's cool. It's not weird.) We bust out of space prison and give Guardians of the Galaxy a good going over (which mainly consists of saying that it's fun and cool and the plot is kind of unnecessary). It's the heartwarming story of a boy who gets kidnapped and leads a life of crime and sexual depravity, with few friends and many enemies. The film has too many villains and too many endings and some shaky acting but works anyway becaus...