Podcast Corner: Sex, horror and music - digging deep in the world of movies
Showgirls is one of the films discussed on R&R Rated.
Albeit later than usual this year, the Golden Globes last week signalled the start of the road to the Oscars. With the film industry, and cinemas in particular, hit hard in the past 12 months, streaming services came to the rescue, offering so much that it could be hard to know what to search out for next. Here are some niche film podcasts to help you pick out your next watch.
A series within the overall feed of the excellent No Encore music podcast. No Popcorn takes a semi-regular look at films of a musical tilt. Starting in February 2019 with the "complete mess" Bohemian Rhapsody, they've clocked up 30 episodes since, covering music docs (Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, Bros: After the Screaming Stops), Irish films (Sing Street), old favourites (The Rocky Horror Picture Show), and recent releases (Pixar's Soul). Despite the music hook, Dave Hanratty, who also hosts the weekly No Encore, Dave Higgins, and Norma Howard offer excellent knowledge and criticism of their subject.
This might be one to bookmark and return to in October for a month of old Halloween films. VHS veteran Stevie Webb hosts this ode to the best worst horror movies of the 80s and 90s. It only started in January, and chances are you may not be familiar with the films - CHUD (1984), Slugs (1988), Uninvited (1988), Popcorn (1991), Basket Case (1982) - but you will know some of the co-hosts: Stephen Fry and Mark Kermode are two who feature. The latter, one of the biggest names in criticism, is reason enough to give Brain Rot a chance. He discusses Basket Case, in which a man is carrying around a big basket - but what's in it!?! Includes factoids such as the crew walking out during its filming.
A round of applause, firstly, for the name of this show, hosted by film critic and sexualities scholar Roe McDermott and pop culture critic Rory Cashin. This 10-episode series ran last year, as the pair look over sex in cinema and why some cinematic representations of sex turn us on - or off. Films discussed include Brokeback Mountain and Blue Valentine. The discussion on the shocking (not in a good way) Showgirls is particularly good. Not for the faint of heart.
