StreetBloke76

All good, my friend. I'm not entirely sure why I like it so much. There's a melancholy that runs through the music and I think I really responded to that, especially as it was a Fall release. Some might say that 'downer' vibe could be a product of malcontent with the record, unhappiness between band members, frustration with the material and so forth. Or it could be a kind of post 9/11 malaise, a general vibe that I'm sure I noticed in a lot of bands who released music around the same time. But regardless of the source of that melancholy it still seems honest and sincere to me, while I wasn't quite convinced by the suppposedly upbeat, 'back-to-basics' vibe of Accelerate, like they were trying just a little too hard to appease the critics and 'atone' for ATS. There are still songs I like a lot on that album, such as Supernatural Superserious, Until the Day is Done, Sing for the Submarine, but overall I just couldn't get into it, while I found ATS much more immersive. I guess I love all the albums really. But some I just love less than others, which sounds better than just talking in terms of worst. By the way I'm glad to see Fables and New Adventures so high up on your list. So underrated, especially Fables.

Yep! (waves and ducks) Although I appreciate that I'm in the minority. My least favourite album is the next one, Accelerate, which I find to be very dull.

I absolutely love this film, so I was relieved to hear the Matts fighting its corner against Maria & Amanda's somewhat predictable disdain. I love the theme song (so much more interesting and cool than the recent Sam Smith dirge), I love how lean the film is, I love how focused Craig seems. I like the banter between Bond & Felix, I love how the Bond girl had her own arc and wasn't just yet another romantic foil. That foot chase and the fight in the church is surely one of the best action scenes in any Bond film. Overall, very underrated and it deserves reappraisal because disliking it just because it's not Casino Royale is churlish and kinda lazy. Plus, the coolest end credits music of any Bond film. But I don't agree about the car chase being the best of the franchise though. For me that honour belongs to Man With The Golden Gun.

I wonder at what point the penny will drop for Todd about Heroes...if it ever will.

One of the greatest monologues in film history!

Pixar Kelly and that pitch for Cars 4! Damnit, I'm still wheezing. Scott and Scott are the gifts that keep on giving.

I watched about a minute of that before becoming quite bored. Technically it's impressive but it lacks context and urgency as it's basically just a joy-ride. For me the footage in The French connection is more impressive because it's woven into a sequence that involves drama and suspense and genuine peril. Obviously Hickman and Friedkin weren't going as fast but they were speeding down a much narrower and more heavily congested road. Seemed much more dangerous as it were.

In my opinion this is the best film to feature so far. Would be ranked number one for me. I am a bit surprised that no-one mentioned that Eddie Egan is actually in the film - he plays Russo & Doyle's boss. Also, Paul is wrong about the car chase. Friedkin wasn't driving the car during the really dangerous stuff, that was a guy called Bill Hickman. Friedkin filmed him for the POV stuff from the back-seat and according to the documentaries I've seen he practically dared Hickman to do it. Friedkin is many things but he's not a professional stunt-driver.

I think you guys are a little too dismissive of Bibi in FYEO. Yeah, she's a bit annoying but not only does she stand up to Kristatos at the end of the film she also saves Bond's life by knocking the gun out of Kriegler's hand when he's about to shoot him after he crashes through the window. And then she gets lamped in the face for the second time in about five minutes, poor girl.

I'm pretty sure that Willow had about twice as many little people in the cast.

So I'm guessing that the Scotts didn't make it to the U2 shows at The Forum?

Tea and crumpets and New Adventures In Hi-Fi on the gramaphone is a jolly-good spiffing way to spend an afternoon as far as I'm concerned!

Incredible album, perhaps their most sophisticated and polished but it bristles with raw emotion. At times both bleak and uplifting it reminds me of that time in late September when summer still tries to cling on as autumn begins to encroach. And Drive is an incredible opener, perhaps my favourite opening song of any album ever. I still get chills 25 years later when those guitars kick in halfway through. I took Scott up on his challenge and attempted to find Adam in the video for Drive. I scrutinised the video on the Parallel DVD for nearly twenty minutes before I realised what I was doing and stopped. I just realised the middle of that first paragraph sounded a bit wanky, but I was just trying to convey how the album makes me feel and the vibe and stuff. Oh, well... By the way I loved Scott's story about buying presents for the little girl in the play. Big ole softy.

Am I the only human being in the world who really likes October...?

Oh, my god!!!! This is like being on crack-cocaine (I presume). Two things I've been ferverently waiting for combined, the new U2 album and Scott & Scott. I want to listen to this desperately but I also want to hear the album properly for the first time on Friday. I don't know what to do! Help me, Jesus (Bonobos)...

This is quite possibly my most favourite episode this year. Brilliant!

I've got a great Bond/Indiana Jones crossover fact for you guys. At the beginning of Octopussy the guy playing 009 in the clown-suit is famous English stuntman/stunt coordinator Andy Bradford. Five years later while filming The Last Crusade - specifically the fight inside the tank - Bradford was kicked off the stunt-team after accidentally punching one of the actors for real - none other than the original Bond, Sean Connery himself. By the way if you want to see him without the clown make-up he appears at the end of For Your Eyes Only as one of the guards defending the monastery - I think he's the one that gets harpooned by Melina. For me the most important person in terms of the Indy/Bond crossover is legendary stuntman Vic Armstrong. One of his first big film jobs was in You Only Live Twice - you can see him as one of the guys absailing down into the volcano during the climax. Thirty years later he's directing second unit for the Brosnan films. And of course he famously doubled for Harrison Ford in the first three Indy films, most significantly in Temple of Doom during the fight with the chief Thuggee which is mostly him because Ford was recovering from back surgery at the time. But his most impressive stunt has to be from Last Crusade when he rides the horse up onto the ridge and then jumps onto the top of the tank.

Very enjoyable episode, I could listen to Matt & Matt for hours. Just a note about the whole Kriegler vs Loque debate. Loque is clearly the henchman because he does the dirty work, and he works directly for Kristatos. Kriegler is a KGB agent, and he's working with Kristatos but not for him. He has a seperate agenda because he works for General Gogol. Generally, I think it comes down to the relationship between the henchman/woman and the villain. Oddjob is clearly the henchman because he's totally subservient to Goldfinger and, as Matt G pointed out, he's willing to die for him. The level of subservience differs obviously. For example, Nick Nack is subservient to Scaramanga but he's secretly conspiring to get rid of him and so his loyalty is questionable. And in TLD Necros does the dirty work but he's not subservient to Koskov, in most of their scenes together they act more like accomplices. But he has all the other requisite characteristics of a henchman and in the absence of any other credible alternative he is definitely the chosen one. And Chang does actually have a line of dialogue. Just before he tries to dispatch Bond in the G-force simulator he lures Dr Goodhead away by telling her: "Mr Drax said to telephone him..." And he delivers it beautifully.