A Damn Fine Espresso: September 2024

We’ve talked about the Alien franchise before on our podcast, so we didn’t want to miss the opportunity presented by the release of the latest addition to the series, Alien: Romulus, which came out in August. Join Sam and Alan as they talk about Fede Álvarez’ return to the roots of the franchise. How successful is the movie’s ‘back to basics’ approach? How scary can the film be after an entire series has done a lot to strip its iconic set of monsters of their original mystery? What have Álvarez and his collaborators done to keep all things xenomorph fresh, how do they play with an almost overpowering legacy? And what about that unexpected return from the dead: an effective homage or a tacky reference?

For more thoughts on the long-running Alien franchise, check out the following podcast episodes:

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I’ll be in my trailer… watching trailers: My, xenomorph, what big teeth you have!

Join us every week for a trip into the weird and wonderful world of trailers. Whether it’s the first teaser for the latest instalment in your favourite franchise, an obscure preview for a strange indie darling, whether it’s good, bad, ugly or just plain weird – your favourite pop culture baristas are there to tell you what they think.

Sometimes it’s the diamonds in the rough of any medium that prove to be the most memorable – or so Matt argues in this week’s Six Damn Fine Degrees.

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I’ll be in my trailer… watching trailers: I call the xenomorph ‘Bitey’!

Join us every week for a trip into the weird and wonderful world of trailers. Whether it’s the first teaser for the latest instalment in your favourite franchise, an obscure preview for a strange indie darling, whether it’s good, bad, ugly or just plain weird – your favourite pop culture baristas are there to tell you what they think.

Remember that time when most of us were excited for Game of Thrones? When we’d look at the new cast members for the upcoming season and get even more excited? Sam’s interest in Game of Thrones began and, sadly, peaked with him bumping Jonathan Pryce in Dubrovnik, where he (Pryce, that is, not Sam) was filming for season 5 for what was at one point the hottest series on TV. Check out Sam’s Six Damn Fine Degrees for more on this encounter!

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