This is very often a fascinating and informed analysis of some of the greatest films ever made, but that comes with a caveat: although host John is absolutely excellent, the caliber of several co-hosts and guests is markedly lower, making for a patchy overall experience.
There are a clutch of episodes from the Aliens critique hosted by Kyle and Brady in John’s absence which are feeble in comparison - even though they covered some of the film’s most pivotal and exciting scenes. It was a major let-down. Elsewhere, listeners (and John) were lumbered with co-host Lindsey Romain for a week of ultra-exciting minutes, but her lifeless and meaningless contributions (largely limited to ‘totally’ agreeing with John) significantly impacted on my enjoyment.
Towards the end of the Aliens run, supposed comedian Joe Dator ruined a series of episodes by never knowing when to rein in the attempts at humour. I imagine John found this rather frustrating.
Still, there’s a lot of good here and a lot of other excellent guests, so I’ve generally found this an excellent listen. Be warned, though: with new co-hosts every few episodes, of you do encounter someone you can’t stand, they’ll be with you for an extended period before being jettisoned.
