Far From Ideal

For Christmas we put our money where our mouths are and design the perfect Christmas film. Complete with: Muppets, time travel, at least three different flavours of Santa and so much more. Yule love it.

With the reboot on the horizon we revisit Malcolm in the Middle, the sitcom that quietly reinvented TV. Single-camera, progressive storytelling and characters that struggled against a real world with real problems.

After thousands of hours of campaigns, adaptations, video games and more Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves finally cracked it as a mainstream film offering that didn’t play like Jeremy Irons trapped in a nightmare about a PS2 generated dragon. Michael Silver joins us to delve into everything D&D in a tight half an hour where we still have time to detour into discussing: The Truman Show, Free Guy, The Witcher and Critical Role.

This week we talk: horror, comedy, horror comedy and comedy horror. Which films get the balance right? How are the two genres actually very similar? And why are nice comedians like Jordan Peele, Zach Cregger and Kyle Mooney trying to scare us in the first place?

.This week, we talk about all things Tim Burton: the art, the movies, and the man behind the macabre. From Beetlejuice to Big Fish, we dig into how Burton built an entire universe out of being an oddball and why his “weird” still hits decades later. Plus, Hannah’s thoughts on the Design Museum exhibit and whether his magic has faded or just evolved.#timburton #FilmAnalysis #MovieTalk #BurtonExhibition #Filmmaking #Cinematography #PopCulture #ArtAndFilm

.This week on Far From Ideal, we dive into the art of the movie trailer: the ones that tell us the entire plot, the ones that completely lie to us and the ones that are actually amazing. From Scrooged to Tropic Thunder, Oppenheimer to The Fall Guy, we unpack how editing, marketing, and Hollywood hype can either elevate or ruin a film.We debate spoilers, mystery, and why every trailer must last three minutes too long. Plus: horror trailer parodies, Jordan Peele’s genre-bending marketing, and the obvious question: should you even watch a trailer before seeing the movie?

.This week we welcome writer, director, and creative producer Ali Clifton for a deep dive into the future of James Bond. With Denis Villeneuve confirmed as the next director, what does that mean for the tone of 007? Is Villeneuve prepared to do away with his entire identity asa filmmaker and return to the camp roots of Bond? Is a period piece an option? Or will Amazon decide that more dollars can be wrung from a TV series?We also break down casting predictions, from the bookmakers' favourite Aaron Taylor-Johnson to unexpected contenders like Cosmo Jarvis and debate what really makes someone “Bond good-looking.” Then we go off piste: Bond School, multiverse Bonds, or even Bond as a villain. #FarFromIdealPodcast #JamesBond #AliClifton #007 #Bond25 #NextBond #MoviePodcast #FilmDiscussion #DenisVilleneuve #BondPredictions #FilmPodcast

.Adam Sandler: comedy icon, dramatic actor, inexplicable cinematic sadist. This week we get into the highs and lows of a career that defies explanation from Happy Gilmore and Big Daddy to Uncut Gems and his questionable Netflix era. We talk about first exposures, the Happy Madison gang, his “grunge” style of acting, and why Sandler is more Nicolas Cage than anyone else. Plus we introduce the Gilmore scale for rating films. One Gilmore. #FarFromIdealPodcast #AdamSandler #HappyGilmore #UncutGems #MoviePodcast #FilmDiscussion

.We are very lucky to be joined by Emily Manthei, the writer/director of Berlin Loop, an independent film set in Berlin that sees a young woman take on Berlin’s bike thief mafia using a time loop. Getting into her influences and inspirations for the film we range through all the time loop classics, from Groundhog Day to Primer, Palm Springs, Looper and more. Emily’s extensive research even pushes us to discuss the world outside of film, from the poetic Italian physics of Carlo Rovelli’s The Order of Time to metaphysics and consciousness studies. #berlinloop #timeloops #emilymanthei #looper #groundhogday #primer #theorderoftimeEmily Manthei @filmsbyemilymanthei & @berlin_loop_film on IG - https://www.emilymanthei.com/

.This week on Far From Ideal, we delve into Jean-Claude Van Damme’s mind boggling 1996 directorial debut The Quest. This film has it all: pirates, Muay Thai training, Roger Moore selling Van Damme into slavery, and kicking people in the face as a legitimate means of conflict resolution. We also explore Van Damme’s career alongside action legends like Schwarzenegger and Dolph Lundgren, his multiple twin roles, and why Timecop is the best starting point for his oeuvre. And of course we make time to discuss: Twins, Last Action Hero, The Mask, and Mariah Carey’s take on electricity.