Failed Critics

It's almost here! E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the start of the next 12 months of marketing is finally upon us for 2017. Hosts John Miller and Andrew Brooker will be spending a couple of hours talking all things E3, just like every other video game podcast, website, foghorn, whatever, right now. They cover everything in this preview episode, including what they would like to see at each show, the rituals they might or might not do every year for E3 and even throwing a few far out ideas that could (but absolutely won't ever) happen. Join the lads as they flip through each of the big companies Press conferences and try to figure out if it really is worth staying up until silly o'clock in the morning to watch a whole load of adverts. Trying something a little bit different for the next few days: As the biggest event in gaming's calendar rolls through, the guys will be following the events in as close to real time as they can possible handle. Keep an eye on our social media (@CharacterUnlock on...

We've got what you want, what you need AND what you deserve on this week's Failed Critics triple bill special episode with not one, not two, but a whole bunch of Wonder Women - and we're not just referring to Maaya Brooker! Maaya joins hosts Steve Norman and Owen Hughes for a Wonder Woman inspired triple bill as they each pick three films directed and/or written by women, leading to quite an eclectic mix of movies up for discussion in our main feature. But before that, the team also review the latest entry into the DC Extended Universe released this past weekend, directed by Patty Jenkins and starring Gal Gadot as the Amazonian warrior princess, Diana. We also have a newly formatted quiz to open proceedings before a brief mention of Peter Sallis and his part in Wallace and Gromit, following his death at the age of 96 earlier this week. We'll be back again next week for a review of The Mummy - but in the meantime, keep an eye out for our sister gaming podcast, Character Unlock (@CharacterUnlock on... &nbs

Cue the sax, it's the Failed Critics Podcast: Latenight Softcore Edition, where host Steve Norman finally gets his wish to make Owen Hughes review Emmanuelle In Space, possibly the boobiest of all our quiz booby-prizes thus far. If you giggle when you hear naughty words, you're going to, well, giggle, when you hear our quiz. The new releases this week see the team joined by Maaya Brooker (making her podcast debut) to chat about the amount of bounce in a slow-motion run along the beach in Baywatch, and mull over Disney's latest blockbuster, Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge / Dead Men Tell No Tales / the Fifth one / delete as applicable. Elsewhere on show, we mourn the death of British acting legend Roger Moore; and review Netflix's latest Original Movie, the satirical combat movie War Machine, the Stephen King adaptation Misery, as well as creepy Verhoeven sci-fi thriller, Hollow Man. We'll be back next week for a Wonder Woman special.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out informa

Summer is (kind of) here, and what better way to celebrate the amazing hot weather we've been blessed with than listening to a couple of guys chatting about playing video games indoors? Welcome to the Character Unlock tangent-cast where ,in a surprisingly news heavy week that came with a ton of game playing too, hosts John Miller and Andrew Brooker seem to struggle to keep themselves on track. Desperately trying to talk seriously about the future of IO Interactive and their fan favourite Hitman IP, whilst trying to make sense of the Destiny 2 announcement and the Red Dead Redemption 2 delay, the guys have clearly found themselves with a heat induced attention deficit detour into conversations about coffee and deluxe ice cream trucks in Milton Keynes. No. Sadly, we're not joking. The insanity continues when the pair sink their teeth into what they've been playing, including relatively in-depth chats about Darksiders: The Warmastered Edition and newly released superhero based beat-em-up Injustice 2. Somehow,...

Awight you pwopa nawty boys, oi oi! Brian Plank joins Steve Norman and Owen Hughes for a top, top podcast this week. We've got a review of Guy Ritchie's new movie, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. It's sick, bruv. Banterific. As well as the Kaiju drama(?) comedy(?) action(?) indie(?) flick, Colossal, starring Anne Hathaway. Following a news section which covers the casting of Tom Hardy as Venom, leading to more head-scratching about who owns what in the MCU, Steve continues the superhero theme with a double bill of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad. Elsewhere, Brian watches gritty crime thriller Sicario, and Owen finally gets to cast a beady eye on Mindhorn. Join us again next week for a review of the new Pirates of the Caribbean film.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week Steve Norman and Owen Hughes are joined by regular Failed Critic Andrew Brooker as they delve in to Ridley Scott's latest instalment in the Alien franchise, Alien: Covenant, complete with Spoiler Alert as well as a spoiler free review. In the news we pay tribute to the late Powers Boothe and in What We've Been Watching Steve goes gangster with Guy Ritchie's Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, Brooker watches some "balls out torture porn" with Fright Fest favourite Jessica Cameron's gruesome Truth or Dare, and Owen reveals all when he goes Commando. Join us again next week for some propa nawty Camelot shenanigans, squire.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The seals have been broken and the armies of Heaven, Hell and Earth are locked in a battle to decide the fate of all eternity. Answering the call, your hosts John Miller and Andrew Brooker are here to make sense of the chaos that has ravaged the Earth. Ok, maybe things aren’t quite that bad, luckily, because no one wants these two to be the guys deciding the fate of humanity. I mean, it took the not-so-dynamic-duo three attempts and a ton of giggling like children to even get the episode off the ground this week - they ain't ready for that kind of responsibility. What they can do is kill an hour of your life by exploring the gaming news from the last couple of weeks and sharing the games they’ve been playing for the last fortnight. Newly leaked Assassin’s Creed games and recently confirmed not-dead Darksiders 3 are the main orders of the day as the lads get into what they do and don’t want from the jumpy, stubby, stealth series’ return. The pair get more than a little giddy at the thought of a return to... &#

Ee arr, our kid. Yow wo' believe it, but we've only gon' an' published anuva bostin' episode! Ark at four half-soaked wallies blaberen about films an' that in a Failed Critics Dudleycast. Only kidding. The main feature of this week's podcast is a triple bill on British comedy films post-1980s in honour of Julian Barratt and Simon Farnaby's newest hilarious collaboration, Mindhorn. Tony Black, the mastermind behind the popular X-Files podcast, The X-Cast, joins hosts Steve Norman and Owen Hughes to discuss the Isle of Man-caper Mindhorn, whilst Underground Nights co-host Paul Field is back on the fetishist documentaries, specifically On Tender Hooks - who knew the suspension capital of the world would be Birmingham? Elsewhere on the show, Owen dismays everybody by not-disliking last week's quiz booby-prize, The Most Hated Woman In America, before chatting about noir classic The Night of the Hunter; and Steve invents (and finishes) a brand new Denzel Washington game after watching Déjà Vu. Join us again...

Where does a pirate keep his buccaneers? Apparently on the bucking Failed Critics Podcast this week, as Steve Norman and Owen Hughes are joined by both Andrew Brooker and Brian Plank for some jolly rogering - and to talk about Marvel's latest space adventure movie, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2! We've got a full spoiler-free review of James Gunn's second feature in the MCU, starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Kurt Russell and many more besides. As if that wasn't enough, we even dredged up our own stinger with a post-credits Spoiler Alert section where we'll plunder all the booty that we can from this madcap adventure through the galaxy. The quiz kicks things off and reaches a disappointing climax before Brooker turns his attentions to the swashbuckling Pirates of the Caribbean franchise for What We've Been Watching, swiftly followed by Brian's review of the nautical TV show Black Sails. Elsewhere, Owen turns his attentions to the classic Western, Shane; and Steve is enraptured by Denis Villeneuve's Prisoners.

Welcome to another episode of Character Unlock, the video game-centric (but equally shambolic) Failed Critics sister podcast. In our 17th episode, usual host Andrew Brooker has stepped aside to let his partner in crime John Miller take the reigns, guiding us through the news from the past couple of weeks and keeping things on track as the guys share their last couple of weeks of gaming. World War II is the focus of a big portion of this week’s news as the pair dig into the worldwide reveal of the latest Call of Duty instalment: WWII. Going back to its roots, as we discussed back in January, Activision’s yearly franchise has gotten someone all excited with its promise of things to come, while somehow really managing to get on the guys’ nerves with their incessant buzzwords and marketing nonsense. Elsewhere, there's the welcome addition of Xbox digital refunds, exciting looking indie games, and playing Battlefield 1 DLC for free. A mixed bag fills the last fortnight of gaming. From playing co-op games on...

Look at me, listeners! I love you! It's all for you, Damian--- I mean, whatever your name might be! Happy birthday to us. Yes, backs are slapped and circled are jerks as we celebrate reaching the fifth year of the Failed Critics Podcast. Hip, hip... Beginning life as a one-man blog back in 2011, before spanning into an entertainment movie podcast on 25 April the following year, we've somehow survived over 260 episodes, three spin-off podcasts and a number of different movies that was too large for me to even attempt contemplating calculating. Five years old. Crikey. The ever-present Steve Norman hosts a special birthday-themed triple bill episode, with Owen Hughes and Andrew Brooker on board to share their three favourite movie scenes featuring birthday parties. It was a tougher task than initially thought. Elsewhere on the podcast, there's the usual news round-up, this week featuring a chat about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3's announcement before James Gunn's second movie in the MCU has even been... &

Welcome to the Failed Critics Podcast as we review The Fate of the Furious, the eighth entry in the Fast & Furious series. It's an emotional rollercoaster this week. Tears have been shed about the noticeably absent (and some would even say crucial) member of the team, whose mere presence is what has made the previous entries so entertaining, so absorbing, and so full of heart and character. Alas, even without Owen around, Steve Norman, Callum Petch and James Diamond soldier on regardless. The 259th episode of the Failed Critics Podcast begins with a brief summary of another movie franchise to reach its eighth canon entry with the brand new Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer. Somewhat coincidentally, combined with the DVD release of the stand-alone Rogue One, What We've Been Watching sees Steve round up every movie in Disney's lucrative space adventure series so far having watched all of them back-to-back on Good Friday - as anybody who followed @FailedCritics or #FCStarWars on Twitter will already know....

And we're back. Fresh on the heels of the mammoth Mass Effect special episode - an entry that tested the sanity of everyone involved - hosts John Miller and (returning from exile) Andrew Brooker attempt to return to some kind of normality with very little in the way of success. Getting into the biggest news of the week straight away, the dynamic duo get into the newly released specs for Microsofts latest (but as yet unnamed) console: Project Scorpio. Demonstrating little-to-no understanding of technical lingo, the guys try to make it sound like they know what they're talking about and pass judgement on the use of the word TeraFlop. A brief chat about the closure of controller maker Mad Catz wraps up our news. Things get back to normal when the pair get into this week's What We've Been Playing. Pledging to play something new for this week's episode, Brooker dives in to legendary game director David Jaffe's latest creation, multiplayer shooter Drawn To Death. He also spends a bit of time with Wildlands, the...

All hope abandon, ye who download this podcast as Steve, Owen, Brooker and Liam invite you into one of their seven circles of Hell for a special religious movies themed triple bill, just in time for Easter. Alas, the sound quality takes a bit of a battering, as if the Devil himself mocked us by blowing down "the bugle of his ass-hole" in the background of the entire recording. Nevertheless, the four atheists persevered and each discuss three religious-themed movies of their choice. It was either that, or have them present their three favourite movies about eggs, rabbits and Jesus. A topic that's a bit niche, even for us. Also this week, we cover what else we've been watching over the past seven days, including: An overlooked contender for the best foreign language Oscar this year, Land of Mine; Finnish POTUS action thriller, Big Game, starring Samuel L Jackson; indie horror The Void and art-house thrills with Raw; and new-to-DVD, farting-corpse comedy, Swiss Army Man. We even bring Brian Plank onboard for...

Are we a podcast that exists inside your iPhone? Or is this an iPhone with the ghost of the latest Failed Critics Podcast inside of it? Hmm. Someone should make a movie out of that premise. Until then, don't worry about it. Just hit play and listen to four gits, Steve Norman, Owen Hughes, Callum Petch and Matt Lambourne, as they guide you through a sort-of anime special in honour of our main release review, Ghost in the Shell. As well as the brand new movie starring Scarlett Johansson, we also take a look back at the original anime feature to see how they compare and contrast. (Spoiler: not favourably.) Not only that, but Owen suffered the ignominy of watching and reviewing Boy Next Door, the Jennifer Lopez vehicle, after losing last week's quiz - and this week's anime themed quiz is perhaps even more controversial than ever. What We've Been Watching is also entirely anime based and sees the Failed Critics review pirate-mercenary series Black Lagoon, psychological thriller Perfect Blue, and the futuristic...

Welcome to the latest Character Unlock episode: Our Mass Effect love-in. First, an apology or two. We are very sorry for the quality of the recording this week. Whilst it isn’t as bad as it has been in the past, there are sections that fall far below the lofty standards we hold ourselves to. Secondly (and not completely unrelated) we are sorry about the delay in getting the latest episode to you. Whatever could go wrong, did go wrong this week and tech issues before, during and after recording have been trying very hard to put a stop to our shenanigans. But anyway, we are here and the show must go on… Back 2007, Mass Effect landed on our consoles - the RPG franchise that some call the greatest in video game history. Now 10 years later, the fourth instalment, Andromeda, has hit the shelves. In true Character Unlock fashion, the guys are going over a history of the space RPG and what made them love it... except for regular host Andrew Brooker, who we may or may not have tied up somewhere so to not ruin the... &

It's morphin' time for your podcast hosts with attitude on this week's Failed Critics Podcast! Leading the pack is Steve Norman, with the power of Tyrannosaurus! Next is Andrew Brooker, with the power of the Mastodon! And finally it's Owen Hughes, with the power of the crappy flying one that no kid really ever wanted to play with! Yes, one of this week's main review features is the brand new Power Rangers movie. The team also get a Life as they chat about the latest sci-fi/horror aping picture to hit the big screen. Having seen (and, luckily for us, reviewing) the first three Alien movies straight afterwards which outshine the newcomer, opinion is split on whether or not Life is worth the bother. Elsewhere on the episode, Steve and Owen almost come to blows (again) about Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (again), following a discussion around The Passion of the Christ that rather fittingly was almost as biblical in length. We still cram in one last review for pregnancy-horror Antibirth, out on VOD right now!... &#

Listen. Focus on the rain. Can you hear it? Find the rain. Now, once you've found it... sink into the pod! Yes, this week's main review on the Failed Critics Podcast is the chilling black comedy/horror/psychological thriller, Get Out. Let Steve Norman, Owen Hughes and Tony Black lull you into a false sense of security and then fill your head with nonsense for the following 60 minutes. Things temporarily go all weird on the latest episode as the team try to have a somewhat sensible conversation about the representation of black characters in mainstream media following Thandie Newton's recent comments. However, the regular What We've Been Watching section soon brings a sense of normality to proceedings as reviews of Simon Amstell's mockumentary, Carnage, friend of the podcast Jonathan Sothcott's We Still Kill The Old Way, our fifth best film of last year Green Room, and rebooted comedy Ghostbusters all feature. Join us again next week for a mighty morphin' good time.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy

Welcome to a rather late edition of the Failed Critics Podcast this week as hosts Steve Norman and Owen Hughes are joined by Underground Nights co-host Paul Field. The ice cream's are on Steve. There's a hastily arranged quiz (circa 2009) to kick things off before a brief chat about remakes, reboots, reimaginings and re-adaptations following the news that The Matrix is the latest Hollywood property set for the prequel/sequel/revisit/remaster/whatever treatment. But it's our new releases this week that have got the crew all hot and bothered as Owen and Paul fall under the spell of Anna Biller's The Love Witch. Certainly more so than period drama Viceroy's House turned Steve on, in any case. There's also space on the pod for a quick trip to Kong: Skull Island. Paul reckons he's found the future of geezer movies with Simon Phillips' sci-fi feature The Last Scout, which Paul adoring dubs "Hooligans In Space". We've also gone all cultured an' that, with Steve's trip to the West End to see Dreamgirls. Yep....

It's finally here. The big day has come and gone, and Nintendo's latest home console has arrived. Hosts John Miller and Andrew Brooker have done everything in their power to avoid it. Enter, stage left: Jack Woodcock. The latest guest on the most shambolic of video game podcasts is Brooker's long-time Killzone buddy, Jack. A life long Nintendo fan and buyer of all things new and Ninty, Jack is the perfect guy to drag away from the Mario maker's latest hybrid console. He chats about the good and bad of the machine to try to convince a pair of old cynics why they should be buying the latest and greatest console that Nintendo have to offer. Whether or not he's successful, you'll just have to give it a listen. Before that though, in the absence of anything big and juicy in the news department, the trio dig into what they've been playing with mentions of Ubisoft's ridiculous open world parachute game Steep, further gushing over Sony's Horizon: Zero Dawn and a lot of chat about the latest Zelda entry. Brooker... &#