Shows
Verbal DioramaX-Men: Days of Future PastWe start Sequeltember 2023 with the sequel to last June’s episode on X-Men: First Class - itself a movie that didn’t deserve to be as good as it was, but it really was. When a sequel to X-Men: First Class was announced, fan expectation was high. Not only did it adapt a much beloved and influential comic book series, it also announced it was bringing the original trilogy cast and the new cast together, for the first and only time… But bringing together the new and old casts for X-Men: Days of Future Past wasn't...2023-09-0754 min
Verbal DioramaBill & Ted's Excellent AdventureBill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure almost wasn’t so excellent. Its original plot had to be changed during shooting, a major role was left uncast until the last minute, its original ending was abandoned for being, honestly, most heinous, and its production company went bankrupt during post-production.But, just like the movie, its ending was most triumphant. Bill and Ted would pass their history report, form Wyld Stallyns, and their music would create utopia on Earth. The movie would become cemented in 80s comedy, for not being totally bogus and giving us two of cinema's most boda...2023-08-1746 min
Verbal DioramaPacific RimGuillermo del Toro loves Japanese cinema, no more so than his passion for kaiju films, and it's this joy that fuels a loving homage to kaiju cinema like Pacific Rim, and it's this movie that concludes Kaijune for this very reason.A director known for his cinematic monsters, and his metaphors for man being the monster, was surely ripe for a kaiju movie. Pacific Rim is often misjudged and misunderstood as just a smashy smashy monster robot B-movie, but it's a beautifully made B-movie, a heartfelt attempt at making something wholly unique, with del Toro’s trademark wo...2023-06-2259 min
Verbal DioramaGodzilla (1998)From the depths of Kaijune comes the King of the Monsters.... GODZILLA!But not the Godzilla many fans were expecting when a US remake was announced in the '90s, and not the first attempt to make a US version of the legendary kaiju.Steve Miner had tried to get a 3D version off the ground in 1983, and then there was the infamous Jan de Bont version in 1994. Both stories are fascinating enough, but always lurking in the background of the 1994 version were Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. They'd been offered Godzilla in...2023-06-081h 09
Verbal DioramaAddams Family ValuesTo mirth, to merriment, to manslaughter!What defines a loving family? Is is the rosy-cheeked cheery-faced privileged bullies at Camp Chippewa, or is it The Addams Family?Pause for thought.The answer is, and always will be, The Addams Family's honest depiction of love and acceptance. This is not only on full display once again in Addams Family Values, but includes a clear message from writer Paul Rudnick on America's republican views on "family values", and how that is always code for exclusion and hatred.Addams Family Values is timeless; a...2022-09-2953 min
Verbal DioramaTerminator 2: Judgment DayCome with me if you want to listen.... to one of the biggest episodes I've ever made on one of the most ground-breaking and important sequels ever made. From the original 1984 low budget slasher, to a big budget action sci-fi spectacular, Terminator 2: Judgment Day upped the stakes in every conceivable way. With James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton returning, and a new Terminator threatening young John Connor, T2 smashes and slices and shoots its way into cinema history, with non-stop action, perfectly paced and a glorious mix of practical and CG effects that, while rudimentary at...2022-09-221h 23
Verbal DioramaBlade IIThe daywalker returns to Verbal Diorama for Sequeltember, and this time he has a Blood Pack.Guillermo del Toro admired Stephen Norrington's Blade so much, he analysed it in depth once he took the reins for Blade II. He wanted to build on the world of Blade (1998) by upping the blood, gore, martial arts and monsters, while also staying true to Norrington's original vision.On its release in 2002, critics were mixed on Blade II, and even now it sits at a disappointing 57% on Rotten Tomatoes, but Blade II gave us more than the return of...2022-09-0847 min
Verbal DioramaSpider-Man 2 (2004)The power of the sun, in the palm of my hands...Welcome to Sequeltember: The Sequel. Another round of sequels to movies previously featured on Verbal Diorama, and the month starts with a sequel that surpassed its genre-defining original.Spider-Man 2 is, 18 years after its release, still widely regarded as one of the best comic book movies ever made. It's not hard to see why. It has a relatable, human story at its heart, a villain with pathos, gives us the familiar cinematic beats we expect from superhero cinema, as well as accessibility to casual viewers.2022-09-011h 06
Verbal DioramaThe TerminatorIt was a fever dream while making Piranha II: The Spawning that gave James Cameron his idea for a terrifying metal endoskeleton crawling through flames. From that initial idea, he would write a draft, and with the help of Gale Anne Hurd, he would have a script that would sell to Orion, and funding from Hemdale Film Corporation.That script was called The Terminator. Made for a comparatively tiny $6.5 million, The Terminator would surpass all expectations, including that of Orion, and of its star Arnold Schwarzenegger, in a role that he'd admit in later life was his...2022-07-2155 min
Verbal DioramaDistrict 9It's not every first time director who hits it out of the park with their first feature, especially one based on an original idea, with an unknown cast.Luckily (or rather unluckily for Halo), an existing project that had brought them together had crumbled, and so a partnership began between powerhouse producer Peter Jackson, fresh off his The Lord of the Rings trilogy and newcomer Neill Blomkamp.Based on Blomkamp's 6-minute short film Alive in Joburg, District 9 takes South Africa's recent history and translates it into a science fiction satire, asking the simple question of "...2022-07-1451 min
Verbal DioramaStarship TroopersI'm doing my part!Young people all over the globe are joining up to save the future. We must meet this threat with our courage, our valour, indeed with our very lives to ensure that human civilization, not insect, dominates this galaxy now and always!All right, let's sum up. This year we explored the failure of democracy. How our social scientists brought our world to the brink of chaos. We talked about the veterans, how they took control and established the stability that has lasted for generations since. You know these facts, but have...2022-03-3146 min