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PODCAST

Moderate Fantasy Violence

Nick Bryan & Alastair JR Ball

Welcome to Moderate Fantasy Violence, a fortnightly podcast about pop culture and the world around it, as discussed by Nick Bryan and Alastair JR Ball. Nick will probably launch into a tangent about comics, Alastair will likely go for politics. Both are equally worthwhile.

tv & film visual arts

All Episodes

01:04:12

MFV #38 - All British Men Are Evil

Moderate Fantasy Violence ·

2017/06/08

Thirty-eight painful coughs to go! Nick and Alastair are back (despite Nick's laryngitis struggles) to talk about their Team MFV trip to The Bugle live show and Alastair's solo jaunt to Field Day. Not to mention their reviews of eagerly awaited inspirational superhero film Wonder Woman (8:34), monster-metaphor-mash-up movie Colossal (25:19) an episode one of The Handmaid's Tale (37:40), the depressingly relevant TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood's novel. Finally, what did Nick think of noted sci-fi

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01:10:35

MFV #37 - Everyone's Got A Novel In Them

Moderate Fantasy Violence ·

2017/05/25

Thirty seven minutes in heaven! Nick and Alastair begin on a pleasingly literate note, looking back on MR Carey's The Boy On The Bridge (follow-up to his previously-praised The Girl With All The Gifts) and From Hell, classic Jack The Ripper graphic novel by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell. But the big story this fortnight is Twin Peaks: The Return (8:59), the much-anticipated new series! If that wasn't enough nostalgic reviving for one episode, Nick and Alastair also saw Alien: Covenant (28:23), the

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01:03:00

MFV #36 - Liam Gallagher's Got Wood

Moderate Fantasy Violence ·

2017/05/11

Thirty six more chances to win! This fortnight, Nick finally watches premium telly classic Deadwood, while Alastair saw Bunch of Kunst, a documentary film about his beloved Sleaford Mods. Also: how has their Mod listening progressed since the album review in MFV #31? Most excitingly, though, it's Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 (8:10), the first Marvel Cinematic Universe film of the year! After that, almost as anticipated, it's the first episode of American Gods (23:57), Bryan Fuller's weirdly

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01:09:31

MFV #35 - 8 Fast 8 Furious Written Down 8 Times

Moderate Fantasy Violence ·

2017/04/27

Thirty five, dirty lies! The recommendations section is a little recycled this time, as Nick talks the second book of Alan Moore's Jerusalem (last mentioned in MFV #30) and Alastair revisits Spaceship now it's up on BFI Player (fully reviewed in MFV #18). But it's on to new frontiers after that, as Doctor Who (6:10) starts its first new series since the podcast began! And then The Fast And The Furious 8 (23:09), Nick's first ever encounter with this ridiculous franchise! Including a philosophical

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58:24

MFV #34 - Chekov's Sheet Of Glass

Moderate Fantasy Violence ·

2017/04/13

Thirty-four episodes clean and counting! Nick and Alastair kick off with talk about brief recent encounters with kid assassin comic Deadly Class, by Rick Remender and Wes Craig, and apt podcast-based crime novel Six Stories by Matt Wesolowski. Then it's time to get down to business with Ben Wheatley's warehouse gun battle movie Free Fire (6:51), followed by a check back with highly acclaimed X-Men-related TV series Legion (20:15). Did it keep that weird quality up for the whole season? Thirdly, it's

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51:43

MFV #33 - Insert Words Twelve Year Olds Think Are...

Moderate Fantasy Violence ·

2017/04/06

Thirty-three Power Rangers is less than it takes to change a light bulb! Time to review the new Power Rangers movie, and to do this epic justice, Nick and Alastair bring in mighty morphin' mega-fan PDT, co-host of RangerPod and The Mostly Made-Up Doctor Who Episode Guide! Before getting stuck into the dinosaur meat, they quickly discuss such random intake as Designated Survivor, Ghost in the Shell (not the new one) and the recent Flash/Supergirl musical crossover episode! Then, at around 8:28, it's

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51:40

MFV #32 - We Like This Film And We're Terrible

Moderate Fantasy Violence ·

2017/03/30

Thirty-two tiny punches and a big stab! In a shortened episode (because they've moved the Power Rangers review to a separate special, admin fans), Nick and Alastair quickly cover some classic material, with H.P. Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu and Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited. Then it's into less-than-classic territory with Marvel's latest Netflix/Defenders series Iron Fist (7:01), before recovering with excellent comedy-horror liberal nightmare movie Get Out (23:52). Lastly, what did

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54:03

MFV #31 - Definitely Better Than Goldie Lookin' Chain

Moderate Fantasy Violence ·

2017/03/16

The big three-one! Moving into the thirties with good range, as Nick and Alastair start with brief chat about the poetry of Kate Tempest and Archie-murder series Riverdale. Then it's on to new movie Elle (9:19) which, for anyone sensitive about such content, means talking a fair bit about the film's handling of rape. If you'd rather not listen, you can skip to 25:44 and the album English Tapas by Sleaford Mods, a band Nick hadn't previously heard. Lastly, Alastair's recommendation: Heat (38:46), a

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56:40

MFV #30 - They're All Proper Films, Brent (Special...

Moderate Fantasy Violence ·

2017/03/07

Episode thirty! We're old, but not as old as Wolverine! Logan goes full grizzle in his new movie, and Nick and Alastair celebrate by releasing an off-schedule special, and bringing on writer, occasional stand-up comedian and X-Men fan Chris Brosnahan to help deal with the dystopian misery of it all. But first, an epic recommendations three-way, taking in The Love Witch, American Horror Story, Spider-Man: The Clone Conspiracy, Jerusalem by Alan Moore and Twin Peaks. Runs longer than usual, mostly

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01:08:43

MFV #29 - First Anniversary Claustrophobia Special!

Moderate Fantasy Violence ·

2017/03/02

Twenty nine episodes in a year! Yes, it's Moderate Fantasy Violence's first birthday, so Nick and Alastair allow themselves some indulgent 'Look How Far We've Come!' talk before brief recommendations of NASA movie Hidden Figures and Native American noir comic Scalped. Then we do full-length talk-downs of Alice Lowe's pregnancy revenge thriller Prevenge (8:40), hot new urban fantasy/wizard fantasy crossover comic Curse Words (20:15) by Charles Soule and Ryan Browne, the new series of BBC horror

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01:04:45

MFV #28 - Snap Off Your Horns And Leg It

Moderate Fantasy Violence ·

2017/02/16

Twenty-eight episodes, just like there are days in February! This time, Nick and Alastair both read actual books - specifically Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway and Maus by Art Spiegelman - and one probably had a cheerier time than the other. But at least both enjoyed The Lego Batman Movie (5:25), an exercise in joyous Batglee like no other. Good to be back on the comic adaptations for 2017. In other franchise-sequel news, it's time for T2 Trainspotting (20:41) (and for Nick to watch the original movie)

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01:02:19

MFV #27 - Hollywood Will Punch Ya Balls

Moderate Fantasy Violence ·

2017/02/02

Twenty seven episodes, right here in twenty-seventeen! It starts in respectable territory, as Nick read lost-classic adult-comic Miracleman by Alan Moore (credited here as "The Original Writer", because that's how the guy rolls), Gary Leach, Alan Davis and co, while Alastair followed the Oscar nominations with interest. Such interest, in fact, that we stop for a longer chat about them (5:16). It's a smooth transition from there to a full review of hot Oscar favourite La La Land (12:06), and then on

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01:07:41

MFV #26 - It's All Britpop's Fault!

Moderate Fantasy Violence ·

2017/01/19

Episode twenty-six in the Moderate Fantasy Violence house! Unusually, Nick has read a book (namely The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell), while Alastair stares at the new Dirk Gently show on Netflix. Meanwhile, in this award-movie season, two trips to the movies this fortnight: first, Team MFV saw Silence (5:59), a new serious historical movie about priests from Martin Scorsese, and then A Monster Calls (21:03), an adaptation of the YA novel by Patrick Ness. Then back to Sherlock (31:55) for the second

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01:15:30

MFV #25 - Don't Throw Stones At The TARDIS!

Moderate Fantasy Violence ·

2017/01/05

Twenty-fifth podcast - would be a giant-sized special if this were a 90s comic! (Yes, Nick writes these blurbs, how did you guess?) Nick and Alastair are back from the holiday season to talk about things they've seen on their travels, such as Revolting Rhymes, The Eagle Huntress and Inside Number Nine! In our first Steven-Moffat-run TV show of the fortnight, we're covering the start of Sherlock series 4 (5:02), as we ask: how much crime is enough? Full spoilers here, by the way. Whereas we're a bit

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01:13:52

MFV #24 - Concession Is For Nerds!

Moderate Fantasy Violence ·

2016/12/29

Only took twenty-four podcasts, but Nick and Alastair are finally in the same room for this bonus year-in-review episode! They attempt to talk down 2016 as a year in film and television, starting with a general chat about movies lately (1:19) before moving on to each listing their top five films covered in 2016 and negotiating them into a unified MFV top 3 without coming to blows (12:48). And if that wasn't enough, they do the same for TV - a little broad discussion (27:07), followed by chart

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01:06:49

MFV #23 - The Pixelated Soul Of Peter Cushing

Moderate Fantasy Violence ·

2016/12/22

Twenty-three podcasts, just in time for the twenty-fifth of December! It's nearly Christmas, and to celebrate, Nick and Alastair have seen An Inspector Calls and the Supergirl/Flash/Arrow/Legends of Tomorrow crossover. Neither of which are particularly festive. Oh well. But we have at least got a review of new mega-film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (5:42). Can this latest spin-off justify its own existence, or is it a Star War too far? Next up, a rare MFV complete disagreement as both our heroes

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01:10:14

MFV #22 - The World's Most Depressing 'Your Mum' Joke

Moderate Fantasy Violence ·

2016/12/08

Twenty-two episodes of our podcast and somehow 2016 is still going! This fortnight, both of us went on London outings, Nick to the SMASH comics-chat event run by the London Graphic Novel Network and Alastair to the BFI's Black Star season. (We also both recommend the Kraken podcast, if you like podcasts.) Moving on, in an MFV first, we talk about a whole novel! Specifically: The Hanging Tree (5:41), the latest Rivers of London book by Ben Aaronovitch, bringing Peter Grant back for another magical

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01:18:37

MFV #21 - A Beer Hat Of Polyjuice Potion (with Claire...

Moderate Fantasy Violence ·

2016/11/24

Episode twenty-one! The podcast comes of age everywhere, just in time for the world to basically collapse. Alastair matches the mood with Hypernormalisation, a new documentary from Adam Curtis, while Nick is escaping into a surreal superhero dream with Grant Morrison and Richard Case's Doom Patrol run. Forcing ourselves into the present day, we take on Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them (6:45), a new film set in the past of the Harry Potter universe. To help us get to grips with this, we bring

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01:17:26

MFV #20 - OH NO HELLO DARKNESS

Moderate Fantasy Violence ·

2016/11/10

Episode twenty! Another numerical milestone, and one recorded before the recent American electoral news, so no mention of that here. However, we do have intro talk of Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow and The Walking Dead from Nick, until Alastair raises the tone with indie film London Overground. Our centrepiece this fortnight, though, is an in-depth chat about Black Mirror season 3 (6:35), covering all six of Charlie Brooker's latest techno-horror tales. Are they as miserable as people like to

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01:26:13

MFV #19 - Sex Alien Vs Arse Dragon (with Julianne...

Moderate Fantasy Violence ·

2016/10/27

Episode nineteen, and it's almost feature length this time! But in our defence, there's a lot to get through. Before any of that, though, we've been attending live recordings of other podcasts, specifically Welcome to Night Vale at the London Palladium and the very special 200th episode of SILENCE! That done, we launch into new Marvel Cinematic Universe movie Doctor Strange (5:38) and ask: is there room for yet another superhero origin? Also: too many glowing magic bolts? We've also got Class, the

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