Out There in the Dark

48:35

033: TIFF Spotlight: Alex Gibney’s MUSK — Tech Titan,...

Out There in the Dark ·

2026/10/04

Welcome back to Out There in the Dark! Grab a comfortable seat and maybe a double espresso, because Tom and Azed are taking on the Toronto International Film Festival—specifically, Alex Gibney’s gargantuan, four-hour deep dive into everyone’s favorite internet troll and occasional rocket scientist: MUSK.Between the pre-festival legal threats, Elon's usual online meltdowns, and his outright refusal to participate while threatening to get the whole damn film shelved through litigation, we feel

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54:05

032: The Odyssey Cage Match: NOLAN v. HOMER

Out There in the Dark ·

2026/08/14

Christopher Nolan’s imprimatur is such that every new release is met with an enthusiasm usually reserved for professional sports. As an auteur, Nolan is akin to a "gifted" kid: highly intelligent, hyper-focused, a bit nerdy, and occasionally insufferable. But whatever your opinion of him, his platform is massive—which is precisely what makes his latest project so intriguing.Based faithfully on Homer’s The Odyssey, Nolan’s interpretation is an impressive, yet ultimately unmemorable film. While he

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50:29

031: The Radical Empathy of Jonathan Demme

Out There in the Dark ·

2026/07/19

This week, hosts Azed Majeed and Tom Alexander step into the frame to track the erratic, brilliant orbit of Hollywood’s ultimate populist chameleon. From his raw, Roger Corman–style B-movie roots to massive cultural landmarks like The Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia, Demme proved that intense formal experimentation does not have to result in cold, intellectual detachment.While legendary as an "actor's director" who captured uniquely intimate, substantive performances, Azed and Tom look past

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59:49

030: Gen Z Takes Hollywood: Obsession & The Backrooms

Out There in the Dark ·

2026/06/18

Not since the cultural phenomenon of Barbenheimer has the cinema seen a box office boom quite like this. But this time, the revolution isn't coming from legacy directors or massive studio IP—it's coming straight from YouTube.In this episode of Out There in the Dark, we are breaking down the staggering, paradigm-shifting success of Kane Parsons’ The Backrooms and Curry Barker’s Obsession. Both of these micro-budget, high-concept psychological thrillers bypassed the traditional Hollywood machine,

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50:24

029: Criminally Forgotten Movies-Chilly Scenes of...

Out There in the Dark ·

2026/05/15

If cinema is the closest thing we have to time travel, then watching "old" movies is our most direct portal into the psyche of the past. These films do more than just capture a moment; they contextualize the global industry’s shifts, the trends of the era, and the evolving politics and psychologies of the public.So many movies, so little time—but we’re on the case. In this installment of our ongoing series, "Criminally Forgotten Movies," we dig through the archives to unearth two cinematic gems

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92:57

028: HOTEL MOVIES

Out There in the Dark ·

2026/04/11

Once again it is confirmed that a large hotel is a world unto itself and that this world is like the rest of the large world. The guests here roam about in their light-hearted, careless summer existence without suspecting anything of the strange mysteries circulating among them."— Siegfried Kracauer, The Hotel Lobby On this special episode of Out There in the Dark, Azed and Tom check in to Hotel Confidential. This week, we’re shifting our focus to a unique collaboration. Hotel Confidential is

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27:30

027: Oscar's Wrap Up

Out There in the Dark ·

2026/03/31

The Acadamy Awards is known for being a self-congratulating, elitist, popularity contest soaked in cringe inducing segments and usually that is an accurate description. The 2026 show thankfully seemed to focus a little bit more on the actual quality of the films nominated. Yes, there were the usual awkward, phony-baloney things going on, but with a spate of excellent features, docs and technical achievements the Oscar's are actually becoming relevant again. Azed & Tom do a quick and dirty wrap

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60:06

026: Oscars Bitch-Fest 2026

Out There in the Dark ·

2026/03/12

The spate of films being considered for this year’s Oscars is among the best we’ve seen in a long time. With titles like The Secret Agent, Train Dreams, and One Battle After Another, it seems the Academy is finally catching up to the audience's desire for challenging, experimental, and—dare we say it—non-English fare.Perhaps this year, amidst the global anxiety, fear, and unpredictability, we are finally realizing art’s role in informing, enlightening, and fighting back against the darkness

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86:53

025: MAVERICK JOHN CARPENTER

Out There in the Dark ·

2026/02/16

Arguably most famous for spawning the self-evolving Halloween franchise, John Carpenter is a true cinema maverick. Crossing genre boundaries usually adhered to strictly by competent craftspeople, Carpenter may represent a bygone figure in cinema; a true auteur. Carpenter's films bear an umistakable signature style. Carpenter was as at ease with sci-fi, The Thing and Escape From New York, as he was in mind benders like In The Mouth of Madness or even in romantic comedy, Starman. From his

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52:46

024: FRANKENSTEIN

Out There in the Dark ·

2025/12/09

Few works of art have ascended to the level of universal archetype, even fewer by 19 year old women in 1818, but Mary Shelly's Frankenstein has achieved this place of distinction in the world of letters. The story of the writing of the novel (Lord Byron and the Shelly's stuck indoors during a stormy few days, deciding to write ghost stories as a way of passing time) is as mythic as the book. With the invention of cinema our long and varied relationship with the whole Frankenstein mythos began

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71:04

023: ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER

Out There in the Dark ·

2025/10/25

On this episode of Out There in the dark, we take a deep dive into PT Anderson‘s latest epic, weird, and thrilling One Battle After Another. At a time when our world is being rocked by corrupt and dark forces, Anderson explores with subtlety and humour, the issues that plague us on the daily. We also go through Anderson’s oeuvre from his first film, Hard 8 (1996) to OBAA. And we say a fond farewell to cinema’s greatest actors, Diane Keaton.

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62:39

022: NOTES FROM THE TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL 2025

Out There in the Dark ·

2025/10/03

Toronto hosts one of the world's most prestigious film festivals and this year Tom and Azed managed to move off their respective couches and see a few films. The festival has always been a defining characteristic of Toronto's love affair with movies, which draws huge audiences to see some of the world's least seen artwork. Of course, over the years, TIFF has embraced a more mainstream, commercial approach which has largely obscured the work of independent filmmakers but there is still a strong

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40:02

021: EDDINGTON

Out There in the Dark ·

2025/09/12

Ari Aster’s latest film, EDDINGTON, has polarized critical intelligentsia. While a few have hailed it as a “masterpiece” many others have decried it as at best an ambitious flop. As with Aster’s last “flop” Beau is Afraid, critics and audiences alike seem confused and disappointed by Aster’s non-horror films. Without the surface excitement of supernaturally tinged serial killings or sadistic torture, Aster’s non-horror films seem to lean more art house than grindhouse. With Eddington, Aster has

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01:41:09

020: TOP 25 OF 25

Out There in the Dark ·

2025/08/25

EXCLUSIVE! WE HAVE THE LIST!That's right, the list of the best movies of the past 25 years. Putting aside our usual snobby pooh-poohing of so called "best of..." lists, Azed and Tom have created lists to end all lists. Stop saying list! Taking off from the (failing?) New York Times' Best of the Century , which chose PARASITE as their top film, and Rolling Stones 100 Best List , which chose the slightly more reasonable There Will Be Blood as the greatest of the century, we decided to do a serious

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01:21:58

018: Outsiders, Strangers and Artists in the Films of...

Out There in the Dark ·

2025/07/08

As the world slides inexorably towards xenophobia, authoritarianism, and flat out racism, the cinema of Jim Jarmush offers a crucial counterpoint to the dehumanizing of the other as a means of social control. Jarmush, a staple of the New York punk and post-punk art scene broke onto the scene with Stranger Than Paradise (1982) which introduced the cool, art house, minimalism that has become the hallmark of Jarmush's oeuvre. By centering the outsider, the foreigner, the artist and the marginal,

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48:53

018: The Rehearsal and Sinners

Out There in the Dark ·

2025/06/01

Nathan Fielder's The Rehearsal is probably the most brilliantly strange "reality" show to date. An uncanny mixture of documentary, memoir, comedy show, and adventure movie, The Rehearsal pushes the usual conventions of TV, deconstructing the elements that go into producing and directing an almost impossible series of thrilling, funny and bizzare segments. Fielder, a bona fide eccentric and oddball, is clearly interested in revealing the absurdity of attempting to document actual life, while sparing

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39:13

017: The Roger Corman Film School

Out There in the Dark ·

2025/05/12

Roger Corman (April 5, 1926 -May 9, 2024)—an iconic figure whose influence on Hollywood is nothing short of legendary—traversed the cinematic landscape from the late 1950's to the 1990's. Celebrated as the "Pope of Pop Cinema," the "Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood," and the "King of Cult," Corman was a pioneering force in independent filmmaking, forever reshaping the industry with his innovative spirit.Throughout his illustrious career, Corman collaborated with an impressive roster of

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57:17

016: The Great Gene Hackman

Out There in the Dark ·

2025/04/09

The recent and tragic news of Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, has left movie fans around the world reeling. While the unsettling details surrounding their passing may capture attention, this isn’t TMZ. Instead, we choose to honor the life and extraordinary talent of one of the greatest actors of our time. Gene Hackman was renowned for his unparalleled ability to convey authenticity—something that is notoriously difficult for actors to achieve. He masterfully portrayed characters with

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58:24

015: The Punk Radicality of Alex Cox's REPO MAN

Out There in the Dark ·

2025/03/26

One of the least explored subgenres in cinema is the short-lived, radical category known as "punk film." This genre emerged in response to the rise of punk music in the late 1970s, which served as a counterpoint to the hedonistic glam of disco and dance music—a genre I also enjoy. However, punk's emergence was more than just a musical trend; it was a political reaction against the shift toward right-wing and neoliberal policies in Britain and America. Punk embraced a "DIY (Do It Yourself)" ethos

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51:53

014: Oscar's Bitch Fest 2025

Out There in the Dark ·

2025/03/14

Welcome to our annual Oscar's Bitch Fest. 2025, this year with 50% less 'bitchiness'. Largely unpolitical, this year's Oscar's seem to successfully navigate the current chaos and produce an entertaining, actually funny and drama free event. However, smooth sailing can make for an uninspiring and somewhat boring ride. If it wasn't for Adrian Brody's eccentric acceptance speech, I wouldn't have cringed at all. Join Azed & Tom as they discuss the winners and losers, the surprises and the

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