Film Shapes

Shady, Roly, Parizad and Merv run down their top 5 films from 2025 (plus one or two turkeys).

Top 5s were as follows:

Roly: 5. Gaslight; 4. Presence; 3. Boiling Point; 2. Pluribus (TV show!); 1. ??????

Parizad: 5. Moana 2; 4. Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning; 3. F1; 2. Deadpool and Wolverine; 1. ??????

Merv: 5. Wake Up Dead Man; 4. Conclave; 3. Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning; 2. The Accountant 2; 1. ??????

Shady: 5. The Ballad of Wallis Island; 4. The Secret Agent; 3. Zodiac Killer Project; 2. It Was Just an Accident; 1. ??????

Roly and Shady waffle about The Ballad of Wallis Island on the way back from the Luna cinema in Leederville.

Shady enlists the psychological skills of Tap to talk him through the new Mike Leigh film Hard Truths.

Shady has a chat with Cibely about the award-winning Brazilian film, I'm Still Here.

Roly and Shady have a chat about the Perth Festival film, Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat.

Shady and Roly are joined by Parizad and Merv to go over their favourite five films of 2024. We also named our turkeys from last year. Top fives were as follows:

Parizad: 5. Operation Mincemeat; 4. Remembering Gene Wilder; 3. Gladiator 2; 2. Emilia Perez; 1. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Roly: 5. The Apprentice; 4. The Lost Leonardo; 3. Kneecap; 2. The Greatest Night in Pop; 1. A Different Man - Merv: 5. Woman of the Hour; 4. Alien: Romulus; 3. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga; 2. The Fall Guy; 1. Dune: Part 2 - Shady: 5. Bird; 4. Kneecap; 3. Birdeater; 2. The Teachers' Lounge; 1. The Zone of Interest.

Shady is joined by Nicola to talk about a couple of the films from the recent St. Ali Italian Film Festival.

Merv and Tap join Shady to inject The Substance.

Roly and Shady have a chat with Suzanne Worner, General Manager of the Revelation Perth International Film Festival.

Roly and Shady have a chat about Turkish legal drama, Hesitation Wound. But first, there's a bit about the Revelation Perth International Film Festival programme launch for 2024. This edition of the famous Perth festival runs from July 3-14.

Shady and Roly are joined by Ben and Merv - with Parizad in subspace - to go over their favourite five films of 2023. We also provided our worst - or most disappointing - films from last year. Top fives were as follows:

Ben: 5. Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves; 4. May December; 3. Killers of the Flower Moon; 2. Blackberry; 1. How to Blow Up a Pipeline - Roly: 5. Decadence and Downfall: The World's Most Expensive Party; 4. Last and First Men; 3. Talk to Me; 2. Leave the World Behind; 1. Dream Scenario - Parizad: 5. Hudson Hawk; 4. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; 3. Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves; 2. The Whale; 1. Living - Merv: 5. Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves; 4. John Wick 4; 3. Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One; 2. Babylon; 1. Oppenheimer - Shady: 5. The Old Oak; 4. Aftersun; 3. The Boy and the Heron; 2. Babylon; 1. Saltburn.

Roly and Shady walk to the car from The Luna Cinema in Leederville after a screening of Foe. Fair to say, Shady gets a couple of things wrong in this pod and also reveals a staggeringly unpro lack of knowledge. Roly mostly gets away unscathed:)

Parizad joins Roly and Shady to discuss many things related to Gareth Edwards's new film, The Creator. Stay tuned for a post-outro contribution by Merv.

Merv and Parizad join Roly and Shady for a discussion about the latest Christopher Nolan film, Oppenheimer. Fair to say, opinions varied.

Shady is joined by Roly, Parizad and Merv to postulate on the latest Guardians of the Galaxy film; as well as the MCU in general; going to the cinema alone; Avatar 2; Ivan Sen's Limbo; cinema volume levels; Barton Fink; and apples (again).

Merv and Shady get stuck in a carpark and then have a chat about November, a film about the days following the terror attacks in Paris in 2015. There's also a mini-wrap of the 2023 French Film Festival.

Roly and Shady wander through noisy Leederville traffic while chewing over the ideas in Aftersun.

Shady and Roly are joined by Ben, Parizad and Merv to run down their favourite five films of 2022 (though not necessarily made in 2022). We also vented about our worst - or most disappointing - films from last year. Top fives were as follows:

Ben: 5. Heist; 4. Nope; 3. Quo Vadis, Aida?; 2. Barry Lyndon; 1. RRR - Roly: 5. The Forgiven; 4. The Third Man; 3. Brian and Charles; 2. The Quiet Girl; 1. Vengeance - Parizad: 5. The Lost City; 4. The Batman; 3. The Grand Budapest Hotel; 2. Everything Everywhere All at Once; 1. Belfast - Merv: 5. Violent Night; 4. Make Me Famous; 3. The Northman; 2. Lessons in Murder; 1. Sissy - Shady: 5. You Won't Be Alone; 4. Sundown; 3. The Banshees of Inisherin; 2. The Quiet Girl; 1. Hatching.

Merv and Shady chat about Violent Night on the drive back from the cinema. Chuckles and blood.

Tim Mummery, director of Namarali, joins Shady for a chat about his film. 

Perth music & arts journo, Bob Gordon joins Roly and Shady to discuss the new David Bowie documentary, Moonage Daydream.

Rewi joins Roly and Shady to talk about Jordan Peele's Nope. Beware of spoilers for this film, as well as Jaws, Predator and ALF. Also keep an ear open for tips on how to avoid animal attacks.

Merv eviscerates Beast while Shady watches on in trepidation.

Merv joins Shady to run down their five favourites from the 2022 Revelation Film Festival (25th anniversary edition). 

Shady had a chat with Dominik Platen, producer of A Life on the Farm, a documentary that screened at the Revelation Perth International Film Festival in 2022.

Roly and Shady had their yearly chat with the founder and director of the Revelation Perth International Film Festival, Richard Sowada. He spoke about the festival being the 25th anniversary of Rev and how it has developed over the years, as well as recommending some of the hot ticket films in this year's programme.

Roly and Shady struggle to understand what was going on in Alex Garland's new film, Men.

Merv and Shady inadequately discuss the Spanish film Maixabel, directed by Iciar Bollain. 

Roly and Shady wander away from the Luna cinema and chat about the film After Yang. 

More 'Listener' questions!

Popular films we haven't seen. Confusing films. Dream adaptation that ISN'T a book or TV show. Musicians who should score a film. Bonus: Favourite on-screen duo.

Ben, Parizad, Roly and Shady have attempted to answer all these questions. 

Please email filmshapes@gmail.com if you have any questions you'd like us to take a stab at next time:)

Ta ta

Merv joins Roly and Shady to run the rule over The Batman. Topics range from the definition of a cowl, to Nirvana vs The Cure, to the workings of spotlight projection - Merv even mentions a special, frankly bollocks, DC villain. 

'Listener' questions special! 

• The films that hooked us on cinema. 
• Best directorial debut. 
• Most often used film quotes. 
• Most annoying/dangerous/strange experience at the cinema. 

All these questions and more (actually, only these) are answered by pod regulars, Merv and Parizad, alongside hosts, Roly and Shady.

Roly and Shady are joined by Parizad and Merv to talk about their favourite films of 2021. There's a top 5 from each person, as well as a turkey. Fair to say not everyone agreed with each other.

Roly and Shady are joined by Merv, Parizad and Cheeky for a Dune discussion. Highlights include a mispronounced actor, a childhood spittle story and some worm confusion. Also, our first ever prize giveaway, thanks to the good people at Dymocks Bookstore in Subiaco.

Roly and Shady don't quite know what to make of Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn and the walking pod throws up as many distractions as the screen (magpies, street markets, cricket games, traffic, etc.)

Merv joins Roly and Shady to discuss the final Daniel Craig 007 film, No Time to Die.

Merv and Shady shash about The Last Duel on a Friday night drive through Northbridge.

Roly and Shady give their thoughts on three Euro-bangers they saw in the last month - Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time, Riders of Justice and Lamb. 

Roly and Shady chew the fat over Pig while walking from the Luna.

Roly and Shady have a quick car chat about Annette. Misjudged and boring kind of sugar-coats it. Oh, and apologies to the good people of France and South Africa...

Merv joins Roly and Shady for a to and fro about The Suicide Squad - and soon wishes he hadn't. Topics covered: apples (and other fruit), reboots, spoilers (and how to talk around them), American foreign policy, some film called Cockblockers, and the vagaries of the world Box Office.

Mandy joins the pod on the drive back from the cinema and manages to educate botanically and avoid massive puddles. Multi-tasking ahoy.

Parizad brings the content to the Marvel chat, while Roly tries to avoid research and Shady struggles to explain himself. So, as you were for Film Shapes;)

Merv joins Roly and Shady to run the rule over a few films from the Revelation Film Festival of 2021. 

Roly and Shady are joined by Revelation Film Festival director, Richard Sowada for a chat about the upcoming festival.

Roly isn't as impressed with The Sparks Brothers documentary as Shady is. 

Bryony, Roly and Shady talk about the batteries, amplifiers, docks, climate change and right wing politics in A Quiet Place Part 2. Only some of those things are actually in the film, though....

Roly and Shady stroll back from the cinema and talk hungrily about Breaking Bread.

Liam tells Shady how much he enjoyed The Goya Murders on the drive back from the cinema (hint: not very much).

Merv, Roly and Shady try to come to some accord with the MonsterVerse in this chat about Godzilla vs. Kong.