The Best Film Podcast Ever: The Hollywood Saloon

I have recently spend $16 on a podcast. Yes, I paid for a podcast. Remember those things on itunes which are generally considered free? Well I paid for a bunch.

When I first began podcasting The Simon and Jo Film Show I discussed podcasts alot. In one discussion at work, one guy who was gaining some teaching experience recommended The Hollywood Saloon. He gushed over it - he couldn't recommend it higher. I found it easily on itune and listened to the Saloon Shot series which dealt with Senequelitus (the term used to describe when, prior to a films release, studios claim that the sequel is in production ...when, as we all know, it can't be! The box-office receipts of the first weekend will determine a sequel...) and then there was IronHyponitus (When the hype is simply too much that it can't possibly represent the quality of the film...). Each episode, rarely longer than 40-minutes at-a-time. I remember how I listened to them over a Christmas holiday and I was desperate for my brother to listen - as he is a huge Iron Man fan.

Then I noticed some of the longer episodes ... 2-hours ... 3-hours ... complete coverage of the James Bond series with a 2-hour episode on Quantum of Solace (It is brilliant!). And I listened to them all. I listened to the episodes whereby Andy Siems and John Jansen sifted through the history of Marvel and DC Universes - and crucially, how Hollywood and TV adapted the stories of Spiderman, Superman and Batman before the current craze of superhero films that have been released in the last decade.

These are free and you can donwload them now - via itunes or simply use the links above.

The huge influence these two podcasters have had on my own podcasting - the background use of scores, the interspersed use of sound, the slow-fade out as the conversations between presenters resume - all stem back to The Hollywood Saloon.

One thing I only wish I could match was the passion and knowledge these two people have. "The Human Film Database" John Jansen alongside Star-Wars-obsessed Andy Siems ... I crave their insights and knowledge of cinema, and I continue to watch films in the hope that at one point I may match their incredible knowledge of the industry.

Yes, I have listened to Filmspotting, SlashFilm, Kermode and Mayo, Battleship Pretension, On the Media, The Film Programme, the LAMBcast, the MILFcast, the Matineecast, Frankly My Dear, The Film Cynics and many, many more. But this film podcast is the one which I am the most desperate for and the only one I would pay for - and now, the only one I have paid for. Andy and John - so much respect to you.