At Beyond The Box Set, we believe every great movie deserves a questionable sequel. Each week, we take a stand-alone cinema classic and compete to come up with the best, worst and most bizarre pitches to bring them back to the big screen.
Episodes
Thursday Feb 22, 2018
Thursday Feb 22, 2018
Remember when everybody loved Garden State? Strange as it seems, Zach Braff's directorial debut was widely praised on release - so why has its reputation curdled so dramatically in recent years? Louise Ball joins us this week to discuss Manic Pixie Dream Girls, alarming animal cruelty and to help pitch the sequels that none of us actually want to see...
Released in 2004 at the height of Zach Braff's Scrubs fame, Garden State was a slow-burn box office success, grossing over $35 million against a $2.5 million budget, bouyed by a Grammy-winning soundtrack and enthusiastic reviews. Despite this initial success, the movie later attracted criticism for its ponderous exploration of mid-twenties ennui and the characterisation of Natalie Portman's female romantic lead as less a recognisable human being than an infantilised collection of infuriatingly self-conscious quirks.
Is Garden State totally without merit? We didn't quite think so. In this episode we discuss some of the reasons the movie was initially so successful - as well as the many elements that have aged poorly in the cold light of 2018. In pitching our own sequels, one of us attempts to inject some excitement by splicing the cast with a modern sci-fi phenomenon with an equally iconic soundtrack, one of us digs into the appalling animal cruelty hinted at in the original film, and one of us decides to ditch the insufferable central duo altogether and allow some of the movie's most memorable supporting characters to take centre stage...
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Beyond The Box Set is a top ten TV & Film podcast officially rated 'Binge Worthy' by Apple Podcasts. Each week, we take a classic standalone movie and compete to pitch the most ridiculous sequels, prequels and spin-offs to bring them back to the big screen.
We're available on virtually all major Podcasting platforms and most forms of social media. We're also now available on Patreon, where you can support us for as little as $2 per month in return for a host of exclusive perks, including access to our weekly bonus show 'Beyond BTBS', a 30 second ad slot on Beyond The Box Set and the chance to appear as a character in one of our sequels!
00.00: Natalie Portman is not a natural laugher
22.15: Garden State Drinking Games
31.05: Garden State 2: Velcro Bad Things
46.40: Garden State 2: Pet Sematary
52.50: Garden State 2: The Infinite Abyss
1.03.10: Listener Submissions & Episode 54 Preview
Friday Feb 09, 2018
Friday Feb 09, 2018
What's your favourite children's movie about impoverished elderly people living with dementia? This week on Beyond The Box Set, we're joined by the talented Phil Hepworth to discuss *batteries not included, a quirky family sci-fi that features some surprisingly adult and melancholy themes.
Released in 1987, *batteries not included stars Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy as Frank and Faye Riley, a married couple whose long-time home comes under threat from aggressive property developers who want to force them out. As Faye's apparent dementia continues to worsen, Frank prays for a miracle - and gets one in the form of a pair of apparently sentient miniature spaceships known as 'The Fix-Its'.
The film's unusually thoughtful tone might be down to writer Brad Bird, who went on to write and produce a number of Pixar's biggest hits including Ratatouille and The Incredibles. A modest hit on release, the film has become a minor cult classic, winning a then-septuagenarian Tandy a Saturn award for Best Actress.
Join us as we discuss the colourful cast of characters - including a slogan-quoting former boxer and a short-fused gang leader with highly unusual fashion sense even for an eighties movie - attempt to figure out what the aliens/robots/spaceships are actually supposed to be in this movie and of course, pitch some sequel ideas...
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Every week on Beyond The Box Set, we take a classic standalone movie and compete to pitch the most ridiculous sequel, prequel or spin-off ideas to bring them back to the big screen. You can find us on virtually all major podcasting platforms, including iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and Podbean.
We recently launched on Patreon, allowing our listeners to access a whole raft of fabulous bonus content including our weekly bonus show 'Beyond BTBS', a 30 second ad slot on our main show and the opportunity to become a character in one of our sequels. We also have our own line of merchandise on TeePublic.com, including T-shirts, mugs, iphone cases and more.
00.00: All musicians are cheating bastards
25.22: *batteries not included Drinking Games
30.00: *batteries not included 2: Attack of the Drones
36.25: *batteries not included 2: Strong & Stable
46.25: *batteries not included 2: Always Read The Small Print
1.02.20: Listener Submissions & Episode 52 Preview
Friday Feb 02, 2018
Friday Feb 02, 2018
Episode 50 marks Beyond The Box Set's first full year on the air, so we knew we had to celebrate with a truly iconic movie choice. So sit down and join us as we pitch sequels to the tearjerking 90s classic Forrest Gump, aka Harry's all-time favourite movie.
In this episode we compare notes on how long each of us lasted before welling up, reveal the historical crossover scene that was wisely left on the cutting room floor, and debate whether Jenny Curran is the most unfairly maligned cinema character of the past thirty years...
We also bring you a bumper selection of drinking games, including needlessly shirtless Lieutenant Dan, every time Jenny's wigs signify a time jump and the occasional hints of Mama Gump's dark side...
Over twenty years after Tom Hanks hung up his running shoes and put little Haley Joel Osment onto the bus, it seems increasingly unlikely that a real Forrest Gump sequel will ever come to pass. Not that we let that spoil our fun as we dedicate the second half of this episode to pitching ridiculous follow-up ideas, including Colin Hanks as a young Forrest undertaking an improbable journey through the plot lines of some of Tom Hanks most famous films - trust us, there was enough to go on...
Finally, we also marked our one-year anniversary by finally launching our own dedicated Patreon and Merchendise pages. For as little as £2 per month, you could become a VIP subscriber for access to our weekly bonus episodes, a 30 second shout-out on the show and the chance to become a character in one of our sequel ideas! Just visit our Patreon Page for more information.
T-shirts, mugs, iphone covers and other assorted Beyond The Box Set accessories are also now available via our Teepublic online store
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Each week on Beyond The Box Set, we take a classic standalond movie and compete to pitch the most ridiculous sequel, prequel or spin-off ideas to bring them back to the big screen. We're currently featured as a 'Binge Worthy Podcast' on the Apple store, and we've frequently cracked the top ten TV & Film Podcasts on UK iTunes.
In other words, our first year has been a wild ride and we don't intend to get off any time soon. You can help support the show by hitting subscribe for a new episode every Friday morning, or by leaving us a review on the Apple store. You can now also support us as an official VIP supporter on Patreon, using our pay as you feel model to gain access to a huge raft of amazing extras (if we do say so ourselves...)
You can find Beyond The Box Set on most major Podcasting platforms, including iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, Podbean and much more. You can also get in touch with us via our social media, we always love to hear from our listeners.
00.00: John's Tom Hanks Mea Culpa and A Defence of Jenny
29.40: Forrest Gump Drinking Games
43:55: Forrest Gump 2: Jenny's Side
01:00.55: Forrest Gump 2: Being Tom Hanks
01.18:55.: Listener Submissions & Episode 51 Preview
Friday Jan 26, 2018
Friday Jan 26, 2018
Natalie Portman's high-intensity acting style found the perfect vehicle in Darren Aronofsky's nightmarish ballet-themed body horror Black Swan, a role that deservedly won her the Academy Award for Best Actress. But what might happen if the two reunited for a second act?
Olumide Ajulo joins us in this week's episode to discuss Portman's journey to the dark side, the unintentional camp value of the swan transformation scenes and the joy of Winona Ryder being the most Winona she can be in a brief but full-tilt supporting turn as a faded Ballet queen in a suspiciously crooked wig...
After burning through some drinking games - mostly concieved to provide a distraction from all the gross finger stuff in this film - we also pitch our own fantasy Black Swan sequels, including Winona's origin story, an uplifting redemption movie with a Pitch Perfect twist and an attempted comeback for Portman's Nina Sayers' that inevitably winds up taking a dark and twisted turn...
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Every week on Beyond The Box Set, we explore a classic standalone movie from cinema past and compete to pitch the most ridiculous prequel, sequel and spin-off ideas to bring them back to the big screen. We're a UK top ten Film and TV podcast that's been certified 'Binge-worthy' by the Apple Podcast app, available for free download and streaming from all major podcasting platforms - including iTunes, Spotify, Podbean and more.
Our show lives and dies on the support of our listeners, so if you enjoy this episode please consider hitting subscribe for a new episode every Friday morning. If you're feeling extra nice, leaving us a review on your chosen podcasting platform is also a really good way to support the show.
00.00: Nina Sayers needs a low-stakes job in personal finance
34.55: Black Swan Drinking Games
40.00: Black Swan 2: Nutcracker
57.30: Black Swan 2: Urban Redemption
1.08.50: Black Swan 2: Winona's Story
1.24.: Listener Submissions & Episode 50 Preview
Sunday Dec 31, 2017
Sunday Dec 31, 2017
The second half of 2017 gave us blockbusters of wildly varying quality - from the artistic and commercial highs of Dunkirk and Baby Driver to the wildly misguided lows of Justice League and Geostorm. We also made time for some less mainstream fare, including Kumail Nanjiani's delightful The Big Sick, James Franco's hilarious The Disaster Artist and Darren Aronofsky's utterly batshit Mother!
Join us in this second half of our year-end special as we attempt to pitch quick-fire sequels to every movie we caught in the cinema between July and December. As before, spoiler warnings do apply to all the movies we describe in this episode, but we'll try to give you plenty of warning.
Here are the movies featured in this episode (Star Wars fans, you're safe...)
00.00: Intro
01.10: Baby Driver
05.40: Spider-Man: Homecoming
11.20: War for the Planet of the Apes
16.05: Dunkirk
18.40: Atomic Blonde
21.50: The Hitman's Bodyguard
24.20: The Big Sick
28.55: Detroit
33.20: Kingsman 2: The Golden Circle
36.50: Mother!
41.00: Geostorm
45.45: It
47.30: Murder on the Orient Express
51.35: Thor: Ragnarok
54.00: Justice League
56.45: Suburbicon
59.35: The Disaster Artist
1.03.20: The Best and Worst Movies we saw in 2017
1.05.50: Episode 46 Preview
We'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming on Friday 5th January. Thanks for supporting us through the first year of our show - here's to the next one!
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Every week on Beyond The Box Set, we watch a classic standalone movie and compete to pitch the most ridiculous sequel, prequel or spin-off ideas to bring them back to the big screen. Over the course of 2017 we've pitched sequels for beloved classics like Sideways, The Sixth Sense and The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, cult favourites such as Swiss Army Man, The Fifth Element and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, plus more questionable fare including Deja Vu, Me Before You and Krampus.
If you enjoy the show, please hit subscribe on your preferred podcasting platform to hear a new episode every Friday. Beyond The Box Set is available for free download and streaming on iTunes, Stitcher, aCast, Podbean, Pocket Casts, Youtube, Google Play and most of the other popular podcasting platforms.
Leaving us a review is the absolute best way to help our show to find new listeners, so if your new year's resolution is to be nicer to strangers on the internet, please consider throwing some nice words and a star or five in our general direction on any platform that allows for it.
If you have a suggestion for a film you'd like to hear us cover - or a sequel idea of your own that you'd like us to shout out on air, you can contact us via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and Tumblr - or by leaving a comment under any blog post on our official website.
Thursday Dec 28, 2017
Thursday Dec 28, 2017
From depressing Oscar contenders to terrible franchise movies, we watched a lot of movies in 2017 that wouldn't necessarily fit the Beyond The Box Set format. So we thought it'd be fun to round off the year with a quick-fire run through everything we saw in the cinema this year, complete with improvised sequel pitches.
Join us in the first part of this mammoth undertaking, in which we vainly attempt to remember the plots of some of the movies we saw from January to June 2017. WARNING - spoilers abound for all of the movies we discuss in this episode, but we'll give you plenty of warning to hit the skip button if there's anything you havent gotten around to yet...
Here are the movies featured in this episode:
00.00: Intro - Broken Shoulders and Pigeon Invasions
03.00: La La Land
06.20: Jackie
07.55: Loving
09.30: Fences
11.15: Moonlight
13.10: Hacksaw Ridge
15.10: Hidden Figures
17.40: Elle
20.30: Manchester By The Sea
23.10: Lego Batman
26.00: Split
29.40: Lion
30.55: T2: Trainspotting
33.10: Beauty & The Beast
35.55: Get Out
38.45: Logan
43.45: Kong: Skull Island
48.50: Ghost in the Shell
51.30: Free Fire
55.30: The Fate of the Furious
01.02.30: Alien Covenant
01.07.30: Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2
01.09.25: Pirates of the Caribbean 5: Salazar's Revenge
01.16.15: Wonder Woman
01.21.10: The Mummy
01.25.40: The Beguiled
Stay tuned for part II, featuring increasingly drunken sequel pitches for all the movies we saw from July to December 2017. We'll also be back to our regularly scheduled programming on Friday 5th January 2018, so be sure to subscribe to hear all our latest episodes as soon as they're released.
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Every week on Beyond The Box Set, we watch a classic standalone movie and compete to pitch the most ridiculous sequel, prequel or spin-off ideas to bring them back to the big screen. Over the course of 2017 we've pitched sequels for stone-cold classics like Gladiator, Titanic and The Truman Show, cult favourites such as The Room, District 9 and Heathers... plus more questionable releases including 50 First Dates, Knights of Badassdom and the Super Mario Bros movie.
If you like the show, please hit subscribe on your preferred podcasting platform to hear a new episode every Friday. Beyond The Box Set is available for free download and streaming on iTunes, Stitcher, aCast, Podbean, Pocket Casts, Youtube, Google Play and many other popular podcasting platforms.
Leaving us a review is the absolute best way to help our show to find new listeners, so if your new year's resolution is to be nicer to strangers on the internet, please consider throwing some nice words and a star or five in our general direction on any platform that allows for it.
If you have a suggestion for a film you'd like to hear us cover - or a sequel idea of your own that you'd like us to shout out on air, you can contact us via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and Tumblr - or by leaving a comment under any blog post on our official website.
Thursday Nov 30, 2017
Thursday Nov 30, 2017
This week on Beyond The Box Set, John and Harry kick off their festive season by pitching modern-day sequels for the most heartwarming holiday classic ever made - Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life.
Join us as we discuss George Bailey's fragile mental health, the questionable business ethics of Baily Brothers Building & Loans and why there's something about Mary that we just don't trust...
We're also joined by our first ever returning guest Ross Burton, who helps us to pitch sequel ideas including a Christopher Nolan-style retelling of Harry Bailey's wartime adventures, a remake populated entirely by The Muppets and a bleak dystopian thriller that exposes the real reason George was never able to leave Bedford falls...
Released in 1946, It's a Wonderful Life stars Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, Donna Reed as Mary, Lionel Barrymore as the evil Mr Potter and Gloria Grahame as Violet. Like all classic movies, it was only modestly received on release, but soon built up a reputation of one of the most beloved films of the era. Both Stewart and Reed would cite it as the high point of their Hollywood careers.
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Every week on Beyond The Box Set, we revisit a classic standalone movie and compete to pitch sequels, prequels and spin-off ideas to bring them back to the big screen. We also come up with a few drinking games for the original movies and share sequel ideas from our loyal listeners.
If you like the show, please subscribe on your preferred podcasting provider to receive a new episode every Friday morning. Reviews also help us to attract new listeners, so a few stars and kind words on iTunes or Stitcher are always appreciated.
Beyond The Box Set is available on all major podcasting platforms including iTunes, Stitcher, aCast, Podbean, Pocket Cast, Player FM and more. You can also get in touch with us on most social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and Google Plus - or by leaving a comment on our official website.
00.00: Uncle Billy is in the grip of senile dementia
20.00: It's a Wonderful Life Drinking Games
29.55: It's a Muppet Life
37.30: It's a Wonderful War
57.20: Listener Submissions & Episode 43 Preview
Friday Jun 30, 2017
Friday Jun 30, 2017
Is Tom Hanks a great actor, or do people just like him? John and Harry attempt to decipher the appeal of Hollywood’s favourite every-ham as we pitch sequels to Robert Zemeckis’ Oscar-nominated classic Cast Away. From the rise of a Scientology-style religion built around the cult of Wilson, to the return of Seth Rogen, James Franco and Jonah Hill in a stoner survival comedy set on a deserted island, we’re taking Cast Away so far off course, not even a CGI whale and a weirdly unflattering photo of Helen Hunt could bring it home…
If you enjoy our fantasy sequels for Cast Away, hit subscribe to ensure you never miss one of our episodes. Every week on Beyond The Box Set, we take a classic standalone movie and compete to pitch the most ridiculous sequel, prequel or spin-off idea to bring it back to the big screen. If you really like what we do, please consider leaving us a review. It’s great for our egos and it helps other people to find us.
00:00 Intro – A Volleyball with the voice of Tim Allen
17:15 Pitch One – Cast Away: Weed Island
29:50 Pitch Two – Cast Away 2: Wilsonism
45:00 Listener Submissions & Episode 21 Preview
Thursday Jun 22, 2017
Thursday Jun 22, 2017
It’s time to resolve the first ever Beyond The Box Set cliffhanger this week, as Harry delivers the second half of his The Room/The Truman Show crossover sequel – with a touch of HBO’s Westworld thrown in for good measure. Along the way we also discuss John’s deep-seated aversion to Jim Carrey, Laura Linney’s eerily perfect hair and why reality TV may soon leave us all watching Z-list celebrities hunting each other for sport…
If you enjoy our fantasy sequels for Peter Weir’s 1998 reality TV satire, hit subscribe to ensure you never miss one of our episodes. Every week we take a classic standalone movie and compete to pitch the most ridiculous sequel, prequel or spin-off idea to bring it back to the big screen. If you really like what we do, please consider leaving us a review. It’s great for our egos and it helps other people to find our show too. We’re not averse to trading nudes for five-star ratings.
00:00 Intro – John is allergic to Jim Carrey
16:00 Pitch One – The Truman Show 2: The UnReal World
33:30 Pitch Two – The Truman Show: Trial and Error
46:50 Listener Submissions & Episode 20 Preview
Thursday Jun 15, 2017
Thursday Jun 15, 2017
You are tearing us apart, listeners! This week on Beyond The Box Set, we’re pitching sequels to a feature that’s more meme than movie – Tommy Wiseau’s baffling, brilliant The Room. Joined by super fan Sebastian Clark, we discuss the movie’s clear Shakespearean parallels, Lisa’s limitless capacity for evil, Denny’s major boundary issues and the character whose tragic arc brings John to tears mid-podcast.
As is the tradition, we also pitch our own sequel ideas for the film, including a Gosford Park-style period remake, a reincarnated Johnny’s quest for revenge and a surprise Westworld crossover revealing that – spoiler alert! – the cast and crew were actually robots the whole time. Which, let’s face it, would certainly explain the acting…
00:00 Intro – The most successful independent movie of all time?
13:45 Why Claudette is the true hero of this movie
25:30 Pitch One – The Room With a View
37:00 Pitch Two – The Room 2: Flowers for Denny
48:20 Pitch Three – WestRoom
54:00 Our First Cliffhanger + Episode 19 Preview