Diminishing Returns look at M. Night Shyamalan's early work before diving into Sol's favourite entry in the man's filmography: Unbreakable, in which the superhero genre was deconstructed before it had been constructed.
In anticipation of the master(?) of suspense's upcoming film, Split, M. Night Shyamalan season continues with a look at Signs and The Village, the latter of which also gets the Diminishing Returns sequel-pitch treatment.
The third part of any trilogy is almost always the weakest, but this, the conclusion of the Diminishing Returns M. Night Shyamalan season, continues to buck trends with, quite possibly, the strongest episode in the series.
In one corner, we have Calvin, who loves these films. In the other corner, we have Sol, who considers them to be the worst film-franchise of all time, and Allen, who watched them for the first time in order to record this podcast.
Diminishing Returns dig up a time-capsule in the form of this episode, recorded in October 2016 to coincide with the (now delayed) release of the new entry in the Ringu franchise: Rings.
Finally, Diminishing Returns makes its long-awaited return to the James Bond franchise. Somehow, Frasier manages to sneak back into the mix, too, just like it did in last week's Fifty Shades of Grey episode.
The week before the 89th Academy Awards seemed like a good time to explore this year's Best Picture nominees (Arrival, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Lion, Manchester by the Sea and Moonlight).
Diminishing Returns take the opportunity for a Wolverine retrospective, looking at X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Wolverine and Hugh Jackman's role in the X-Men films to date.
A look at the long history of King Kong films, starting with the 1933 original, but also the 1976 and 2005 remakes, Son of Kong, King Kong vs Godzilla, King Kong Lives and, even, some lost Japanese Kong movies.
Is the new trend of Disney remaking all of its animated classics harmless, nostalgia-driven fun or a tragic symptom of the end of cinematic creativity?
Go, go Diminishing Returns. Power Rangers will soon find new life in the movie of the same name, so Diminishing Returns felt it apt to look back to their nostalgia (or lack of, depending on which host you're talking about) for the series.
The show's love of discussing films where an actor portrays a character of another race culminates here in an episode focused on Ghost in the Shell, the seminal 1995 anime and its upcoming live-action remake.
A retroactive look at the Fast and the Furious franchise. Topics include the differences between Vin Diesel and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, driving in general and some really self-indulgent stuff about plums.
A look at Guardians of the Galaxy and its place within the superhero genre as a whole, the meteoric rise of Chris Pratt (as well as the work of other cast members Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel and Howard the Duck) and the usual sequel pitches.
Alien season is here. In the run up to the release of Alien: Covenant, Diminishing Returns are taking a huge look at the Alien series starting with the core franchise (Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection).
A look at AVP: Alien vs. Predator and AVPR: Aliens vs. Predator - Requiem - two of the most stupidly titled films ever made. Chat includes the likes of the original quadrilogy, Prometheus and Batman for some reason.
Alien season concludes with a Prometheus episode. Opinions on this one vary between the group, so there's some great back and forth and discussion, not to mention a chance to hear Calvin's impression of Meryl Streep.
Lots of talk of pirates, Johnny Depp, zombies, monkeys - pretty much anything and everything you could want. This week, Sol and Allen actually pitch real sequels instead of joking around like they normally do.
In a previous episode, Calvin and Allen butted heads over whether Suicide Squad is a solid action movie or complete and utter dross. Now, Sol casts the deciding vote, all before some of the usual sequel-pitches and general pratting about.
Happy birthday, Diminishing Returns. To celebrate their 1-year anniversary, they look at the last 6 months of cinema. There's also some games, special guests and all the usual fun and japes (and arguments). Be sure to listen to the end.
In case the current heatwave didn't tip you off, you know you're deep into Summer when a new Transformers movie comes along, so here's a look at the entire franchise to date.
The Minions are quickly assimilating themselves into all areas of life; films, games, phone covers, shampoo, cereal - and now episodes of Diminishing Returns. With Despicable Me 3 out soon, the Minions take over the show for a week.
Diminishing Returns takes an in-depth look at Sam Raimi's trilogy of films that helped shape the modern superhero genre before getting to The Amazing Spider-Man 1 and 2 and various, cancelled Spider-Man projects.
Before the franchise was surprisingly-intelligent and emotionally-resonant, it was a load of films in the '60s and '70s about chimp-men with coconut-faces, running around, causing chaos for people like Charlton Heston.
Diminishing Returns covered the original Planet of the Apes movies last week, so this week, they're doing the current Apes franchise (Rise, Dawn and War) starring Andy Serkis as Caesar.
Diminishing Returns typically spend somewhere between 3-5 hours recording episodes. This is then edited down into something (usually) under 2 hours. Now, enjoy a load of all-new material that was cut from classic episodes.
The gang give some in-depth film chat, some particularly high-calibre pitches for sequels to You Only Live Twice, and, because it's a special occasion, a whopping 15 special guest stars.
Things get frantic with a look at the high-octane, Jason Statham action-movies, Crank and Crank: High Voltage. For once, Calvin has his derogatory hat on. Imagine the Transformers episode in reverse.
We already did Jaws, Ted. It's a different film. It's a very different film. It's a different shark. This week, it's Blake Lively in The Shallows, then sequel-pitches, ranging from a Speed parody to Gary Lineker going on a crisp safari.
With Netflix's upcoming American adaptation of the Death Note manga, we take a look at the four Japanese movies and the TV series before, as always, pitching our own ideas for Death Note sequels.
Diminishing Returns go back two decades and dig out the old VHS tapes of Beavis and Butt-Head. The leap from small to large screen has rarely been handled with greater skill but the young reprobates may not be to everyone's taste.
In anticipation of the new film adaptation of Stephen King's It, Diminishing Returns take a look at the book, the 1990 mini-series (or TV movie, depending on who you ask) and, of course, the upcoming film.
This ought to tide the Bond fans over for a little while: an episode covering 2014's Kingsman: The Secret Service and looking forward to Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
Covers The Godfather (often regarded as the greatest film ever made) and The Godfather: Part II (also often regarded as the greatest film ever made). And The Godfather: Part III (extremely rarely regarded as the greatest film ever made).
It's a cult favourite but what lies beneath the hype? Diminishing Returns break down the pros and cons of Ridley Scott's dystopian classic Blade Runner and take a look at the many different versions of the film.
In movie circles, October is basically just "horror month". Diminishing Returns get their horror month off to a great start with this episode: a retrospective of the Child's Play (aka Chucky) series.
Hot on the heels of last week's episode covering the 6-part Child's Play series, they're now taking a look at the even larger Saw franchise spanning seven movies from Saw to Saw 3D.
Sequel pitches, DVD commentary clips and an interview with director of The Blair Witch Project, Ed Sanchez. Ed offers some fantastic insight into how the film was made and drops hints about the future of the franchise.
Is Lazenby any good? Is "Bond" a codename? Is the world ready for a fat James Bond? All these questions and more are answered in this week's edition of Diminishing Returns.
Exactly what the world needed: three white men telling the world how to feel about feminism. That's right, Diminishing Returns turns its three heads to Wonder Woman: Gal Gadot and Chris Pine proving that DC movies don't have to be shit.
Diminishing Returns takes on "the worst movie of all time", Tommy Wiseau's infamous 2003 disasterpiece, The Room. Is it really that bad? Also, what's the deal with this James Franco movie coming out called The Disaster Artist?
Star Wars season: a trilogy of episodes dedicated to the Star Wars movies not yet covered on Diminishing Returns. This time, it's the infamous prequel trilogy. Are they as bad as their reputation or are they even worse than that?
They did the prequel trilogy last week, so now we're following on with the next film in the series' internal chronology: Rogue One. How does it stack up against all the "real" Star Wars movies in the Skywalker saga?
The final part in the trilogy of the Diminishing Returns Star Wars season. The Force Awakens: is it the shot in the arm that Star Wars needed or is it a shot-for-shot remake of A New Hope without the charm?