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The Parapod Movie

Started by DrGreggles, January 24, 2020, 01:59:08 PM

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Gregory Torso

Just watched this and loved it. I think everyone in this thread has already made good points but I was surprised by how genuinely scary some of it was.
Spoiler alert
Barry's freakout in the vaults
[close]
was really upsetting to watch and
Spoiler alert
when Ian had locked him in the house with the power out felt like a proper horror film and I was tense primed for a jump scare
[close]
. I'm a relatively new listener to the Parapod (currently working my way through the third series about conspiracies) so it was good to see Barry. Absolutely loved the psychic lady
Spoiler alert
with 'Alan'
[close]
properly having a go at Ian. Really pleased for them, it looks great, and I hope it does well.

DrGreggles

Quote from: Gregory Torso on October 19, 2021, 10:05:32 PM
Just watched this and loved it. I think everyone in this thread has already made good points but I was surprised by how genuinely scary some of it was.
Spoiler alert
Barry's freakout in the vaults
[close]
was really upsetting to watch and
Spoiler alert
when Ian had locked him in the house with the power out felt like a proper horror film and I was tense primed for a jump scare
[close]
. I'm a relatively new listener to the Parapod (currently working my way through the third series about conspiracies) so it was good to see Barry. Absolutely loved the psychic lady
Spoiler alert
with 'Alan'
[close]
properly having a go at Ian. Really pleased for them, it looks great, and I hope it does well.

Glad you like it.
I'm a fan/supporter anyway, but it's genuinely an achievement that this has been made, let alone it being fucking great.

Small Man Big Horse

I went in cold to this only knowing the basic premise, though I'd seen Ian perform a bit of stand up when he was the warm up man at a Red Dwarf recording I went to, and had watched a bit of Barry's stand up on youtube. As a whole I quite liked it, and the dynamic between the two is interesting, occasionally the latter's teasing felt like borderline bullying but didn't quite step over that mark, and I found their friendship in general captivating to witness. The film offers up some fun suggestions as to the nature of the way people delude themselves and manipulate others, while thanks to Boldsworth dicking about it's pretty funny throughout. I did think it was a little over long and 20 minutes could be cut from the slow beginning, while I could see the ending coming a mile off, but it's a decent comedy and fairly unique. 6.8/10

Noodle Lizard

I really didn't enjoy it, sorry to say. I'd only heard one episode of the podcast, so perhaps if I were more invested I'd find more value in this, but I honestly just found it lazy and mean-spirited. Of course there are some mildly funny lines or reactions, but nothing you wouldn't find if you filmed anyone taking the piss out of their friend for 90 minutes. There's a real air of Gervais/Pilkington to it as well, to the point where I'm honestly a bit surprised it's so popular here, and while I'm broadly on the skeptical side and I'm sure Barry's "in on it" to some degree, I just found nothing to admire about that dynamic between them.

There's plenty you could do with that concept, but this film doesn't even get close to trying it. They threw in some banal talking head snippets early on, seemingly as an afterthought, but it leaves you with absolutely nothing to discuss. All of these "haunted" places in the UK are fascinating whether or not you believe the first thing about them, if only for their history and lore and the impact that can have on communities, but it served Boldsworth's sneering "nah it's all bollocks" approach to basically just ignore all of that and make himself the infallible hero of the project, regardless of whether he actually has anything interesting to say.

On top of that, I just thought it was poorly put-together. Some very jarring editing, and horrible library music over everything. It all felt very amateurish; not in a charming "low-budget" sort of way, more like a poor-quality YouTube release.

I feel as though I'm being a bit harsh here, but I'm surprised at how much I disliked watching it given the reception here and the fact that the subject matter is right up my street. Like I said, I'm not familiar with the podcast or either of its hosts, so maybe there's something I'm missing (it wouldn't be the first time). But as an individual film judged on its own merits, I did not like it very much at all.

jofo

Quote from: Noodle Lizard on November 10, 2021, 01:43:48 AM
There's a real air of Gervais/Pilkington to it as well, to the point where I'm honestly a bit surprised it's so popular here, and while I'm broadly on the skeptical side and I'm sure Barry's "in on it" to some degree, I just found nothing to admire about that dynamic between them.

.
Yeah, that what ruined it for me. Im not really a Fan of Ian's smug coolest man child in forbidden planet vibe. he came across very badly for me in the movie (oh cheeky etc)... like a guy who best mate is in a recluse in wheelchair and takes him out for a night but only to places that have no wheelchair access, then makes a point of sighing and tutting because said mate is a hinderence to him. (what the fuck am I talking about..)

I really enjoyed the podcats but just like with Pilkington before it got to stage of the prod the monkey and laugh at what turds fall out of him.
The best bits where Barry's leaps in logic to believe and giving him lots of loops to hang himself with.

Podcast felt like Let me show you Barry's mad intrests... the movie felt like Gervis farting on Karls head in Derek.

I did watch it after spending 5 hours in A+E with my daughter , so maybe it wasnt the best time to invest in the moive.

Retinend

can I still watch this? please PM help

Replies From View

Quote from: Noodle Lizard on November 10, 2021, 01:43:48 AM
There's plenty you could do with that concept, but this film doesn't even get close to trying it. They threw in some banal talking head snippets early on, seemingly as an afterthought, but it leaves you with absolutely nothing to discuss. All of these "haunted" places in the UK are fascinating whether or not you believe the first thing about them, if only for their history and lore and the impact that can have on communities, but it served Boldsworth's sneering "nah it's all bollocks" approach to basically just ignore all of that and make himself the infallible hero of the project, regardless of whether he actually has anything interesting to say.

I feel that this is largely due to Dodds never really going into anything in any meaningful depth.  He's supposed to be obsessed with the paranormal but he doesn't show it, beyond very surface-level repetitions.  I found it quite frustrating in the podcast itself that he'd frequently bring in a story to impress Boldsworth, and fall at the first hurdle because he hadn't thought at all about the ways that a sceptic would immediately be able to debunk it.  Even on an entertainment level, the back-and-forth has always been quite insufficient.

The 'Pilkington' energy you describe comes not only from the perceived "bullying" dynamic but also from his "I don't know about the details" approach to every single idea he brings.


And it might look like Boldsworth's fault because he's ripping the piss out of everything and undermining it, but I can appreciate that he's only falling back on his own methods to bring some kind of entertainment to proceedings, when Dodds is turning up with a password generator and just wandering around a room reading out words.  Or a Teddy Ruxpin that he doesn't bother to do anything with.  Or breaking his own rules when he finds the haunted house too scary to sleep in as he originally planned.  That side of things fully depended on Dodds getting to grips with the subject he wanted to share, while Boldsworth's function was to express scepticism.

Noodle Lizard

Quote from: Replies From View on November 10, 2021, 05:42:18 PMAnd it might look like Boldsworth's fault because he's ripping the piss out of everything and undermining it, but I can appreciate that he's only falling back on his own methods to bring some kind of entertainment to proceedings, when Dodds is turning up with a password generator and just wandering around a room reading out words.  Or a Teddy Ruxpin that he doesn't bother to do anything with.  Or breaking his own rules when he finds the haunted house too scary to sleep in as he originally planned.  That side of things fully depended on Dodds getting to grips with the subject he wanted to share, while Boldsworth's function was to express scepticism.

Yes, I agree with that, and Boldsworth mentions at one point that he feels he has to do stuff like that "or else it'd be a silent film". It's understandable, I just didn't find it particularly interesting to watch.

Quote from: Replies From View on November 10, 2021, 05:42:18 PM
I feel that this is largely due to Dodds never really going into anything in any meaningful depth.  He's supposed to be obsessed with the paranormal but he doesn't show it, beyond very surface-level repetitions.  I found it quite frustrating in the podcast itself that he'd frequently bring in a story to impress Boldsworth, and fall at the first hurdle because he hadn't thought at all about the ways that a sceptic would immediately be able to debunk it.  Even on an entertainment level, the back-and-forth has always been quite insufficient.

The 'Pilkington' energy you describe comes not only from the perceived "bullying" dynamic but also from his "I don't know about the details" approach to every single idea he brings.

I think, also similar to Pilkington, Dodds is sort of playing up to a role there. I haven't heard more than one episode of the podcast, but it seems from the film anyway that they've fully established their "characters" and the dynamic between them. I don't think it's necessarily that Dodds is incapable of researching anything in more depth (in fact, from my memory of the first podcast, he seemed to have a much higher degree of skepticism and rationality), more that he knows it's his role in this particular project. I don't really believe that with all the planning that goes into making a documentary where he knew he was going to be constantly challenged that he wouldn't do a bit more research on the places/history/equipment etc., and the speech he gave at the skeptics conference going on about aliens under an iceberg seemed deliberately silly (again, compared with the more measured thoughts he offered in the podcast).

Moreover, I just didn't really find much of it funny. Perhaps I was in the wrong mood for it, but I was quite excited to watch.

MojoJojo

Quote from: Noodle Lizard on November 10, 2021, 06:02:06 PM
I think, also similar to Pilkington, Dodds is sort of playing up to a role there. I haven't heard more than one episode of the podcast,

Dodds being called a character becomes a thing on the podcast. He insists he isn't but it's hard not to think it at times. I suspect it's partly the edit, with the bits with him being reasonable being cut out, and partly an understanding that he has to stick to his guns or there isn't much of a podcast. So he's forced into a role, more than being a character.

I do think Dodd's is quite admirable in a way - he puts himself into all these situations he's not comfortable[nb]or qualified, to be unkind[/nb] in.

I'd like to like the film more, but unfortunately think it demonstrates why podcasts don't get turned into movies.

Replies From View

Thing is, he didn't need to play a role in the podcast.  Boldsworth had already done that schtick with Raji James, and Dodds didn't need to slip into that same tired shadow.  He just needed to be honest and pick subjects that he was genuinely interested in, and research them properly.  But he'd routinely turn up with the scantest understanding of something he'd only learned about that week, and when called out for not knowing anything about it he'd say "yeah to be honest I was just reading about it for the first time in the car on the way here".

This annoyed me, it just made everything shallow.  Then he was playing a role, because he had no choice but to pretend to be gullible about something he half-knew was stupid and then admit he wasn't very clued up.  Well find something you care about enough to not bluff about it.  Series 3 of the Parapod was week after week the predictable lame excuses of a boy being caught out for not doing his homework.


The movie really needed to be the one time he pulled his shit together.  He really needed to be taking charge more and saying this is my field, I'm going to do what it takes to convince Boldsworth in the existence of the paranormal.  He comes across as someone who finds leadership massively outside of his comfort zone, which is fair enough but actually should have been addressed before the project reached filming stage.  He had a chance to take his obsession to the next level - he needed to plan more, and lead more, but his ambition took him instead towards limply retreading the Parapod Special in Pontefract.

So Boldsworth locked him in the house and sat in a service station ignoring his phone calls.  You can't blame him really.

BritishHobo

I think the difference with series 3 was the topics just didn't interest him as much as he thought they would. In series 2 he regularly did not much research, but he was so enthused by the topics that the dynamic really worked. Same with ghosts. I don't think he's playing anything up, I just think he is enraptured by the scary thrill of weird ideas, and finds that more interesting than analysing the why's and how's.

IMO that does carry across to the film, but it does obviously make for a different dynamic than the premise suggests. I thought it made for a more interesting journey, coming down to the difference in their approach.

Mobbd

Quote from: jofo on November 10, 2021, 09:21:28 AM
Im not really a Fan of Ian's smug coolest man child in forbidden planet vibe.

I'm sorry to say it but: this. Really tired of it.

I used to like The Parapod and I listened to the whole series multiple times, laughing at silly Barry.[nb]A moment I still treasure is the revelation of his ability to simultaneously believe that the moon landings were faked but also that the moon is hollow, the "evidence" for this involving the moon landings[/nb] Listening back to bits of it now, I have little idea what the appeal was to me beyond perhaps a nostalgia for the subject matter.[nb]I liked paranormal stuff as a kid but hadn't thought of it for decades, so there was a sense of "ooh, I wonder if they'll do Rendlesham Forest" etc.[/nb] Maybe I've/we've been spoiled in the meantime by more professional two-person operations compared to Ian and Barry sitting at the "industry standard" Tascam, but I think it's more than that and I basically just don't like Ian.[nb]Aside from recognising his name from Edinburgh posters, I never knew anything about Ray Peacock or his pocasts or standup or Fubar - I think I just knew about him through his funny Richard Herring rivalry, only really getting on board for The Parapod and then a few things since[/nb] A lot of coming to dislike him is based on things he's said or done "offstage" on social media or his Patreon.

This is a sad thing to say, but I think Ian wants a particular kind of rarefied success a bit too badly. And that has frightened me away from him. I can't watch that unfold.

Also, I suspect he might be a toxic, abusive cunt to anyone who has the misfortune to be in his vicinity. Can't say for sure though.

BritishHobo

Everything behind the scenes shows that him and Barry are genuinely good friends though.

Mobbd

Quote from: BritishHobo on November 12, 2021, 09:14:52 PM
Everything behind the scenes shows that him and Barry are genuinely good friends though.

That is good to hear and I do hope so.