One Good Thing

One Quick Thing #1. Madmen of Mandoras

Whilst one Paul is away, the other will play! ...with show formats. It's a mini episode! The Pauls take a quick look at Madmen of Mandoras! A crazy movie from the swinging sixties with all those sixties hallmarks: big suits, awkwardly hidden bodies and Nazis! Also featuring: Hitler's head in a jar (let's face it, that's why you clicked on this), a huge number of protagonists, a diminutive number of Nazis, some literally shady Hispanic types, clever tricks you can do with a match box (including alerting Spanish rebels to your sympathies), ruminations on the nature of a "gore house great", the odd hint that this was recorded the week of the election, some excellent improvisation from the Pauls, and a fantastic espionage wife! Have an enjoy!

Episode 26. One Good Thing You Might Have Missed

Oh no! The Pauls have run out of bad movies! Not to worry, Hollywood will have a fresh batch ready in a few weeks, like a nice warm tray of cookies filled with live bees. Meanwhile, the Pauls decide to devote some time to movies they actually like! Specifically the ones they feel have flown under the radar and could do with the popularity boost that a mention on our podcast will inevitably bring them. So come listen! You might find some new treats! Featuring more movies than you could reasonably be expected to shake a stick at, an exciting new business opportunity, some foreigns, Oscar Isaac and his little known cousin Oscar Isaacs, some homegrown classics and talent, a cinematic nightmare from Canada, guidance on which hoodies to hug and when, the best director who's name you don't know, and an insightful discussion around the societal difficulties in recommending movies, for which this podcast is a case study. You are our subjects, enjoy!

Episode 25. Jem and the Holograms

Thanks to the truly outrageous You Know What I Like? podcast (@YKWILpodcast) for recommending this one and truly outrageousing our perceptions with this confusing and unsettlingly capable movie that everyone hated. Yes, it's the last week of recommendations month and two very sleepy Pauls are looking for the one good thing about Jem and the Holograms! Featuring: joy, pleasure, sophistication, delight, heartbreak, relish and glee – and that's just from the election. Ba-zing.

Episode 24. The Avengers (1998)

This week's recommendation comes from @VideoNegative podcast – who eschewed the mean-spirited and plain nasty rubbish film for the kind that tries hard but is nevertheless the equivalent of the dog with one leg shorter than the rest, hobbling urgently away from its own mess. Well played, we say, Video Negative. Well played. Featuring: a story maze, the wrong workmate, an original idea, signer's regret, a grabby Bond and an evil Emma Peel we may or may not have explained.

Episode 23. Bucky Larson

Well, thanks to the boys @BrodysKitchen podcast, recommendations month can continue! I knelt down in front of Chief Brody and Paul lay prostrate before Bad Hat Harry, and each of us held out our hands while they shovelled rich, steaming piles of Bucky Larson into our palms. Please sirs can we have some more! "Yes," they said. "Always." Featuring: sex labels, all kinds of shaming, grape of destiny, an ASMR breakthrough, how to make friends and influence critics and other unpopular theories according to Nick Swardson.

Episode 22. The Ridiculous Six

Well! This week the @blokebusters podcast recommend us a doozy and the Pauls get OUTRAGEOUS with Adam Sandler's Netflix release The Ridiculous Six: CRINGE as they get offended as hell at all the crass, gross Sandler jokes; WINCE as they etc. etc. Turns out that it's exactly what they expected, with absolutely no surprises. Paul and I hate surprises, except at Christmas, and this ain't Christmas. The one good thing about The Ridiculous Six! Featuring: Batman? Sensuality? Comedy? Actors? and... Vanilla Ice.

Episode 21. Dorian Gray

So it's like this: Paul drew a picture of me on the back of his hand and just WOULDN'T show me, even though I gave him cake after cake (having just finished my weekly cake shop), even pushing several of the cakes into his various holes. Well, listeners, it was more than I could take! One thing lead to another, I cursed his hand and ever since then he's – well, if I have to be blunt – begun to age horribly. His teeth are poking through his lips and he's bleeding everywhere and really smells of wee all of the time. His hand though? Pristine. What's the one good thing about Dorian Gray? Featuring: al fresco parenting, stormy Colins, Wilde Raps, teen pride and some interest, I guess?

Episode 20. Upbeat On Street Fighter

Well, we're patting ourselves on the back – but not too hard – for reaching the milestone that is twenty episodes and another in which one of us (this time it's Paul) defends a movie that everyone else thinks is the worst! Hooray! Featuring: bad rainbow, Thailand with the boys, politics section, the ballad of Jean-Claude, the importance of being faithful and not one goddamn street, Steven. Not one goddamn street.

Episode 19. Battlefield Earth

This week the Pauls complete the Face/Off double-whammy and pay a visit to the world of John Travolta's heart - it's a scary place, full of well-realised passion projects and characters we can all root for. The twist: John Travolta's heart isn't the entire world, so unfortunately after that we had to watch Battlefield Earth and talk about what that one good thing might be. Piece of cake...? Featuring: your friendly bartender, a no-secrets scheme, J.D. Shapiro writer of Men in Tights, some tight impressions and enough leverage to see through any high window you can throw at us.

Episode 18. Glitter

This week the Pauls are immediately given their shot at the big time without any prior legwork because their podcast souls are more beautiful than thirty-six Mariah Carey faces. Unfortunately, their art is centred around irony and impressions, and anyway people are only interested because of their sweet sweet podcasting asses. Oh well: what’s the one good thing about Glitter? Featuring: Boston Sarsgaard, feminism!, a rising star, the malest gaze and one bleak corporate future.