The Fandom Portals Podcast
"Welcome to Fandom Portals—the show that explores how your favourite fandoms can help you learn and grow!" 🎙️✨
Each episode, we explore TV, movies, comics, and games to reveal how these worlds and the characters in them help us learn about resilience, courage, friendship, and more.
The Fandom Portals Podcast is hosted by Aaron Davies and Adam Brasher, two friends who are obsessed with fandoms, storytelling, and building a community where passion and positivity come first. From Marvel to Middle-earth, Star Wars to indie comics, we dive deep into the stories you love — and how they help us learn and grow. ✨
The Fandom Portals Podcast
We Celebrate 50 Episodes! How A Movie Podcast Became A Community For Growth, Gratitude, And Geekery
Summary
In this celebratory episode of the Fandom Portals podcast, hosts Aaron and Brash reflect on their journey through 50 episodes, expressing gratitude to their community and discussing the evolution of their podcasting themes. They explore the emotional connections that films create, the importance of vulnerability in storytelling, and the lessons learned from films that they've explored so far. The episode also features community questions and insights, as well as a look ahead to future episodes and themes.
Takeaways
This episode is a celebration of our community.
We love getting compliments, we really do.
It's been a big journey, brash. It's been a big journey.
A lot of podcasts don't get to 50 at all.
It's important that you do it on something that you love.
Movies can be a perfect medium for that.
It's okay to talk with a friend.
Good enough is good enough.
Keep learning, keep growing, keep loving film.
The podcast has evolved to focus on personal growth through film.
Chapters
00:00 Celebrating 50 Episodes: A Milestone Reflection
02:23 Community Engagement: Gratitude and Growth
05:13 Podcast Evolution: From Fandoms to Film
06:21 The Power of Film: Emotional Connections and Personal Growth
08:08 Adaptations: The Journey from Page to Screen
10:48 Exploring Vulnerability: The Role of Movies in Emotional Release
13:33 Lessons from Failure: Embracing Critical Flops
16:33 Surprising Discoveries: Movies That Changed Our Perspectives
23:12 Rating Movies: The Five-Star System
25:27 Exploring Unexpected Movie Gems
27:27 Surprises in Movie Ratings
29:07 Character Growth in Film
30:54 Revisiting Past Ratings
32:43 Audience Questions: Personal Growth and Mindset
40:54 Embracing Different Perspectives
42:11 The Power of Shared Experiences
43:53 Finding Joy in Shared Interests
45:48 Emotional Connections in Media
47:56 Balancing Passion and Workflow in Podcasting
50:40 Community Engagement and Listener Interaction
52:00 Celebrating Milestones and Guest Contributions
57:51 Looking Ahead: Future Themes and Episodes
Keywords
podcast, film, personal growth, community, fandoms, movie analysis, emotional connection, storytelling, lessons learned, podcasting journey
Contact Us:
Website: https://www.fandomportalspodcast.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FandomPortals
Instagram: instagram.com/fandomportals/?locale=en
Threads: threads.net/@fandomportals
Email: fandomportals@gmail.com
Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/fandomportals
Ever wondered what it's like to start a podcast about all the things that roll around your head when you watch a movie? Got a passion for personal growth or just like to learn something new when you see an old film? Well, this episode's for you because you'll learn in the Phantom Porters podcast how it has evolved over the 50 episodes that we have been running. And today with your hosts, Aaron, which is me and Brash, we are celebrating the milestone with our beloved community. Thank you for joining us. Welcome everybody to the Phantom Portals Podcast, the podcast that explores how fandoms and film can help you learn and grow. As always, I'm your host, Aaron, a teacher and lifelong film fan. And each week on the podcast, we explore the stories that we love to learn more about ourselves and the world that shape us. Except for this episode, because we're actually just doing a celebration, a mailbag, some gratitudes and reflections, saying some things from our community on our socials as well. And I'm not doing it alone because as always I'm joined by Brash. Hello, Brash. How are you? I want to hide yourself. Mate, I'm going well, going well. And, you know, it wouldn't be the Fandom Porters podcast if we were not joined with our third unofficial co-host who's yet to say a thing on mic. It is Ace. He's uh he doesn't contribute a lot, but he definitely contributes to our comfort. So shout out to you, Ace. Thank you for joining us on our 50th episode, Mailbag. Uh guys, first and foremost, massive thank you to our community. Obviously, this is an episode that wouldn't be happening if it wasn't for you. We are pretty active on our threads and on our Instagram and also through our emails. And you guys are really welcoming and awesome community for us to talk movies all about. We often put things on our stories that you guys interact with. And all of the comments, community questions, and things like that today come from those social media responses. So we are a podcast that loves our community. We do talk about a lot of personal things in terms of growth and various different ways that we can learn from film. So it's really great to go on that journey with some people in a big community sort of fashion. So thank you so much, first and foremost. Secondly, Brash, I will admit that, and I've told you this before, but tanking compliments is not the thing that I am best at in this world. No, I'm very much the same.
SPEAKER_03:I mean, internally I like the compliments, but when they're given to me, I don't know how to react.
SPEAKER_02:Yes.
SPEAKER_03:I don't know what to say.
SPEAKER_02:Uh-huh. I can't.
SPEAKER_03:And it could be sibly as something instead of saying, oh, thank you. But for me, it's like what do they want?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. That's exactly it. So yeah, we are we are working on growth today in the form of accepting these compliments graciously from our community who has been very generous with them and answering these questions with the utmost honesty. So that's a little bit of a forewarning that we we love getting compliments, we really do, but it's a part of our personal growth that we're learning to accept them in a better way and to accept them graciously. So thank you. And that's not to say we're arrogant about it, it's more like I don't feel like I deserve that. But yes, it's it's been a big journey, Brash. It's been a big journey. 50 episodes. Yes, 50 episodes. Hmm. That's like each hour of the podcast, or each episode is about an hour, so 50 hours. So that's like we would sit and talk for two days and a bit straight.
SPEAKER_03:If you were And then but then if we also take and count the times that we're we're not recording before and after thing, that's probably an extra hour or hour and a half on top of that.
SPEAKER_02:So yeah, yeah. And then also when we're watching the movies that we're researching for the actual episodes, we're back and forth on the on the text as well. And it's it's all you know, there's more to talk about when you like it and I don't, or vice versa, as opposed to if we both think it's cool and we both actually we also talk about it a lot if we both think the movie's absolute crap as well. So Yeah, we have a lot to say. No, if um if the movie is is well liked by both of us, then there's there's less communication.
SPEAKER_03:Sure, but it's pretty disputed just yeah, streamlined then. It's just like, yes, everything was great. I concur. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And that's how it goes. But yeah, so today we're gonna go through what 50 episodes means to us. We're gonna talk about the beginning of our podcasting journey. We're gonna talk about Brash coming on board as a guest star to start off with, and then he'd come back as like it's like those TV shows where you're on as a recurring role, and then after that, you're just part of the cast. I thought, who was who was one like that?
SPEAKER_03:I was gonna think Castell, but I think he was meant to be in the whole thing.
SPEAKER_02:No, no, I think you're absolutely right. He was supposed to season four, he was like a a featuring character, and then after that he was third build or something like that. He was very well like he was a new part of the team. Obviously, from Supernatural, we're talking about there, but yeah. Uh, we're gonna talk about the the fandom portals on a board, which you can find at Letterboxd, the links in the show notes below, and we're gonna talk about some of the movies we've reviewed previously, just recapping some of the ones that we think may have been wholly judged or things that may need to reconsider. And then we're gonna go through some of your audience questions, well wishes, and thanks before we jump into some future news for the podcast. But guys, I promise this on social media, I promise it on our Instagram because we have an announcement in terms of our podcast and our network, the Geek Freaks Network, we have a giveaway, and that giveaway is for some copies of the Smurfs on Blu-ray. And it's all thanks to Paramount Plus. So if you want to bring home the Smurfs movie on DVD and 4K now, in this fun, epic adventure, the Smurfs team up with new friends on a daring rescue mission to save Papa Smurf from the League of Evil Wizards. By the film critics are calling pure comedy magic and get over 35 minutes of Smurf Tastic Extras, including new music from Rihanna and more. Available at participating retailers rated PG from Paramount Pictures. So if you want to win a copy of that, all you have to do is go to our social media, follow us on Instagram at fandom portals, and share one of our posts to your story. That's it. That's all you gotta do, and you can go into the running for one of these movies of the Smurfs to be sent to your dwarf. Courtesy of the Geek Freaks Network. So thank you so much. Go ahead and get a free movie. Always all right, let's get into 50 episodes, Brash. 50 episodes. 50 episodes. I know, mate. 50. So like for me, I obviously ran a podcast before this, the DD Valley and Odyssey podcast. And it was really easy to hit 50 episodes on that because literally every time we'd record, it would be like four or five sessions, four or five episodes per session of play. So you play 10 times and you get 50 episodes. But I think with this one's it's a little bit more intentional. And to can to think that you've watched and analyzed and looked at 50 movies is like it's it's a trip, really. But a lot of podcasts don't get to 50. A lot of podcasts don't get to 50 at all. So blessed. Feeling really good to get to this milestone. And it hasn't always been smooth sailing. It does take a lot of background work. Anyone that's listening that actually runs a podcast, you know what I'm talking about. There's a lot of background stuff that goes on. Uh but the fun part is what we're doing like right now. We're celebrating our successes. Recording is really the fun part. And so it's important that you do it on something that you love. And I feel like over the 50 episodes, the podcast has changed a little bit, actually a lot. And when we started, I obviously started by myself, and I was answering community questions about fandoms that they enjoyed. So I deep dive into those. But what I really wanted to do was find out how these fandoms help us learn and grow, but more so like why people attach themselves to them so much. And I found that through that, one fandom or one thing that I've attached myself to over my entire lifespan and learnt a lot of things from was film. So I kind of pivoted the focus from fandoms to film in that space because film is one of my favorite fandoms. And then that's sort of evolved onto how the podcast is today, where we look at a film and we talk about how it can help us help us all out. What do you what do you reckon about that, Brash?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I reckon the film film is uh sort of a good me because you you'll find like you could do a multitude of fandoms, but a lot of the fandoms, especially if they're big enough, always end up finding their way to movies.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, that's so true.
SPEAKER_03:So like yeah, like and like you have the like because one of your favorites movies is extended cut out of Lord of the Rings. Yep. Initially it was a book and then fancy movies. You got people who are Harry Potter fans books to movies. There's the unfortunate business of one of my favorite books going to a movie and it didn't not work.
SPEAKER_02:That happens more often than you think.
SPEAKER_03:Hey, there's there's a lot of bad adaptations, but but and even so, like you could look at even Lord of the Rings and you could still say, like, you I'm guessing you've probably read the books.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Which sounds bad. I probably should read them, but I haven't. But I'm sure that in the movies they miss a lot of stuff that was in the books.
SPEAKER_02:Oh yeah, they do and they they necessarily do, but I I feel like you can't use a good ad adaptation.
SPEAKER_03:I I was gonna say, like you're looking at like say, let's say these two like Lord of the Rings look at Lord of the Rings compared to say like Aragon. I find like you you'll find it like Lord of the Rings is what can happen when it's something's done well and it's probably up than the top echelon, and then Aragon's like what can happen like at its worst. And that's like you sort of your table and you'll you'll probably end up finding that a lot of the book to movie adaptations fall somewhere in that sort of scale. But and the same like games, some games can go to movies have going to movies as well, like Blood Rain and everything like that. Uh and so I think movies and even sort of TV shows in that vein too are good focal points for what like conveying sort of emotions for people in their certain fandoms. Yeah. Because everyone everyone like has their own sort ofness that they like to sit in. So some people like high fantasy, some like people like sci-fi, some people like horror, and that's sort of their comfort and where they go to when they need a I don't know, recover and just find themselves again. And especially in a lot of m and a lot of movies that uh you may not usually watch but watch might find a way to hit you right where it needs to hit you. And I think movies and TV shows can be like a perfect medium for that. Because it's not it's not like you have to read like a 50 uh thousand page book or something like that. It's just uh usually like an hour, hour and a half, and you can usually gain something from it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I agree, and I think uh for me personally, I've always been drawn to movies. I have a rich history with film and movies, just like watching collecting with various different people in my life that I love and adore, and it's always an a good experience going to a movie or watching a movie with someone to chatting afterwards. Like that's just the best, best part of it. Going on to what you said about like the film adaptations towards books and and comic books and things like that, it's definitely something that's really busted up in our lifetimes, like especially from our teenage years onwards. It seems to be like everybody that grew up with that stuff and loved it grew up and was like, I want to make a movie about that thing that I loved when I was a kid. So I think that they've they've literally gone and remade those things. But for me, it's always been film because my atten like my attention is deviated between lots of different things all the time. So a movie gives me lots of things to look at, lots of things to think about while I'm engaging with this text. Uh at the point of like a book, for example. I don't know if you've ever experienced this, but I know that some people have in our community. When you're reading a book, as engaged as you are with it, you might read an entire page. And by the time you've gotten to the bottom of the page, sometimes my brain has wandered off to a point where I don't remember what I read. So I'll go up back and reread it. And that's a struggle I have with reading long texts, unless I'm super into it, like I was when I dove into The Lord of the Rings or I did that with The Witcher as well. And sometimes a movie will actually get me, if it's an adaptation, it'll get me to go back and actually try the book media that it was about, especially like comic books. My original sort of transition from that was like I went from comic books and then they obviously made the comic book movies, and I saw X-Men on the screen after reading a few X-Men comics, and I was like, this is absolutely amazing.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:But yeah, I think it's just it movies in general, no matter what the genre, no matter what your comfort zone is. I was saying this to somebody the other day at my work. I said, because they were talking about how they don't like watching movies that make them cry. And I said, I never used to either, but I feel like the reason that people like movies so much, and the people reason that we make these movies, is because people want to experience and feel various different emotions. And when they're watching a movie, they're able to feel those strong emotions and watch these personal experiences without the risk of that happening to you or damaging you. And there's an there's an element of detachment where you can experience that and go through the full plethora of human emotion from the comfort of your couch or with a trusted friend. And that's just something that I feel like I wanted to capture with our podcast, the Phantom Portals podcast. So when I was doing it by myself and that was happening, there was always just something missing. And that's why I was like, I need to bring somebody else on here that I can just talk about and connect with and do that kind of thing. And that's where you came along. And it's it's worked out really well because you have shown me a whole nother side of movies that I never really thought that I could see because I was very much stuck in the same sort of cycle and pattern of movies that I would watch. It's very well documented on this podcast that I'm not a horror guy, but through this we have watched like various different thrillers, horrors. We haven't really dove into horror so much right now, but we've definitely touched on thriller and we've touched on like a little bit of sort of the weirder movies or left field movies, or maybe even some B category movies we've looked at before. But and I've got to experience and relive some of the movies that I love through like your lens, for example. We've recently talked about Forrest Gump, which is a movie that I absolutely adore and love. Hearing about it from somebody else and a and a friend is is great as well to hear what somebody else got from it. And that's what I wanted to capture with this podcast, but also like what it can what watching that movie can teach you about real life. Because I don't know about you, Brash, but I I sometimes feel guilty for the amount of TV that I consume. And I'm sure people listening would feel the same way. Because there's we're always harping on about screen time, aren't we? It's like get off the screen, get like screen time, screen time. So if I could find a way to make it sound like my screen time was productive, then that's exactly what I was gonna do.
SPEAKER_03:So if I wasn't doing this, I'd probably still watch the same out anyway. So at least this way I get to actually I don't know, it's yeah, it feels like I'm contributing to something from watching all that sort of stuff.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:But um I also I also want to point out because you did make a good point about people not going to like feel like like oh, I don't like movies uh that make me cry.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Well for me it's horror, I don't want to watch it because it'll make me scared. It's the same thing.
SPEAKER_03:And I also think like I used to be like, oh, I don't want to watch anything like really sappy or anything like that because uh I Yeah but then uh but I do implore everyone that who's like that who's really like tough and doesn't want to cry or anything like that, or anything like just do it. Yeah, yeah. And cry. It you you'll understand once it's happened, and I don't know, it sort of gives like you sort of like it's like a shot of like um I don't know what's the word I'm looking for.
SPEAKER_02:Dopamine? Do you mean dopamine?
SPEAKER_03:Dopamine's like dopamine.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the motivation one. What's the what's the happy one?
SPEAKER_03:Isn't that isn't that dopamine? Isn't that happy? Isn't that the one the chocolate gives you?
SPEAKER_02:No, it's something else. What is it? Chocolate gives it it too, don't you? Cortisol threath. What is it?
SPEAKER_03:The happy one. It's the one when you talk about the happy chemical. Yeah, the happy chemical. It's sort of like it's not like that. Serotonin? Serotonin? I don't know. I don't know. Maybe not a doctor.
SPEAKER_02:You keep talking, I'll look it up.
SPEAKER_03:Don't take any medical advice from us. Yeah. Um, but yeah, it's it's sort of like a a shot of like just happiness and joy. And even like sad ones. Oxytocin. Oxytocin. Yeah. Um, and it's like sometimes it's a bit sad and everything, but like sometimes you just need that to get out of chest, and you feel a little bit lighter because it's 'cause like you're always holding on to that thing. And I used to think it was a badge of honor that like I'd never feel like I never cried or anything like that or bang or felt anything like I had fan members died and I didn't even shed a tear. And like I was like, gosh, it's because I'm it's just how I grew up and how I just I'm just fucking tough. And then I think um when my grandfather passed away and I lost it on that one, and then and then I don't know, it sort of just hit like a switch in me. And now watching mov some movies, I'll fully tear up and like afterwards I'll just feel like lighter, like like the stress has just been like lifted off of me.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:That's just me personally, but I I think everyone should should let their emotion go a little bit more, especially and especially just in the quiet comfort. You could be by yourself just watching a movie, or you could be with your loved one where it was like watching a movie. And like just the vulnerable vulnerability, right? Like there. You don't yeah, it'd like to be at the movie theater and pouring your eyes out with 50 other people sitting around you. Just in the comfort of your own home, just some chocolate and let it go, you know?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, but I I feel like movies are good for that man, and I definitely agree because when I was younger watching movies, I rarely cried during a movie. But since the birth of my children, I don't know what happened to me or whether it's just I'm just more sensitive. The switch flick. The switch flick and I will tear up in a lot of movies, especially if there's something to do with like parents being proud or kids doing something awesome, or like if there's there's just a really big moment of connection, or even like love stories and things like that. I get real sort of sappy about love stories, whereas I used to watch them be like kind of thing. But now it's just I'm all in it, which is really good. And you know, sometimes it comes from just like like that switch flipping, as we said, but I think it also comes from and I've said it before, like you and I talk a lot about these movies, and we go into some deep places sometimes. We look at them through different lenses and we look at them through various different like personal growth strategies and things like that. So we're kind of being vulnerable talking about these movies while we're watching these movies, and it's kind of opened us up, or for me anyway, it's kind of opened me up to expressing my true self, which is what our last DMARC was about, is like movies where characters were actually trying to find who they really are and be who they really are and be comfortable with who they really are. And I think that's something that I've kind of been moving towards for a very long time. Because yeah, I I think that that's really important for people, especially in this day and age, and what we were saying before about, you know, vulnerability and and people talking about things openly. It's it's like we're living in a time and a culture where we're more connected than than any other time that we were before through social media, but that is good and it's also bad, which is why I really love our community because online we can talk about various different movies like we do here with with yourself and me, but we can extend that to other people as well, because you know, talking is is is good when it comes to people that are struggling, but it also is is really good to experience those emotions in a safe sort of way, which is what movies allow you to do as well. So I I really like where our podcast is sort of sitting at the moment because it's that mix between like geeking out, but then also growing personally as well, and just finding out some new things about like me finding new things about you and and vice versa, but also just finding new things out about yourself. And and we've watched some movies that have surprised me with the messages that I've got from them as well. Like a the movie like The Crow that we watched a while ago, which is currently sitting fifth on our honor board. Yeah, oh yeah, or new mutants when we watched that. That's like critically bombed. And is yeah, but it's like what, fourth? Yeah, yeah. We've we've sat at fourth because I think like not only did we just find a really great piece of like media in terms of seeing a group of teenagers just going through something and and being being themselves in that space, but in the new mutants as well, I think we watched that at a time when we probably needed to watch it too. And that was almost like my because that was during Marvel Week, and we were like, well, let's watch something a bit different than your usual MCU because that they are very formulaic and things like that. So I was just like, let's watch something different. So I think that just cleansed the palate well, but it that's the thing, you know, when you watch a movie through a different lens or you're looking at it through the lens of something critical or something to do with personal growth, and you can really take something from a story that you didn't expect, which is that that'll link to our very next theme arc that we'll talk a bit more about at the end of this podcast, which is failure isn't final, which is where we look at films that flop and we're talking about what lessons can we learn from these movies that essentially like didn't make much money or are considered a critical failure. So it it kind of promotes that idea that just because you fail at something doesn't mean that it's gonna be the end of something or it means that it's bad. So that being said though, stay tuned for our Aragon episode because Brash's just gonna shit all over that. And if you hate that movie and you love those books, yeah, that episode is probably gonna feature some language. So apologies for our younger listeners. Let's get into some movies that um we've watched that's surprised us so far in our episode catalog. For me, I'll go first. The very first one, I actually think it was one of the very first ones you recommended because we started out with you. Your very first episode with us was Red One with Trent Rock Johnson. And then I think after that we went to like um it was like Venom, and then we went to like Indiana Jones or something like that, or there was a few in between that, but then Indiana Jones was one where you were just like, this is absolute rubbish. And that was really the first time we kind of disagreed because I was like, this is okay, and you're like, This is trash. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So I've seen the first three movies. This is Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. But then the one that really surprised me was one of the ones that you sort of first recommended, one that I'd never seen, and it was Phantom of the Opera. I'd never watched that, I'd never had anything to do with it before. I knew, and I talked about this on the episode, I knew about it because of Hey Arnold. But it actually became something that I was like obsessed with for the next two or three weeks after I watched it and then talked to you about it. So that actually that that movie there currently sits like in our top ten. It's number seven at the moment on our Phantom Portals Honor Board. Both of us rate one. Yeah, yeah. It was number one for a couple of weeks there. But like that's one of the few movies that you've rated a five out of five. I'm very I'm like a Christmas Santa Claus with my five out of five. Yeah. But you when you give a five. Yeah, yeah, yeah. When when you give a five, you give a five. And that was like it was really five. I think that's true, yeah, yeah. Are you able to see the rankings that you got here? No. Okay, so I can I can see the notes here. And yes, it looks like that is Phantom of the Opera is the only one that you've given a five to. You've given 4.5 to a couple of different movies as well, Forest Gum being one of them, Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3, Secret Life of Ultimate 4.5. Yeah. 4.5 is is kind of like your five, I guess, but Phantom of the Opera was the one. My mom beyond. Yeah, yeah. But I I was blown away by Jared Butler for one. Like people say that he was the weakest part of the movie, but I was just saying I loved him in that too.
SPEAKER_03:Like and the c and just also the fact that he had minimal voice training before the actual actual like he had no voice training before this and just had to run in and he's fucked his voice. Um, I think when he did the uh the actual music of the night song, he had reckoned his voice a little bit on that one. But uh he powered through it and I thought he did fantastic.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and then that that coupled with like because they wanted him to sound raw and yeah, Emmy Rosen, she was just enchanting basically. And I'd seen musicals before, but this was like a love story, but also it was so tragic, and it was also like really artful the way it was done by Joel Schumacher, I thought, because the set design in that movie was just phenomenal. Like yeah, it was so gothic in the way that it looked. It was just really like I gave it a three and a half, but if we were like we're talking before about movies that we might want to bump up, like if I was to re-watch that through through like any lens, basically, I think that would be one that I would probably bump up as Phantom of the Opera because yeah, that that really blew me away, that movie. And that was when I knew this partnership would be pretty cool. Like, because you're you're you're showing me movies that I'd never considered or never even thought of before. And then the other one after that, obviously New Mutants was one that we sort of came to by ourselves, but for me, the the other one was a very sort of left field movie, and it was the Ewoks Adventure. Remember what we did the Ewoks Adventure? Yeah, yeah, Caravan of Courage. And I'm a guy that loves the Muppets. Like they, I don't know why, but they're like a comfort button for me. The the Muppets are just freaking cool. Loved them all my life. So I was not opposed to watching this movie because of that, because I'm a Jim Henson fan, but I was like, man, this is like a TV B list VHS piece of crap. But then I watched it and I was like, man, this is actually not too bad. Like I don't, I don't really mind this at all. I actually rated that higher than you did. You recommended it. I gave it a 2.5 and you gave it a two. Yeah. But I thought, yeah, I I love that you're introducing me to new movies and expanding that horizon for me. And I reckon before we get to a hundred episodes, we may do a theme arc that is fully related to horror movies. I don't know. We we might see Aaron grow that far.
SPEAKER_03:Hey, hey, I have I have a list of movies we could watch for that.
SPEAKER_02:So a laundry list. What about you, Brash? What are some movies that we've watched that have surprised you, or ones that you think we've underrated, or some things that you think we've overrated? What's your what's your takes on the 50 episodes of Phantom Portals so far you can be on?
SPEAKER_03:One that surprised me.
SPEAKER_02:Good surprise or bad surprise?
SPEAKER_03:Good surprise.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_03:Because I know how much you love. I'm like sort of like, oh yeah, it's a good movie. I watched that years ago and then haven't really watched it since. And that's Forest Gar.
SPEAKER_04:Heck yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. I love it. So I I I was I'm like a 10 of the one, which is amazing. And I I gave it 4.5 um after our after our discussion. But I think prior discussion I would have probably gave it like a three Yeah or something like that. But after just like deep diving and talking about it and rewatching it again, because for me it was like I hadn't I don't think I had the seen for last time I watched Forest Gump, I was probably like 16. Yeah, I was yeah. Like or maybe maybe maybe my early twenties, maybe. And yeah, so it's been uh it's been a while, and for me, I was like, I can remember a lot of it, and there's still heaps of lines that I quote all the time, like uh bit something bit me, yeah. Yeah, I can I just like that shit all the time.
SPEAKER_02:Most credible movie in the world.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, exactly. It's so credible. And for me, I'm like, if I had to choose to like watch that or like another movie, I'd probably watch another movie. It's one that I've seen. I'm like, oh yeah, so you don't have to see it again. But I'm talking through you and how much you love it and what it meant to you, and and then and re-watching it myself, and I was like, you know what? It actually hits a bit harder than I remember it did. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And why come back to that thing we were talking about, how we get a bit more vulnerable when we're watching movies now, you let yourself feel the feelings, and you know, at the age of 30 plus, I won't age us on the podcast, but at the age of 30 plus, you know, you've been through a bit of life, so you look at Forrest's journey a little bit differently, especially in the in the lens of love, you know, because you can see how dedicated he is to Jenny and how often she just like really abandons him. So that's that brings out the heartstrings as well. But then, you know, you look at Jenny's journey from a different perspective sometimes too. And even though if you don't understand it or you don't agree with it, you can still sort of look at it and and and think of it in a different way instead of just villainizing her straight away, which is what I kind of like too.
SPEAKER_03:So you can see the pain that she's in.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. But my my all-time favorite character in Forrest Gump for every single part of it is Lieutenant Dan Taylor. He's just an absolute legend. And as we talked about in the in the episode just previous to this one, he is the character that goes through the absolute most sort of growth from learning and knowing Forrest Gump.
SPEAKER_03:Been a rough asshole pretty much to being like this pretty stand-up, nice, caring guy. Yeah, he does a full 180.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Is there any movies that we've done that you feel like you've rated too low? Too low. Because I've got one for you. You rated Dragonheart 2 criminal.
SPEAKER_03:I was looking at Dragon Heart, I was looking at Dragonheart, but again, uh as it's like when I when I when I said to you, like for me, I would have rated Dragon Heart maybe like three or four.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:From the Dragon Heart that was in my head, I rewatched Dragon. When I rewatched Dragon, I'm like, this is a fucking different movie.
SPEAKER_02:Well, that's the thing. Like, we just talked about two different movies that you watched at a later age. One got Better and the other one got worse. So that's the thing.
SPEAKER_03:I I had like all this imagination of the how that movie was in my head, and then I rewatched it, I'm like, I don't remember any of this shit happening. The one that was in my head was much better.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. The dragon in that though, you can't deny the animation and the CGI for the time. Oh, yeah, it was absolutely groundbreaking. And the I I think you were the one that said it. The person who who cast Sean Connery to be the voice of a dragon, it was a genius. Genius, absolute genius. Yeah. Absolute genius.
SPEAKER_03:But yeah, no, I'm sorry, I can't change my mind on that one.
SPEAKER_02:That's fair enough. That's fair enough.
SPEAKER_03:I I still will just replay the those numbers in my head that I like better.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. Is there any on here that you think we've we've rated too highly, we've given too much credit?
SPEAKER_03:Get given too much credit?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Because we do go through these and and we're pretty systematic with the way that we kind of rate them and talk about them, and we we do put a lot of thought into them.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, maybe something maybe something three. I was gonna say, like the top like 15. I mean, well, to actually to be fair, like I didn't watch these ones with you, which is like Big Fish and um 50 Days of Summer.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, those ones were done with with guest stars.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. I I wasn't a big fan of Big Fish.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Bro, that that movie is one that I when I was talking before about how moments in my life has changed how I've watched a movie and made me become more emotional about it. Big Fish is one that always reminds me of my dad. Yeah. So that's that's why I think I rate it so highly, is because whereas it does not remind me of my dad at all. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think for for me when I watched that one, it was almost like a story of of fatherhood for me, where I was looking at it from the perspective of like my dad, but also me being a dad now, because it's all about a father talking to his son through these massive and immersive tales. And I thought, you know, why is he actually doing this? And I'm like, is he doing it to brag? Is he doing it to posture that he's done a lot of things to his son? But then I thought, you know, he people do things, especially teach things for two reasons, and it's either to teach them a lesson or to sh to try and impart some wisdom or show them an emotion that they want to feel. So through that lens, when I watched that movie, I really, really enjoyed it. It's one of my stuff favorites. And I did that with Thomas, who's part of the Challenge Accepted podcast. And he does a Sickburn podcast as well. He's a really great podcaster. So if you want to check him out, look him up on any sort of podcasting platforms, that's uh Thomas at the Sickburn Podcast. He's a good Hawaiian dude. So Brash, you came onto the podcast in episode 12. You did a guest uh when we're talking about critical role show Vox Mukana, both being Dungeons and Dragons fans ourselves. Um, and then on episode 16, that is when you like joined fully. Now, of the catalogue that came before you, there is a movie that I covered solo that I would love to do with you in the future. Uh, just to like give a little sneak peek, but also it's something that I do actually really want to revisit, and it's a night's tale. You know that is also one of my all-time favorite movies. It's in my Letterboxd top four. So one day we have to do Heath Ledger's A Night's Tale. I think that is only finished.
SPEAKER_03:We should just do a Heath Ledger a month.
SPEAKER_02:Look, I would absolutely love to do that. Ten Things I Hate About You, Night's Tale. You know, Ten Things I Hate About You is the highest rated rom com on Letterboxd. It's like in the top ten or the top twenty uh movies with most fans in the in the list. It's actually really, really highly liked. And I can see why.
SPEAKER_03:I only watched it a couple months ago.
SPEAKER_02:You're kidding. Yeah. Bro, I I had to watch that in high school. And you know, sometimes when they roll in a movie for high school and that crappy old TV.
SPEAKER_03:I don't know. I mean, I didn't watch it for the first time a couple months ago. I mean, I just re- I just rewatched it like that a couple months a couple months or so ago.
SPEAKER_02:Fair enough, fair enough. That's okay, that's acceptable.
SPEAKER_03:I I've seen I've seen I've seen that movie many, many times.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. We had to watch it in high school. They rolled in the old box TV and you're like, I think we watched it in high school too. Yeah. Because it's it's a Shakespeare play that they've taken off of that one. So yeah. All right. Let's move on from our catalogue and we'll get into our audience fan community questions. Thank you so much for sending these ones in. We put a threads post up a few, it was probably like two months ago now, and an Instagram story up, and you guys had the opportunity to give us questions that Brash and I would answer on this 50th episode of our podcast, which also coincides with we're a little bit late, but we're celebrating our one-year birthday as well for the podcast. So some of these will say happy birthday, and if you're wondering why, that is why. It's because we are about a year old when we've hit these 50 episodes. A little bit more, but here we go. So first question comes from Abby Grace underscore from Threads. She said, You guys talk about growth a lot in your episodes recently. What's something you've changed, like a habit or a mindset that's genuinely made your everyday life better? That's a good question. Ooh. I can go first if you want. Yeah. Mine is sleep and also diet. Like that's a pretty that's not really growth, I guess. It's more like a habit. But for me, my sleep pattern's definitely improved and my diet, I'm just starting to intentionally eat more whole foods instead of rubbish. If you want to talk about an actual mindset thing, Abby Grace underscore, for me, it's probably self-acceptance in terms of how I am as a person internally, I guess is how I can say that best. So being okay and comfortable with who I am as a person, knowing that, you know, that guy's okay. And my own harshest critic is myself. So for me, it's those three things some lifestyle habits, but also a mindset. One that's slowly developing over time, and it's taken a long time to get me to this space. But I feel like talking about stuff on this podcast, as well as some other things, has been a really big factor in helping me do that. So what about you, Brash?
SPEAKER_03:I don't know. I'm a mess. Uh you are not. No, um, I think for me, here here's something personal gross to me. So when I was a lot younger, so it was like 17, 18, I was a heavy drinker and a heavy smoker. And I was on and off the smokes from 17 to 26-ish. And I used to drink a lot. Like I'd have twelve drinks a night and wake up and go to work next morning. Like, um, and yeah, it was really bad. And I'd used to go to the pub all the time and go to the clubs and like all the young people thing, but I think for me looking back at it, it was so excessive. And like I don't remember a lot of my early twenties because of it. And uh I I think it's ever like once I think I was 20 roughly 28 between 28 and 30 I when I was 26 I sort of I quit smoking. Every now and then if I'm out with friends having a few drinks, I might indulge in a cigarette if the habit comes onto me a bit and I usually like regret it immediately afterwards. But I don't drink anymore. So I um the only time I will drink is like say like a Christmas party or like a a birthday celebration or anything like that, or if I go out to dinner I'll have like eight beer or something like that, but like at home I don't really I don't drink anymore. And I think that's made that's made my life a lot better. I think I've I've a lot healthier than I used to be. Like I used to be really athletic in school and everything like that, and then sort of like in my sort of I thought I was invincible and I thought I could my metabolism would never go away and I was always gonna be fit and healthy. And then when I started getting towards like 25, 26, I'm like started playing, I went and played footy again and I was like, I cannot do the same things I used to do anymore. Yeah, so I think yeah, cutting back on those sort of habits were really life-changing for me. Like helped me save a lot more money as well to be able to afford to buy a house and everything like that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, but that's so good, man.
SPEAKER_03:I think that's my growth.
SPEAKER_02:That's really good. It's a hard thing to break sometimes too, but I'm really glad to hear I'm proud of you. Thanks, man. I know you don't like compliments and stuff like that. Shut up. I'm proud of you.
SPEAKER_03:No, so that that that that's my quitting quitting out well, not quitting alcohol, like I sort of I take, but like really, really reducing how much it. Yeah. Like I used to think it was funny going to the doctors and they'd be like, oh, how much do you drink? And I'd be like, oh, a day or a week. And they like you you see the look of their face, like, that's not funny, dude. And then I look back and look back at those, I'm like, you're an idiot, man.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Alright. Next question. We'll go. Kellen Chips was on threads, and they said, How do you guys always seem so grounded? If I had a mic and a platform, I'd never shut up.
SPEAKER_03:Well, that's because we don't record everything we say.
SPEAKER_02:That's very true.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, all the all the bragging and all the pushing happen before we There's an hour before we record and an hour after we record when we just talk shit.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I don't I don't know about that one. I think that like I'm pretty myself when we're we're talking here, if that's what you mean by grounded. I just like I think if you listen to our early episodes when you and I are like finding our rhythm, you can see that it's like it's a little bit formulaic, yeah, so to speak. But I think now that we've sort of gotten into it a bit, we sort of talk a little bit more free flow and like we'll share something that's personal to us, and then we'll share something that's like something that we hope people might um might be able to learn through like like my expertise, like expertise, I'll say, in question marks through my my work as a teacher or you as well, through your your knowledge of like like games and films and things like that that you do as as a reviewer as well. So I think you know, leaning into our strengths is a big one, but also like we're both, or I feel like we're both very open to each other's opinion as well. Like, I don't think I've ever heard an opinion from you, and you've never heard one from me where we've either said to each other, you're full of shit. Like, like you what a what an absolute crappy take that you've got there. Fucking wrong. Yeah, yeah. How how on earth could you ever feel that way about this movie? How could you see that you're you're stupid and wrong? Like, I think it's because we've both created like a pretty open space where we accept what each other has to say about the movie.
SPEAKER_03:That's it. We're like, yeah, we're both really open to seeing the other person's point of view.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:To the point where it might even sway our rating from like a bit presumptuous, but I'm I hope that some people watching this, especially like if when we're sharing some of our personal um things that we've gone through, it might be relatable to some other people and it might help them try and get through the same thing that we've been through or we talk about.
SPEAKER_02:Going through, or yeah. And that's that's part of the reason as well why I've s I liked the way that this podcast has transitioned into what it is in terms of watching a movie and talking about personal growth and things like that, because one, I know that um a lot of people do suffer in silence, for one. So and then for two, it's good to hear that somebody may be going through something similar or feels something the same as you do. Three, it's great to hear that somebody likes the same thing that you like. And yeah, I think that it's really important for people to know that it's also okay to talk with a friend, like we're doing it pretty publicly on a podcast, but you don't have to, but you can talk to friends like this and and you know, get things off your chest if you need to, or or move through things as you as you see fit. And you know, I don't think it's presumptuous of you to to say that because I definitely it's become the purpose of this podcast, really, is that's like yeah, we're talking about movies and geeking out and stuff like that, but I think we're also talking really well with each other. So yeah. And which is important.
SPEAKER_03:Maybe like we talk about a movie that talks about elements of something that people might be going through and they might never have seen that movie before and know what it's about. They might happen to find it and be like, that that movie sounds like something I've gone through, maybe I should watch that and yeah, maybe it'll help me out a bit. And I hope that's the case for some of these movies.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and I do too, especially going forward as well. So really good question, Kellen Chips. I appreciate that from threads.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I'd I'd the question, I don't know about you, but I know uh for me, like I love what like I go on YouTube and I watch like reaction I can get lost in reaction videos on like YouTube. Yeah, yeah. And because I always like say like no one was for um baby metal. There's people reacting to baby metal, and there's like people like who've never seen baby metal before and they watch they go, that's so amazing. And I was and like because I'm I'm a fan of baby metal, I really like baby metal, and I'm like, and seeing them like that as I finally allies, yes, I'm like, you love that? I love that too. Get on the bandwagon, and I just I I I know it just makes me happy when I see other people being happy watching something else that I like.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Like so that's another thing I hope we sort of bring, like they may really like the movie Gabriel, and it's a really uh probably not a really well-known movie, but someone might like it, and then finally someone says, Oh, someone's doing a review or something on Gabriel, like no one ever does this because that movie's gotten forgotten in time. Yeah, and then they watch it, they're like, Oh, they really liked it, and I really liked it, and I hope it like sort of brings someone a little bit of joy.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, no, I can I can definitely agree to that because that's like it's part of the reason why we go ahead and we put those community polls up on our Instagram for for us to do movies that you guys listening want to hear us do because if we like what you have put up, then that's obviously a really great feeling. But if we don't, then that's obviously like we're still your friends, we still love you.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, but uh but you go like um I like I do like hearing and because not all the reactions I watch for things I like are overly positive, and for me I never get I never get angry or feel angry about someone doing that. It's more of a for me or for me at least, I I try and see it from their point of view and I'm like oh yeah, I I feel nice, right? Like to be honest, like you you love you like country music?
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely love it.
SPEAKER_03:I fucking hate it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:I know but like but like say I I grew up in Charlestown, this is a um little country country Dominicown. So that was country music all the time around there, and like don't don't get me wrong, I don't hate all country music. I listen to country music and I'm like, oh that's pretty good. Like saying the horse right boy, it was my favorite cleaning song.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:But yeah, like to me, like it all just sounds the same.
SPEAKER_02:But we can still be friends, Brash. That's fine.
SPEAKER_03:But uh on top of that, you like I've had friends show me some country music songs and I'm like that slaps.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Alright, we got a question here from sorry if I butcher your name. Yuri underscore T and Time. No, that's not so hard to say. Yuri underscore T and Time are from threads. And they say this is kind of talking about what we talked about before. It's like who's most likely to cry in an episode. I don't know about crying an episode or cry in a film or either way.
SPEAKER_03:I reckon I reckon I'd probably be more likely to cry in an episode.
SPEAKER_02:See, I I reckon it I reckon me as well. I don't know. You reckon? Oh, I was almost tearing up before. Yeah, yeah. Man. Yeah. There's been times where I'm definitely like I feel like for me, if you ever hear me starting to talk really fast, it's because I'm trying to get words out because I'm feeling like emotional. I really want to like I want to get the words out before I start to blubber, I guess you could say. But there has been times where I've sort of gotten a little bit that way when we've been.
SPEAKER_03:I'm definitely gotten a little more emotional than I was when I was younger.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I think it's good though.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, no, like 100%. Like, like as I said earlier, like it it like for me, like it just makes me feel lighter.
SPEAKER_02:Like yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I think we talked about this one a lot before. So we'll move on to our next one. And this one isn't isn't specifically a question that was asked, but it was a conversation that happened on the Nerd Things podcasts threads. So the Nerd Thing is a podcast that that talks about people's nerdy things that they love. And they actually said that editing and marketing the podcasts has taken over their lives before. And they're and I sort of wanted to talk a little bit about how you can make that stop, I guess. So I guess for for me, it's definitely a workflow thing in terms of this. Like scheduling is obviously picking a co-host or or somebody in a scheduling time that works for you is is great and stuff, but using tools that reduce your workflow is the best thing ever. And learning the phrase and my podcasting network buddies, Frank from the Geek Freak Network, he taught me this saying, and it's just like good enough is good enough. So he also said, like, nobody lit will like most people will listen to a podcast episode one, maybe two times if they really loved it. You as a podcasting editor will listen to it like three times. You'll record it, you'll listen to it and edit it, and then you'll listen to it like at least two or three times. So he goes, No one's really listening to it more than you. You'll be more critical on yourself. So for all the podcasters that are listening to this, just remember that if you're doing it for passion, you're doing it for love, and that will reflect through in what you're doing. And it doesn't matter, like obviously audio quality is important, but it doesn't matter if there's like a slight bit of this or a slight bit of that in your podcast recording. If it's going to take you an extra two hours to fix, then yeah, good enough is good enough.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, touch on that too, because I used to stream. Well, I try I tried to stream games on Twitch and everyone. And yeah, tools are a big help. Um and guess it is building a schedule and staying to that schedule.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Because I I built a schedule and then I had to deviate. And then eventually, because of that deviation, and also I changed jobs that was a bit more demand, like demanding of my time. So I had to try and change that schedule, and then I found out that the schedule I had to change to was pretty much non-existent. And so I it sort of just went from me oh streaming like nearly two hours a night for a whole like a month and then all of a sudden just had to stop so I think it's yeah, consistency is probably the big thing. Just try and keep it consistent. Just trying to f just try to fight and cause yeah, it doesn't have to be long. Like especially at the start, it doesn't have to be long, and at the start it doesn't have to be perfect. Yeah, yeah. It's it's about it's about I think the consistency. If you just keep keep doing it, keep doing it, keep doing it eventually like you'll start to see some growth. And if you just keep consistent and being consistent every day, you'll eventually start building that uh sort of time. But unfortunately, life doesn't always like it that way and will throw you some speed humps. But just trying to keep it.
SPEAKER_02:I think that's important to note too.
SPEAKER_03:Keep the consistency, I think, is a big one.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and I think consistency is good is good, but it also has to be consistent and what's the word I'm looking for here? Realistic as well. So, like if, for example, when my football season's on, two of my nights a week are taken up by training, so that's obviously nice that I can't edit or do anything like so. We've moved to like a fortnightly instead of a weekly, which we usually do when I'm not at football training. So just like giving yourself it's still consistent, but obviously you let life take into account those times and you move through and past that as well. But yeah, consistency is definitely something that you need to to keep on top of and putting in the schedules, as we said before, and using the tools to reduce your workflow. So that's probably our biggest tips there from uh the Phantom Portals podcast. All right. We've got some messages from some previous guests that have been on the show. So here is a message from Steven Kepfer. He was on an episode 44, and he was a stump man that I interviewed, and he is giving us some well wishes. So thank you, Steven, for all of your your kind words, and thank you for appearing on the show as well.
SPEAKER_01:Hey, what's up? I'm here to wish Aaron and Fandom Portals Podcast an amazing first anniversary. I recently got a chance to appear on the show. I had a blast. It's really informative. I've been catching up on some of the other episodes, and just Aaron does a great job, and I'm really glad that I came across his show and was able to spend some time out there talking with him about the stump world and filmmaking and everything. His passion is evident and it comes across in a fantastic show. So if you're not subscribed to Phantom Portals Podcast, you actually need to go to your favorite podcast player right now. Search for Phantom Portals and subscribe. It's an awesome show. Congratulations on one year, Aaron.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you for that, Steven. Yeah, he was a really great guest to talk to and giving him some well wishes too. He also runs a podcast as well, it's the Film Fights Podcast, so make sure you go and check him out. He talks to some people that have worked in the stunt world about all the different techniques and trade secrets that they use. So go and check him out and his stuff as well. We've also got a message here from our network, Mr. Frank from the Geek Freaks podcast. He has sent us a little voice message.
SPEAKER_00:Aaron Hey Brasher, Frank here. Congratulations on a wonderful year of the Phantom Portals podcast. I am one of your most avid fans. The way you guys uplift your community and share your passions, it's infectious. We all want to join in on the fun. I've had the absolute privilege of joining you guys on a couple episodes, and I'm always left wanting more. More, Aaron, more talking about the things I love, more analyzing the movies that I might have overlooked, more Phantom Portals podcasts. So congratulations on a year, and I cannot wait to see what you guys have cooking up next.
SPEAKER_02:He's such a nice guy, Frank, and he's like he's a really big podcasting mentor of mine. He he was on the show talking about Star Trek before. We did a crossover episode because he does a challenge accepted podcast with Thomas, who I talked about before as well. And we did Mortal Kombat. Yeah, he's a he's a really big Game of Thrones fan as well. So we both vibe over Dragon Love. Dragons. Yeah. So yeah, thank you, Frank, for your well wishes. Thank you for all your advice always. And he's always only a uh Instagram direct message away if I have any concerns or queries. So yeah, he he he and the Geek Freaks network as well. Because the way this started was I started an Instagram page and it was just geek stuff going up on Instagram and the podcast was coming, and I kept saying it was coming. And he reached out to me before I'd released an episode and he was like, Do you want to join the network? And I was like, I don't have anything out to contribute to the network. And he goes, No, it's like, do you want to join the network? I was like, Yeah, like cool. We talked about what it would be like, and it's been the best sort of support network I could ever ask for because talking about that consistency that we we talked about before, they keep me on track and they like they it's good to have people to bounce off of how you can evolve and things like that. So and he's been in the industry and the business for ages, so can't say enough good things about about Frank the Geek Freaks Network.
SPEAKER_03:Just say maybe one day might be able to build I might be able to build a campaign and we can have everyone from the network? The network join us in a DD game.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. Well, he's actually an avid DD player as well. He runs a campaign with a couple of the people from the Geek Freaks Network. I think there's three or four of them in there, but they run it where than ever they can. And when he found out that I had done a DD podcast, we started talking about that a lot as well. Because he would you know how when you're a you'd know this, when you're a DM, you can't share your secrets with your players. Yeah. And you need somebody to talk about the cool things that you're gonna do. So yeah, I was that for Frank for a little bit there. So yeah, he's definitely a he's he's got a lot of similar interests to you and a lot of similar interests to me as well. So both big football fans as well. We got a message here, a birthday message from Jeremy Drysdale. He was a screenwriter that we did an interview with, and he's known for coming up with a screenplay for The Line of Duty, which stars Aaron Eckhart. And he says, There's a lot of film podcasts, but as far as I know, there's only one driven by the smart, inquiring, precacious mind of Aaron Davies. I'm not making this up, this is what he sent to me. That glittering shimmer of lucid intelligence is fandom portals, and it is my great pleasure to wish them well on their anniversary. Happy birthday, and thanks for having me for the fun episode. Thanks, Jeremy. It was a really great chat. He he was what somebody that I learned a lot from in terms of screenwriting. And you know how I go on these deep dives every now and then, Brash, on account of my mind being how it is. I actually went through this deep dive of looking really into film screenplays. And when I was doing that, I was like, I've got to talk to one of these guys that write these things. And I reached out to Heath, and he was one that sort of hit me back, and it was really great to have a chat to him about the industry. So thanks very much for that. Taught me a lot. We got one from Luke Newton, who is actually like he's pretty much my brother, Luke Newton, because my little brother has was his friend growing up in high school since they were like 13 or 14 or something like that. But he's always around the house and he until he moved away. But he's the one that we've actually been doing a lot of episodes with Avatar the Last Airbender about. So I'll watch a series of Avatar the Last Airbender and then we'll talk about it. And then I'll watch the second one and we'll talk about it. So he says, Hello, fandom portals. I can't believe it's already been a year since the potty was launched. Since then, you've had some absolute bang rap episodes that I've really been able to engage with and relate to. I want to thank you for giving me the platform to talk about my love of Avatar and taking my podcast virginity. You're welcome, Luke. Looking forward to many more episodes and even keener to wrap up the OG Avatar series with book three in the near future. I hope you guys get many more amazing guests to follow and praying that your potty gets the recognition it deserves. Love you, brother, from Luke. Thank you, Luke. Appreciate you. And then the last one we have is from Tia Jackson, who appeared on one of our episodes, episode 46, and I talked to her about Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio movie. And she says, Happy first birthday, Phantom Portals. What an amazing achievement. Well done. I adore this podcast and truly love guesting. It was one of the most relaxed and fun recording experiences I've ever had. I adore this podcast and truly love guesting. Uh, Aaron, you made me feel so welcome. Thank you. I can't wait to see what you have in the future and what it brings. What a wonderful and wholesome podcast. It's a great example of joy that the world needs many more to come. So thank you for that, Tia. She's from the Alien Effects podcast here. So if you go and look her up, definitely follow her on the Alien Effects podcast. And she's someone who talks about her geek passions as well. And the podcast is called the Alien Effect Podcast because that's the way she feels when she loves something so much. It's like an alien coming out of her chest, like from the movie Alien. That's that's the whole sticks. But yeah, that was a really great talk on episode 46 where we chatted about Pinocchio with T. So thank you for the birthday messages, guys, and thank you for the support of the podcast from all our guests. It was amazing to hear from you guys as well. That's pretty much it, Brash. That's our mailbag gratitudes all wrapped up. Do we talk about what we're going to be doing in the future?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Oh, do you want to talk about what we've been doing lately and then the future?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Do you want to kick us off with lately?
SPEAKER_03:Lately? Go for it. Uh so I just I watched the new Robin Hood show. Or what? Yeah. There is no new what new Robin Hood show?
SPEAKER_02:Bro, Robin Hood is like I read the Robin Hood books when I was like 10. And I always it was like those DK illustrated I've been obsessed. Scott Sean Bean. Who does he play? The Sheriff. What more do you need to sell a TV show? What's it on? It is on Stan. I don't have Stan.
SPEAKER_03:I have Stan. So if I have Stan, you have Stan.
SPEAKER_02:Because we live in the same household. Yes. For those of you listening to this on audio, I just gave a really big wink to Brad. We don't condone. Yes, we do. Fuck it.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, of course we do.
SPEAKER_03:Of course we do. Fuck it. I I I pay a lot of money for my streaming services. I actually be able to fucking share them with someone. Yeah, I want to enjoy it with a friend. But no, uh, yeah, see it's on stand. It just can ask two episodes out, next episode down on Sunday. So if I'm here to you know at least you can watch it over the weekend.
SPEAKER_02:That sounds great.
SPEAKER_03:Uh and I've been playing the new dispatch game.
SPEAKER_02:Dispatch? Also something I haven't heard of. Tell me more.
SPEAKER_03:Um so uh the creators of dispatch it's a superhero like 911 call center. So you are in charge of the there's a whole story with it, but I won't get into it because you need to get the game because it's not that expensive. Throwing out there, even for us in Australia, even though things in Australia always cost more. It's not not overly expensive, and it is a very, very fun, cool game with a bunch of awesome voice actors. And some streamers actually do some of the voices like Moist Critical, Jacksepticeye, and Oh yeah. I always fucking Charles And the Australian Australian streamer. And then also they sent a script to Laura Bailey. Oh, and Laura Bailey loved it and was like, hey Travis, have a look at this. So the C C C C O O of Critical Role was like, damn, this looks absolutely amazing. I want in on this. And they joined and partnered with Critical Role. So Critical Role also helped fund and build this game. And it has Travis Willingham as one of the voice actors, it has Laura Bailey as one of the voice actors, and then a couple of other characters who aren't really in the game, but they're just extra voices, are also some of the Critical cast members. No, it's as well. And it is a fantastic game. It comes out in episodes, two episodes a week. And I think there's eight episodes. And currently there's six out at the moment. Oh no, I was actually playing it just before I jumped. Oh actually, it's actually behind my screen of you. You'll be playing it when we stop as well. Exactly. Yes.
SPEAKER_02:And the text is it like one of those old telltale game things or how's it run?
SPEAKER_03:So it's very cinematic. You can go to interactive, but I'm in cinematic mode because the interactive modes like when there's fight scenes, you have to move your mouth, click your mouse, and move it and drag the line in certain ways and that to throw punches and dodge and stuff like that. But it's just really just sit like but it's all like active time events.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And so it's just really cinematic, and then the actual main gameplay of it is you've got your list of people, like your pictures of all your people, your superheroes on the bottom, uh, with all the amazing voice actors and content creators and other people who voice these characters, uh and they're all quirky and different. And alert will come up on your map, click on the alert, and it'll say, hey, this something's happening, like a cat's stuck up my cat's stuck up on a tree, I need to get it out of the tree. Can you send someone to help? So you have to look at what the uh there's like little clues uh pertaining to the uh to what the job is, and then you pick the right person for the job, and if they're good enough and have the right stats, they'll succeed, and then eventually they'll level up a little bit. You can put an extra point in one of their stats. So like strength, mobility, defense, brains.
SPEAKER_02:Is it permadeath as well? No. So you know you know, like for like for example, XCOM, you'd have your Australian soldier that was an arterialist, and you'd send him out on missions, and then if he died, he was gone. But if he if he survived, he'd stay alive for forever.
SPEAKER_03:No, so th these are your core builds, so you don't like so these are your main characters of your story. No, they're all and they've all got they're all different and they have their own little unique unique works and everything like that.
SPEAKER_02:Yep, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:But like they can get if they fail, they can get injured. Or if they fail, they get injured, and if they fail again, um and they lose some stats and they get weaker if they get injured, and then if they lose like fail again, another mission, then they can get downed, and you can't use them for the rest of the uh uh rest of the sort of shift because there's an issue you've got your morning shift and your afternoon shift, and then yes, yeah, it's very cinematic and beautifully animated. Music's phenomenal. Yeah, it's just an all-around, just a wonderful game.
SPEAKER_02:A treat. All right, what have I been into? I have been watching, well, TV show-wise, I've been watching Chad Powers on Hulu, Disney Hulu. It's not too bad, it's pretty good. The football in is pretty accurate. It's like it's story-wise, it's pretty predictable. It's like literally Mrs. Doubtfire without the kids and with more football. But like Glenn Powell does a really great job, and there's some emotional scenes towards the end episode, but they leave it on a really big cliffhanger. So uh there's six episodes or seven episodes in season one. Really massive cliffhanger. I'm pretty sure they're going into a season two, but I'd recommend watching it because yeah, it's like two and a half, three hours of your of your life, and it's entertaining and it's fun. Made me laugh a few times. Kalia was into it as well, so she liked it. Other than that, I have actually been watching a whole bunch of movies on Disney that have like they're kind of in the same sort of vein and category. So I I watched the Maze Runner trilogy, and then from which is a book adaptation that we could have talked about before. I watched a couple of the Narnia movies, again, another book adaptation. I watched The Prince of Persia, which was a game adaptation, and all of the and obviously John Carter. And and all of these movies are kind of in that vein of like kind of successful, not really like takeoff blockbustery. And I've been doing that because our next theme arc that we were doing, then that we're going to be launching straight after this episode, is obviously Failure Isn't Final, where we take the movies that flopped and we see what we can learn from them. So to talk about our future stuff now, we are going to be doing an episode straight after this one about John Carter. So we're going to be looking at John Carter as a movie, which is the Disney movie starring Taylor Kitch, which is a book adaptation, believe it or not. Are we going to be doing Eragon as well, which is the two movies that Brash and I have decided to do? And the new format we're kind of going into is because we usually release four episodes a month, we're going to do one that, or two that Brash and I pick, and then the last two will be community picks. So we're going back to that formula that we used to do back at the start, where we do a community pick movie. And we've actually been getting lots of interactions on our socials. So if you want to be a part of that, make sure you join us on Threads and Instagram at fandom portals because we hold a fight bracket basically where we ask for your input on what movies we should do, and we get a big list. Uh, we narrow it down to eight and then we set them off against each other tournament style, just like Dragon Ball Z until one of them wins. At the moment, we've got our finals bracket happening for our third movie for that theme arc, and then we'll be doing the fourth very, very soon. So those will release and be revealed on our social media. So make sure you go on there, vote, and uh have a chat about which one you want us to do. So it's all going to be films that have flopped, and some of them have been pretty surprising in terms of movies that have flopped because yeah, they've they've had massive studio backings, but obviously they have not met the mark. But yeah, we'll be talking about that in the future. So that is where we currently are at at the Fandom Portals podcast. We'll be talking about the movies that aimed high, stumbled, but still managed to teach us something because we'll be looking at those lessons as we always do in our Fandom Portals style. So believe it or not, brash, you're gonna have to come up with some sort of thing that you learned from Aragon, and it can't be that you can't adapt a great book into a shit movie. You have to actually go up with something.
SPEAKER_03:Sometimes you've just got to throw it in the bin and start again.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Well, look, we'll talk about it more during that episode, but I I have some pretty similar opinions to you on that, on that stance. So, all right. This has been our community episode, our gratitude mailbag episode for 50 episodes and one year of podcasting. Brash, I want to generally thank you for coming along on the ride. It's it's the highlight of my time when we record. It's really great. And you know, watching movies and knowing that uh you're over the other side of town watching it too is is kind of comforting, you know? Well, all right. Gratitudes for this week. My one is all of the community call-ins that we got. We of we obviously didn't say some of the ones that we got because obviously press for time. We're over an hour now, but we do appreciate every single one of you guys that uh reached out to us and consistently vote on our polls is because of you that these community picks and movies and stuff go ahead. So, and also interacting on some of our posts that we talk about where we geek out about all of our favourite movies. So thank you to our community once again. I know I've been grateful for you guys before, but I think it's only fitting on our 50th episode that we do it here and now. So I think you'd share in that gratitude as well, Brass.
SPEAKER_03:No, I did owe that. I certainly did er that sentiment, and I also like to thank you for bringing me along on this journey. It's been absolutely amazing. And I always I always liked this kind of stuff. That's why I wanted to like get into streaming initially. I loved because I liked playing streaming, I loved playing games, and especially through COVID, I used to watch heaps of streamers and podcasters and that all the time because there's really nothing else to do. Yeah. There's a big boom, and I'm like, wow, that seems like such fun to do. And then just seeing that like playing games with their other friends and all of that, it just it just seems so much fun. So that's why enjoying you, it's been an absolute blast.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, thanks, man. I appreciate that. It's it's been a real blast, and every time we do it, it's been fun. So appreciate you, appreciate our community. It's a good thing we got going. Might might keep doing it. Yeah, yeah. At least for for at least one more episode. One more episode. That's what we'll say every time. At least four episodes. One more, one more episode. Yeah, just one more.
SPEAKER_03:You know, you know what? Maybe one more.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. All right. Keep learning, keep growing, keep loving filming fandoms, guys. We'll catch you next time.
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