Moderate Fantasy Violence

Welcome to Moderate Fantasy Violence, a fortnightly podcast about pop culture and the world around it, as discussed by Nick Bryan and Alastair JR Ball. Nick will probably launch into a tangent about comics, Alastair will likely go for politics. Both are equally worthwhile.

MFV #214 - The Meninist K-Hole 05/09/2024

MFV #214 - The Meninist K-Hole This fortnight, an exercise in extreme contrast with thoughtful historical drama Shogun (24:39) and cartoonish high school comedy Bottoms (40:18). Meanwhile, Nick is back on Kickstarter with The Collected Letters of Courier Z, a series of stories about a space-postwoman turning to crime. And see fuller shownotes about this episode at /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/31140028

MFV #213 - The worst job in the world 04/25/2024

MFV #213 - The worst job in the world This fortnight, we face the horrible present-future with Civil War (18:10), then retreat into a cosy fantastical past with Renegade Nell (34:48). Fuller shownotes at /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/30965558

MFV #212 - EBV (Extreme Bloody Violence) 04/11/2024

MFV #212 - EBV (Extreme Bloody Violence) We make a mockery of our podcast name this fortnight, tackling two releases where the violence is definitely not moderate - Invincible season 2 (15:03) and Monkey Man (34:15). Fuller shownotes at /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/30765408

MFV #211 - A void in Walthamstow 03/28/2024

MFV #211 - A void in Walthamstow Back to Nick's superhero territory this fortnight, with the second season of powers-focused sitcom Extraordinary (20:40) and the first two issues of the new Ultimate Spider-Man series (36:02) from Marvel Comics. Fuller shownotes on /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/30566623

MFV #210 - The Golden Honk of the Sandworm 03/14/2024

MFV #210 - The Golden Honk of the Sandworm A big episode for Alastair this week, as we cover his annual Oscar predictions audio extravaganza, and the new Dune movie (16:11, with hard spoilers from 25:24), plus bonus piracy with Our Flag Means Death season 2 (36:52, spoilers from 43:34). Fuller shownotes on /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/30359468

MFV #209 - 80s Magic Mike 02/29/2024

MFV #209 - 80s Magic Mike Some seasonal February moments of dark intensity this fortnight, in The Iron Claw (12:19) and the new Mr & Mrs Smith series (26:37). Fuller shownotes at /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/30150808

MFV #208 - Teenage Milked Ninja Turtles 02/15/2024

MFV #208 - Teenage Milked Ninja Turtles We're covering two separate ends of the movie spectrum this fortnight, with thoughtful current Oscar-contending movie American Fiction (15:40) on one side, and last year's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (29:38) on the other. Fuller shownotes at /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/29959078

MFV #207 - True Confessions of a Serious Film Critic 02/01/2024

MFV #207 - True Confessions of a Serious Film Critic This fortnight, 2024 begins in earnest with Oscar-nominated film Poor Things (14:07) and new Marvel show Echo (28:06). Fuller shownotes at /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/29732568

MFV #206 - Let’s quack on 01/18/2024

MFV #206 - Let’s quack on As is traditional, the first episode of a new year is spent mopping up some leftovers from the end of the previous one, with What If... season 2 (12:49) and Slow Horses season 3 (31:17). Fuller shownotes at /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/29529763

MFV #205 - What’s Earthworm Jim up to? 01/04/2024

MFV #205 - What’s Earthworm Jim up to? The new year 2024 has begun, and that can only mean one thing - time for Moderate Fantasy Violence to talk about the previous one! Nick and Alastair assemble to look back on the movies (9:47) and TV shows (35:47) of 2023, both giving a broad overview chat, then running down their top 5 favourites each. Fuller shownotes (and full-length year-end summary articles) at /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/29325098

MFV #204 - New face! WAUUUGH! 12/21/2023

MFV #204 - New face! WAUUUGH! Time for our festive late-2000s nostalgia special, as we cover the Doctor Who 60th anniversary Fourteenth Doctor specials (11:38) and the new Scott Pilgrim Takes Off anime (36:36). Fairly liberal spoilers for both, so recommend watching them before listening if you're heavily invested in either property. Especially the Scott Pilgrim one. Fuller shownotes at /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/29150453

MFV #203 - Is Saltburn a British film? 12/07/2023

MFV #203 - Is Saltburn a British film? This fortnight, there's all kinds of sinister things happening at the universities, as we cover polarising dark academia movie Saltburn (13:49) and edgy superkids-at-uni show Gen V (37:05), a spin-off from The Boys. Fair warning - we manage not to explicitly spoil Saltburn, but do heavily imply the nature of the ending. You may want to see the film first if you feel strongly. Fuller shownotes at /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/28959838

MFV #202 - He Who Complains 11/23/2023

MFV #202 - He Who Complains Right into the state-of-Marvel discourse this week with The Marvels (14:55, post-credits mega-spoilers from 25:29) and Loki season 2 (33:38, ending spoilers from 39:30). Don't say we're not relevant. Fuller shownotes at /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/28758293

MFV #201 - Someone’s gonna get sucked off 11/09/2023

MFV #201 - Someone’s gonna get sucked off Back to regular programming this fortnight, with the final series of Ghosts (12:10), the well-received BBC haunted house sitcom, and future-house scifi movie Foe (23:42). Fuller shownotes on /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/28555928

MFV #200 - Found families, related and otherwise 10/26/2023

MFV #200 - Found families, related and otherwise It's our double-centennial episode! And to mark this frankly unnecessary amount of podcasting, we recommend more of our all-time favourites, with Nick bringing popular comic series Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye (15:08) and Alastair supplying cult movie The Royal Tenembaums (32:52). Fuller shownotes at /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/28420694

MFV #199 - Bummer for you, bummer for you 10/12/2023

MFV #199 - Bummer for you, bummer for you A robot rampage this fortnight, as we cover new scifi movie The Creator (11:40) and latest Star Wars streaming show Ahsoka (24:33). Fuller shownotes at /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/28288724

MFV #198 - And there’s a cowboy! 09/28/2023

MFV #198 - And there’s a cowboy! This fortnight, we're battling romance itself in Love Everlasting (12:43) and capitalism in How To Blow Up A Pipeline (23:34). Heavy stuff. Fuller shownotes at /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/28158662

MFV #197 - Carmy’s famous family 09/14/2023

MFV #197 - Carmy’s famous family Intense times this fortnight, as we dive back into the hellish kitchen of The Bear's second season (14:14 with a few unlabelled spoilers, sorry), then a more literal underworld in Damn Them All. (31:44) /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/28022640

MFV #196 - Pandora's box of depressing jokes 08/31/2023

MFV #196 - Pandora's box of depressing jokes This fortnight, we're both away in the lofty world of demons and angels in Good Omens 2 (12:27, ending spoilers from 23:01) and down in the dirty world of secret agents in Old Dog (29:55). Fuller shownotes at /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/27895197

MFV #195 - They Spoiled The Film 08/17/2023

MFV #195 - They Spoiled The Film It's the return of the Netflix movie double-bill this fortnight, with They Cloned Tyrone (12:08) and Extraction 2 (23:47). Fuller shownotes at /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/27748068

MFV #194 - Oh Frank, how could you? 08/03/2023

MFV #194 - Oh Frank, how could you? To our own surprise, we manage to cover burning-hot new movie Oppenheimer (13:29), along with some thoughts from Alastair about Barbie, along with latest Marvel mini-series Secret Invasion (28:32). Fuller shownotes on /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/27636207

MFV #193 - Can I complain now? 07/20/2023

MFV #193 - Can I complain now? This fortnight, we're heading into the criminal underworld with Nimona (15:09) and then the literal underground with Silo season 1 (24:54). Fuller shownotes on /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/27510267

MFV #192 - Murders per day 07/06/2023

MFV #192 - Murders per day We travel all across the different sides of America this episode, with the dark underbelly in Poker Face (13:56) and an altogether more whimsical angle in Asteroid City (26:52). Fuller shownotes at /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/27374355

MFV #191 - The Most Terrifying Bastard Imaginable 06/22/2023

MFV #191 - The Most Terrifying Bastard Imaginable A brutal duo this episode, as we cover cannibal teen drama Yellowjackets season 2 (15:02, mega-spoilers from 25:30) and ultraviolent Finnish revenge movie Sisu (34:08). Fuller shownotes at /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/27225369

MFV #190 - Screaming Service 06/08/2023

MFV #190 - Screaming Service A pair of major cultural events this year, with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (8:45) and Succession season 4 (26:57, with finale-ruining spoilers from 37:35). Fuller shownotes on /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/27075528

MFV #189 - Are you Jedi or loser? 05/25/2023

MFV #189 - Are you Jedi or loser? Another animated anthology this episode, with Star Wars: Visions season 2 (12:43), so Nick and Alastair sit down to give you the usual top 3 episodes, followed by their thoughts on new internet-horror comic W0rldtr33 (26:44). Fuller shownotes at /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/26938302

MFV #188 - All the Found Family you can eat 05/11/2023

MFV #188 - All the Found Family you can eat This fortnight, it's two different (but both wholly enjoyable) action movie flavours with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 (13:52) and Polite Society (28:18). Fuller shownotes at and don't forget to ! /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/26809701

MFV #187 - Dark-shaped hole 04/27/2023

MFV #187 - Dark-shaped hole MFV back for another fortnight, and for the second time in our history, we're covering a season of The Mandalorian (12:18), followed by a comic written by Alex Paknadel - specifically All Against All with art by Caspar Wijngaard (27:50). Fuller shownotes at /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/26661708

MFV #186 - Metaverse or bust 04/13/2023

MFV #186 - Metaverse or bust We enter a world of imagination this fortnight, with two game-based movies: Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves (14:23) and, of course, Tetris (28:01). Fuller shownotes at /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/26521344

MFV #185 - Get on with the crying 03/30/2023

MFV #185 - Get on with the crying A journey into two different dark corners of the human psyche this fortnight, with The Last Of Us (14:06) and Alan Partridge: Stratagem (28:01). Fuller shownotes at /episode/index/show/moderatefantasyviolence/id/26379009

Moderate Fantasy Violence

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