Back to the Balcony

An amused second look at movies and culture from the last century.

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) 12/19/2025

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) Our second special Christmas episode takes a look at The Muppet Christmas Carol with guests Chris Jarvie and Christine Kinahan. How does it compare to the classic 1951 version? And is a comparison even fair? Has it enhanced the original or just cashed in with Disneylike touches that blow up what Dickens was trying to say? Or is it just a light piece of fluff we all need at Christmas? A fun listen - especially about the song and the scene they left out. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/39354850

A Christmas Carol (1951) 12/05/2025

A Christmas Carol (1951) Alistair Sim is easily the greatest Scrooge of all time in 1951's "A Christmas Carol" - or "Scrooge", as it's known in the UK. It's a movie that didn't have much success when released in North America but has gone on to become a beloved Christmas classic. Or is beloved to strong a word? Guest Ryan Sim doesn't think so - but then again he's related to Alistair Sim. It's a magical Christmas episode that's both funny and touching. Give it a listen. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/39220165

True Grit (1969) 11/21/2025

True Grit (1969) Guest Bret Measor wanted to talk about the remake of True Grit, not the original with John Wayne. Jimmy said no so Bret watched the original and blew both his socks off. The result is a fun romp as Bret finds himself starry eyed over one of the great icons of western movies. If it's a trifle long it's because he just had so much he wanted to talk about and we couldn't shut him up. The result is a review full of passion and excitement - and lots and lots of laughs. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/39100160

Diner (1982) 11/07/2025

Diner (1982) Mario Bernardi revisits his youth with the movie Diner, in some ways the life of every boy wrestling with adulthood and in some ways in a world all its own. Did it hold up with Mario, the man who notoriously doesn't like to revisit old movies? And Jimmy, the host who rarely finds something to love in a movie like this? Either way, it's a fascinating look at big stars who hadn't yet crossed that threshold yet. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/38951150

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) 10/24/2025

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) They don't actually meet Frankenstein but they do meet a bevy of Universal's iconic creatures in this movie that's both funny and even a little chilling. Larry Smith takes us bacik to a different time when Abbott and Costello were the comedy kings of a generation and the way it works for a comedy team. Larry has a record of outstanding podcasts. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/38746500

The Mask of Zorro (1998) 10/10/2025

The Mask of Zorro (1998) Chris Wuergler goes romantic - or is it action oriented? With Chris it's hard to tell. And so is the The Mask of Zorro - just one of the countless retellings of a story that's over a hundred years old that Jimmy insists can't decide what it wants to be. Despite its flaws its kinda fun, as is this podcast with guest engineer, Kristian Reimer. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/38510910

The Rock (1996) 09/26/2025

The Rock (1996) It's hard to see Chris Wuergler as an action movie afficianato but she's brought us more action movies than anyone else. Trouble is, now she's brought us The Rock, a slam-bam action movie that makes no sense at all - at least according to Jim. Guest engineer Kristian Reimer tries to keep things on an even keel in this episode that's just about as crazy as the movie. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/38352255

Days of Thunder (1990) 09/12/2025

Days of Thunder (1990) The movie Chris Jarvie has been begging us to talk about. Is it the gem Chris remembers or is he just all caught up in the car racing thing? A little of both maybe but Jimmy and guest engineer Ryan Sim are intrigued by his stories of the race car exerpience. Not just a good movie review but a fascinating look into racing car culture. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/38179495

One Hour Photo/The Solid Gold Cadillac 08/29/2025

One Hour Photo/The Solid Gold Cadillac Ryan Sim joins Jimmy England to talk about the movie they think the other should watch. For Ryan Sim it's One Hour Photo with Robin Williams in a role that turns his comic persona on its head with a character who's both creepy and sympathetic.Jimmy makes the case for 1956's The Solid Gold Cadillac with Judy Holiday cutting s swath through 1950's big business and advertising that still resonates today. Will they agree or disagree they're both worth watching? /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/38019890

The Blob (1988) 08/15/2025

The Blob (1988) Personal favourite Bob Kerr returns to extoll the virtues of 1988's remake of The Blob. It was a time of either great creativity moving towards a new way of story telling or sanitized dreck. Take a guess where Jimmy stands on this. A totally fun episode and possibly the only good thing to come out of this movie. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/37836325

Dead Poet's Society (1989) 08/01/2025

Dead Poet's Society (1989) Mario Bernardi saw it when it first came out - but will he still love it thirty-five years later when anything he had in common with it is long gone? And then there's the question of how much sensitive Robin Williams is enough? An episode of surprising depth. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/37607915

The Thin Man (1934) 07/18/2025

The Thin Man (1934) A classic movie gets a surprising reaction from two people who aren't really into classic movies. Join guests Mario Bernardi and Chris Jarvie in an exploration of a movie that still influences movies and tv shows today and spawned four sequels that are still regarded as some of the best of their type ever. A lot of people have never seen any of them but after listening to this episode you may find yourself tempted to see what all the fuss is about - if you can even find them. A really fun and illuminating episdoe. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/37414725

A Knight's Tale (2001) 07/04/2025

A Knight's Tale (2001) Again we bend the rules for Chris Wuergler to talk about 2001's A Knight's Tale. She has a professed interest in bad boys on motorcycles, does this mean that's how she sees knights on horseback? Some interesting performances in the movie, some great observations and another rollicking podcast from Chris, Jimmy and Phil. Also the kick-off episode to season 10 of Back to the Balcony - although, Jimmy forgets to acknowledge it. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/37237675

Saving Private Ryan (1998)/Mr. Roberts(1955) 06/20/2025

Saving Private Ryan (1998)/Mr. Roberts(1955) Another podcast with just Phil and Jimmy sharing movies they think the other should watch. Phil's gung-ho on Saving Private Ryan for its gritty truth about war and the sacrifices. Jimmy's choice of Mr. Roberts hilights the reality of how war's waged and how its importance isn't always appreciated. Interesting observation about Jimmy's movies from Phil in this episode. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/36861180

Cast Away (2000) 06/06/2025

Cast Away (2000) Jimmy says it's a movie within a movie but Chris Wuergler (aided and abetted by engineer Phil), says Cast Away is a full on love story. But no matter what the opinion everyone agrees it's another Tom Hanks landmark performance - although there are some concerns. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/36861110

Fast Times At Ridgemount High (1982) 05/23/2025

Fast Times At Ridgemount High (1982) Manolis Zontanos extolls the virtues of Fast Times as a cautionary tale for teenagers. It's an interesting idea but is that what you thought when you saw it or did you see a cesspool of sex and bad decisions? Guess where Jimmy comes down on this argument. We're listing this as clean (no swearing) but there is some mature subject matter. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/36679330

Charley Varrick (1973) 05/09/2025

Charley Varrick (1973) Despite the kind of crappy craftsmanship and plotting that separates the movie Charley Varrick from the films of Ed Woods by just a hair (okay, that may be hyperbole but this is a bad movie), comedian Greg Dobrowski finds it hilariously entertaining. Jimmy, not so much - and to add insult to injury, Jimmy rented it when it was available for free on YouTube. No wonder he hated this movie. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/36299015

Alien (1979) 04/25/2025

Alien (1979) While Jimmy can't deny Alien's popularity - it made big bucks and spawned a slew of follow-ups of somethimes great, sometimes dubious quailtiy - it still strikes him as clumsy and eye-rollingly dumb. Comedian Ryan Sim begs to differ and does so with a spirited defense. Can he win Jimmy over? Listen to find out. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/36298965

Mary Poppins (1964) 04/11/2025

Mary Poppins (1964) At long last, the episode that got away, it's David Green here again to talk about 1964's Mary Poppins. Gee, who could find something not to love about a film that's a beloved classic? Certainly not David who adores this film, that leaves just... /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/36082385

Wizard of Oz (1939) And Meet Me In St. Louis (1944) - The Better Garland Movie? 03/28/2025

Wizard of Oz (1939) And Meet Me In St. Louis (1944) - The Better Garland Movie? Chris Jarvie and his beautiful other half Christine Kinahan join Jimmy to talk about their favourite movies. Listeners will no doubt remember that Jarvie always comes on with the intention of championing one film but then changing his mind at the last minute. Will he sing the praises of the Wizard of Oz or will he agree with his wife that Meet Me In St. Louis is the more loveable movie? /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/35890335

True Lies (1994) 03/14/2025

True Lies (1994) Arnold? In a romance movie? Or an action movie? Or both? Or neither? Guest Chris Wuergler sees a lot in this movie. All that plus the story of how guest engineer Ryan Sim met Tom Arnold. Now that's entertainment! /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/35701810

Funny People (2009) 02/28/2025

Funny People (2009) The explanation for why we talked about a movie outside our normal range is explained within the podcast. It's also unusual because it's about the comedy business and we had four comedians in the room so the conversation drifted into what it's like to be a stand-up comedian, what the movie gets right and if the relationships seem genuine. Manolis Zontanos, Patrick Coppolino, Kristian Reimer and Jimmy England together bring over fifty years of experience to the discussion. Absolutely fascinating. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/35313585

Toxic Romance - Unfaithful versus Fatal Attraction 02/14/2025

Toxic Romance - Unfaithful versus Fatal Attraction Kristian Reimer and Chris Wuergler did such a great job last Valentine's Day talking about the most romantic movie. But there's more than one kind of romance, there's also those that turn out to be toxic and no more so than Unfaithful and Fatal Attraction. We got deep into the weeds about love, lust and romance. Thoughtful and funny too. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/35284740

The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) 01/31/2025

The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) There are generational gaps in culture and never was it more glaring than in The Spy Who Shagged Me. Guest Mario Bernardi liked it when it came out but was appalled when he saw it again. Jimmy was no better but engineer Phil gave it a solid thumbs up. So what could be wrong with a movie that made a boatload of money? Listen to find out and see if you agree or not. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/34866975

Forgotten Movies Part 2 01/17/2025

Forgotten Movies Part 2 Part 2 of our episode about the great or significant movies people are in danger of forgetting about with Jimmy and guest Mario Bernardi. Give a listen to both episodes and let us know what movies you think we should have included. As you'll hear it was a lot of fun to do and uncovered a lot of surprising facts. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/34346145

Forgotten Movies Part 1 01/03/2025

Forgotten Movies Part 1 Okay, here's the deal, Jimmy and Mario were supposed to do an episode about ten great or significant movies people were in danger of forgetting about. Jimmy chose five and guest Mario Bernardi chose five. Good enough but nobody did the math about how long this episode would be. So this is part one featuring five of the ten. Some intriguing choices, surprising facts and a lot of fun to boot. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/34346085

White Christmas (1954) 12/20/2024

White Christmas (1954) If there's one thing we've learned about guest Bob Kerr it's that he has a taste for the macabre. How else do you explain his love of Ernest Saves Christmas? This year we made him watch 1954's White Christmas - a movie this avowed lover of Christmas had never seen before - just to see if his head would explode. Did he find something to love? Give a listen to find out. Another fun episode. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/34215670

The Matrix/Hail the Conquering Hero 12/06/2024

The Matrix/Hail the Conquering Hero Jimmy and Phil dare to challenge each other to watch a movie they've never seen before. Phil makes Jimmy watch The Matrix. Jim takes Phil back to WWII for Hail the Conquering Hero. Can something modern turn Jimmy's crank? And what about Phil, can he get into something - even a comedy - that came out long before he was born . You'll be surprised! An episode that wasn't really planned but just kind of happened with surprising results. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/34204210

Major League Baseball (1989) 11/22/2024

Major League Baseball (1989) Gerry Hall takes us out to the ballgame for his take on the greatest baseball movie of all time prior to 2000, 1989's Major League. Surprisingly, he has a criteria that coulld possibly support his argument. Contains discussion of Gerry's career and the grand-daddy of all co-incidences. Lot of fun - and not just for baseball fans. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/33761767

Grosse Point Blank (1997) 11/08/2024

Grosse Point Blank (1997) Barry Carter drops by to extolls the virtues of the quirky Grosse Point Blank from 1997. Does it sell out its premise to become just another rom-com or does it never lose its edge? There's holes and Jimmy ineveitably falls into them. /episode/index/show/backtothebalcony/id/33761742

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