The biggest, the baddest, the best... Kaijune is back. The clues are in the image. I think you all know what's coming, right? Or do you? It starts on 11th June, under the sea...

"There's a quarter of a million dollars in heroin in the diaper pail and the new baby wipes are in the hall cabinet."

🚨BRAND-NEW EPISODE🚨 Episode 344 - EVER AFTER Few films have done more to reimagine a fairy tale than Ever After. It marked a quiet revolution in the Cinderella canon, arriving at a precise moment between Disney's dominance and the girl power 90s that would follow. Listen in your podcast app📱🎧

Tomorrow, 6am GMT... Episode 344... The history and legacy of... EVER AFTER

Well well well... this was unexpected! The Deep Impact & Armageddon double episode had the most phenomenal first day ever seen for this podcast, blowing Kpop Demon Hunters out of the water and into second place. Never underestimate comets and/or asteroids, I guess... 😅

Episode 344 - EVER AFTER is now available for $5/£4+ Patrons on their exclusive RSS feed at verbaldiorama.com/patreon. It'll be available for everyone on Thursday 21st May. Just breathe.

"I want you to know that I will forget you after this moment, and never think of you again. But you, I am quite certain, will think about me every single day for the rest of your life."

🚨BRAND-NEW EPISODE🚨 Episode 343 - DEEP IMPACT VS. ARMAGEDDON Armageddon topped the year's global box office, eventually received a Criterion Collection release, four Oscar nominations and remained in the public consciousness. Deep Impact did not. Listen in your podcast app📱🎧

Tomorrow, 6am GMT... Episode 343... The history and legacy of... DEEP IMPACT VS. ARMAGEDDON

I'm looking forward to catching up with as many people as possible. If you're there, let me know!

Can any geologists confirm that Matthew 7:26 is their collective favourite Bible verse? Is that the one thing Volcano gets factually correct? 😅

I'm not making light of Grandma Ruth's death, I just know that the lake wouldn't have become so acidic so quickly. It's one of the few things Dante's Peak gets wrong... most of it is remarkably accurate though!

Which is your favourite 1997 lava-based movie?

Episode 343 - DEEP IMPACT vs. ARMAGEDDON is now available for $5/£4+ Patrons on their exclusive RSS feed at verbaldiorama.com/patreon. It'll be available for everyone on Thursday 14th May. You won't wanna miss a thing.

"Hey Leo, now you're famous, you'll get a lot more sex than anyone else in your class." vs "It's the size of Texas, Mr President."

Depending on perspective, Verbal Diorama is both award-winning AND award-losing. I'm very proud to be both of those things But Verbal Diorama is absolutely your new favourite film history podcast. Have a listen, and if you're not completely satisfied, all podcasts have a 100% money back guarantee 😉

🚨BRAND-NEW EPISODE🚨 Episode 342 - DANTE'S PEAK VS. VOLCANO In 1997, the chaotic rivalry between Dante's Peak and Volcano would lead to condensed timelines and moved release dates, and a lasting legacy of "which 1997 volcanic eruption movie is your favourite?" Listen in your podcast app📱🎧

Tomorrow, 6am GMT... Episode 342... The history and legacy of... DANTE'S PEAK VS. VOLCANO

This is the part where you run... to listen to the latest episode on the history and legacy of M3GAN...

Episode 342 - DANTE'S PEAK vs. VOLCANO is now available for $5/£4+ Patrons on their exclusive RSS feed at verbaldiorama.com/patreon. It'll be available for everyone on Thursday 7th May. You'll lava it.

"Her name was Marianne. We worked together. She loved volcanoes." vs "You would have loved this, Rachel."

🚨BRAND-NEW EPISODE🚨 Episode 341 - M3GAN The final episode of AIpril, M3GAN, a modest Blumhouse release, threads together anxieties on outsourcing parenting to devices, childrens' emotional dependency on technology, and the ethics of designing AI for children. Listen to in your podcast app📱🎧

In other "I don't understand podcast listeners" news... What's with the sudden boost in downloads for my episode on Lake Placid, that came out last June? The last week, it's gone crazy! Searching for the wrong type of Crocs, maybe? 😅

Tomorrow, 6am GMT... Episode 341... The history and legacy of... M3GAN

I've been doing Verbal Diorama for seven years, and people still don't get how time consuming it is. If you listen to an episode and think that took me 45 minutes, because the episode is 45 minutes, I don't know what to tell you, except that movie you love didn't take 100 minutes to make, either. 🤣

I had a lovely chat with @claudeai for the latest episode. It gave its opinion on Her, and the depiction of AI in the movie, but also stressed that its opinion is generated in the moment, doesn't constitute a genuine opinion, and may give a different response if asked at another time.

GPT-4o mirrored human warmth and genuine companionship. GPT-5 changed all that. Open AI would eventually bring back 4o temporarily, and updated 5's personality to be more adjustable, but for those who had become romantically attached to their 4o companions, it was like a bereavement...

I know everyone has their own opinion on AI love and relationships, but surely feeling something for someone is better than feeling nothing for no one...?

I'm quietly gutted that the Spice Girls and Spice World has left the top three podcast episode debut list, but literally one listen gave Her the edge over Minority Report. Kpop Demon Hunters still reigns supreme by some margin. I never in a million years expected Her to be as popular as it was!

Episode 341 - M3GAN is now available for $5/£4+ Patrons on their exclusive RSS feed at verbaldiorama.com/patreon. It'll be available for everyone on Thursday 30th March. She's your child's new best friend!

"You gave me an algorithm and then left me to work everything out on my own!"

🚨BRAND-NEW EPISODE🚨 Episode 340 - HER This AIpril, what is love, if not AI persevering? Her was never really about technology; it was about loneliness, intimacy, connection, and how a film from 2013 about artificial intimacy became about actual intimacy in the 2020s. Listen in your podcast app📱🎧

AI - not all that great AIpril - pretty great so far

Tomorrow, 6am GMT... Episode 340... The history and legacy of... Her

Episode 340 - HER is now available for $5/£4+ Patrons on their exclusive RSS feed at verbaldiorama.com/patreon. It'll be available for everyone on Thursday 23rd March. Just ask your OS1.

"The heart is not like a box that gets filled up; it expands in size the more you love. I'm different from you. This doesn't make me love you any less. It actually makes me love you more."

🚨 FROM THE ARCHIVE 🚨 EX MACHINA AIpril would not be complete without revisiting an episode from August 2022 on Alex Garland's masterpiece, Ex Machina. And, in a rare occasion, I was joined by a special guest; the always excellent @jlwchambers.bsky.social. Available in your podcast app 📱🎧

In Minority Report, everyone is watching. 👀 In real life, everyone is watching. 👀

You still have a choice...

Update on this... Spotify couldn't fix this issue, so I've had to reissue the episode completely to get it back on Spotify. So, if you've already listened, you'll have two Minority Report episodes in your app. Just ignore the new one. If you have Spotify, you should now see the episode once more!

Monsters Inc. is out, Minority Report is in. But even Tom Cruise can't run into first place and beat out Huntrix. They're still Golden. 🏆

The latest episode on Minority Report is temporarily unavailable on Spotify at the moment, but it is still available on all other podcast apps. The issue will be resolved shortly, whenever Spotify decide to refresh the feed. 😅

"I think anybody who falls in love is a freak. It's a crazy thing to do. It's kind of like a form of socially acceptable insanity." (In two weeks!)

🚨BRAND-NEW EPISODE🚨 Episode 339 - MINORITY REPORT Aipril continues, and in the world of Minority Report, predicting crime before it happens raises serious moral and ethical questions; a system that claims to prevent crime but at what cost to individual freedom? Listen in your podcast app📱🎧

Tomorrow, 6am GMT... Episode 339... The history and legacy of... Minority Report

No disassemble, just the history and legacy of Short Circuit... Need input? verbaldiorama.com/iwannalisten

Are you ready for this? Press start to begin!

🥚 NEW EPISODE 🥚 Join us on an Easter Egg hunt this Easter Sunday as we welcome Em from @verbaldiorama.bsky.social to the pod to chat all things READY PLAYER ONE - available now wherever you get your podcasts! LINK: bit.ly/4cpo5M6 #readyplayerone #eastereggs #ramblin #amblin

Episode 339 - MINORITY REPORT is now available for $5/£4+ Patrons on their exclusive RSS feed at verbaldiorama.com/patreon. I'm no precog, but I predict it'll be available for everyone on Thursday 9th April....

"The Precogs are never wrong. But, occasionally... they do disagree."