Cinema Under The Stairs

Rance and Steve get together to talk about this year's Oscar nominations because Rance actually likes films and because he has gathered a substantial dossier of kompromat on Steve. The others didn't even turn up. Maybe they're dead.

Maybe Rance killed them.

After an undefined period of time, four of our favourite CUTS crew members have found their way back from the wilderness and into the mossy haven of Wazza's shed. The gentle tweets of the Blue Tits are cut through with the squawks of Crows from high up above in the bare overhanging branches of the ancient Elderflower tree. Sal wraps his giant arms around his friends and leads them into unchartered waters. They feel happy to be alive and to share their friendship and insights into film with you. It's been a busy Winter, kicking off with the fabulous Shocktober festival and massive surprises with Secret Santa. CUTS have defined what a cinema is all about and this roving team of film lovers take us on another journey into what it is like running Oxford's best cinema ever. Plus there's a sneak peak into the film choice for their next cinema night. Thank you for listening. 

"Keanu Reeves vehicle bombs" could describe a number of his early movies but it's also the plot of the film that put the BUS in Blockbuster (then ramped it off a bridge and into a plane full of explosives) - Jan de Bont's 1995 amphetamine fuelled action classic, Speed. Join Jimbo, Waz and Sal as they discuss the backdrop to another dynamite CUTS night.

Sal, Rance, Wazza, Joe, Jimbo and Steve are back! Except without Rance, Joe and Jimbo! The good ones turned up though and we talked about Steve's first choice for CUTS: the legendary 1987 sexy teen vampire black comedy horror music video, Joel Schumacher's The Lost Boys. Join us as we try, with limited success, to remember what the night was like.

The first film of the new dawn of CUTS was Top Secret! Our beloved audience arrived, compelled by curiosity, filing in to the Tap Social, desperate to discover the identity of the mystery film. We could only repeat that it was Top Secret! Maddened by frustration, the crowd cried. "TELL US WHAT FILM IT IS!". "It's Top Secret!", we replied in earnest. Rioting broke out, chairs were thrown, people on fire dove through windows, pensioners with machine guns charged through the bar on horseback.

Music by Tiger Mendoza

For months, we've been looking at each other through rectangles like that guy in Midnight Express when his girlfriend visits and Sal unbuttons his shirt and cries a bit while Steve gropes the glass and starts desperatBUT NOT ANYMORE! Finally, thanks to science, we're back. Bigger, balder and better than ever.

Join us around the table as we luxuriate in each others' miasmas and get excited about the rebirth of the greatest cinema experience on this, or any other, planet.

The check it out for yourself list:

[REC] : https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/rec

Nobody: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/nobody

Psycho Goreman: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/pg-psycho-goreman

Cannibal Ferox: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/cannibal-ferox

Reanimator: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/re-animator

My Octopus Teacher: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/my-octopus-teacher

Donbass: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/donbass

Kiss Me Deadly: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048261/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

The Asphalt Jungle: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042208/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

They Live by Night: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/they-live-by-night

Horsemouth: "I-man serve Selassie I continually. No matter what the weak heart say. And I know that I & I is like a tree, plant by the river of water, and not even the dog that piss against the wall of Babylon shall escape this judgment. For I & I know that all of the youth shall witness the day that Babylon shall fall!"

Joe and Wazza trudge up a muddy hill to share their love of Rockers, the 1978 masterpiece directed by Ted Bafaloukos.

Rance has found himself at Her Majesty's pleasure after his sausage slinging scheme went south. Worse still, he's been subjected to a modern day version of the Ludovico Technique in a pointless attempt to prepare him for civil society. Let's listen in on his phone call to Sal and find out what four hours with Zack Snyder's Justice League can do to a man's mind.

Hello You! Because we just can't help ourselves, we've done another Lockdown Special. For this one Sal and new boy Steve are getting overexcited about one of their favourite films; a touching love story about a young policeman, his large automatic pistol and the heartless business men that try to keep them apart. Light a scented candle, run a hot bath and relax as CUTS takes you on a journey into the magical world of Old Detroit.

Hello You! Welcome to a new series of episodes during this pandemic. As we're unable to do our usual monthly review on the films we screen at our beloved cinema, we've decided to create a series of smaller, one-to-one episodes where Sal chats with one of the CUTS Crew to retro review a movie we've screened at CUTS, before we started doing our monthly podcast. Wow, I really need to start using more fullstops. To kick off these retro reviews, Sal chats with Rance about CUTS movie night #4 way back in 2016. The movie was none other than the 1982 cult classic, John Carpenter's THE THING! Enjoy, you lucky buggers!

Wazza the cabin boy and Jimbo the ship's mate have hijacked the HMS CUTS. These two mutineers steer the beloved vessel into dangerous waters for one night only. Enjoy, 'Mutiny Under The Stairs'. 

Peek-a-boo! Joe and Sal give their In-n-Out review on director Leigh Whannell's (of Neighbours fame) take on H. G. Wells' sci-fi monster horror The Invisible Man!

CUTS' very own crafty cockneys Rance and Sal take a trip back to their old stomping ground to watch cult director Richard Stanley's 'Color Out Of Space' at the legendary Prince Charles Cinema in London's Leicester Square. Adapted from HP Lovecraft's cosmic horror short story, will Stanley be able to pull-off what many say is 'unfilmable' when it comes to the existential horror writer? Will they love it? Will they hate it? Will they start slagging each other off? Most probably!

Who the hell reads podcast descriptions anyway?! Hit play weirdo!

Hello you! 

In episode 11 of the Cinema Under The Stairs Podcast we discuss one of Sal's all time favourites,  Glengarry Glenn Ross, along with movie news, our recommendations and a new segment called The Dead Zone.

I apologise for the poor sound quality - not only did I screw up by not recording the first run at this episode, but I also managed to do the whole thing with my mic turned to the OFF position…

Enjoy!

Here it is you lucky buggers! Our very first In-n-Out review!! 

In addition to our main podcast we're bringing you bite-sized (under 15 minute) reviews of films as they're released. The start of the podcast is spoiler free and, after a suitable warning and time to turn off, we go full on spoilerific.

For our inaugural episode, Sal and Joe went to see Birds of Prey at the awesome Curzon cinema in Oxford. Feed this into your ears now to find out if where they think it is on the scale of Suicide Squad to Deadpool.

Hello you! We're chuffed to announce that we're bringing you a new addition to the CUTS Podcast - In-n-Out Reviews!

Two of the CUTS crew will go and watch a new film at the cinema and record a bite-sized 15 minute review. The first half will be spoiler-free so you can decide if you want to spend your hard earned cash on it, the second half will contain spoilers (with appropriate warnings beforehand) for you to listen to on your way back from seeing the film yourself.

We'll be able to give you loads more content because getting two of us together is easier than all five, and we get to go to the pictures more often , Bosh, everyone's a winner.

In-n-Out Reviews - The FRESHEST reviews, straight out the door! Here, on the Cinema under The Stairs podcast!

THIS IS IT! Our top 25 films of 2019 and boy do we have a selection for you! We have some of the big players as well as some you never saw coming! What a year it’s been for cinema and if you didn’t manage to catch them all don’t worry, this episode offers you 25 must-see movies of the last year. Apologies in advance for Sal’s breakdown near the end and possibly the worst joke we ever recorded courtesy of Rance - it’s a bonus long episode and therefore bonus drinking.

We are Cinema Under The Stairs and this is The CUTS Choice Of 2019!

Hello you! This month we're taking a deep dive into our next Cinema Under The Stairs movie, Con Air. This movie from Jerry Bruckheimer is both ridiculously over the top and silly but hilarious. Still a great watch, even 20 years later.

We'll also be looking at the latest movie news, hearing what Wazza's been streaming while sweating it out in his sweatbox and our recommendations.

Background: We run a popular popup cinema in Oxford called Cinema Under The Stairs (CUTS) and, due to popular demand, have started a podcast with movie and tech/media news and movie reviews.

Join us for our second episode of the Cinema Under The Stairs podcast!!

In this episode we list our top sports movies from Bull Durham to He Got Game and Coach Carter to Raging Bull. We discuss movie news like the new Sonic The Hedgehog movie and its questionable character design and there's an unforgettable performance by our very own Wazza.

Hit us up in the comments (get the Anchor app to leave episode comments) and enjoy the show!

The losers behind Cinema Under The Stairs, Oxford's underground cinema, bring you a monthly live-streamed podcast talking movies, television and all things geekdom.