Joel and Chris are joined by Geraint D'Arcy, Associate Professor and Head of Media at UEA, where the three originally met as students in the late 90s. Geraint was also the star of Chris and Joel's short film, Bad Day, often referenced on the podcast. Together, they try to understand the 1989 sci-fi film, Slipstream, starring Bob Peck, Mark Hamill a…

It's a Just The Thing first as Joel and Chris finally welcome a guest who actually worked on the film they're talking about: John Jessup, Joel's father! For most of his life John has been an award-winning advertising creative, but when he was younger he worked at the legendary Pinewood Studios and has lots of fascinating stories to tell! And then w…

Joel and Chris try to decipher Richard Kelly's 2006 puzzle of a film the only way they know how... by adding the creature from The Thing. Will the addition of a shapeshifting, parasitic alien help to make sense of this sprawling, apocalyptic satire? Listen to the episode to find out, just be warned you will be subjected to some ex-film student bitt…

Joel and Chris take on the totally not controversial and not at all divisive Star Wars entry, The Last Jedi. Directed by Rian Johnson, they discuss how this film went from critics' darling to most-hated movie of the century, and consider why that might have happened (answer: misogyny). Then they put everything right by adding The Thing to the plot.…

Joel and Chris are delighted to be joined by author and folk horror enthusiast Kit Whitfield to put The Thing into the 1999 found footage movie, The Blair Witch Project. Overrated? Underrated? Just about accurately rated? Our extensive discussion covers the film's creation and aftermath, as well as its impact on horror films and the rise and fall o…

Season 4 of Just The Thing begins, and Joel and Chris try to fix the 2023 Haunted Mansion by putting John Carpenter's The Thing into it! The Haunted Mansion is a well-loved theme park ride, but why is it so difficult to turn into a movie? The answer may shock you! Or seem blindingly obvious. We talk about haunted houses, ghost logic, and how best t…

A quick catch-up episode to let you know that Just The Thing will be returning for Season 4 on Tuesday 6th August. Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat AudioBy Joel Jessup and Chris Regan

Chris and Joel wrap up their Kurt Russell season by putting The Thing into Escape from L.A. They started in New York and they're ending in La La Land! (Not the musical.) Is this the last good John Carpenter film, or was that the one before this? And can they now provide the definitive take on Kurt Russell's career? Chris has a new way to analyse fi…

Joel and Chris are joined by filmmaker Ross Boyask (I Am Vengeance: Retaliation) to help put The Thing into the Fast and Furious universe. Why did they come in at number 7? Family. And because it's the first one Kurt Russell is in! But they dip into the whole franchise and come to some amazing, baffling conclusions! Joel compares the franchise to M…

Joel and Chris continue their Kurt Russell season by putting the creature from John Carpenter's The Thing into the 1993 western, Tombstone! Is this a revisionist or reconstructionist Western? Why does it have such an amazing cast list? Who has the only fake moustache in the movie? Two of those questions will be answered! Joel tries to grow a mousta…

Joel and Chris have brought the brilliant Andrea Regan back to discuss the other film that Kurt Russell said every boat owner has on VHS: Overboard! And put The Thing into it. Cult misstep? Weird classic? Problematic flop? We throw this film into the water of discussion and see if it ends up with amnesia and will look after our kids. Joel loves Dr …

Joel and Chris are back and it's time to talk about one of the two films that Kurt Russell said every boat owner has on VHS: Captain Ron! And put The Thing into it. Cult classic? Weird misstep? Secret early version of Fight Club? We dive deep into the film and maybe don't come back up for air. Joel has a new name for the Horror genre you're going t…

Joel and Chris invite regular guests Alex and Matt to their 2023 Christmas special, and because it's Kurt Russell season they're all going to watch The Christmas Chronicles and put The Thing in there! Joel realises Die Hard and Home Alone are the same, Chris reveals what heartwarming Christmas musical gave him nightmares, Alex has kindly done some …

Joel and Chris are joined by Quentin Tarantino buffs Alex and Katy to discuss how to put The Thing into Death Proof, Tarantino's grimily ironic grindhouse tribute. Joel pitches his UK version of Grindhouse, 'National Film Theatre'. Chris discusses his uncertainty about the film's foot footage. Alex likes Kurt Russell's unlikeability. And Katy revea…

Joel and Chris are joined by author Peter Regan to discuss Big Trouble in Little China! ...and put The Thing into it. For our 25th episode we look at the third part of the Russell/Carpenter collaboration pentagon. Is this film now underrated, overrated or correctly rated? What is its connection to The Golden Child? And do you really need to know Ja…

Joel and Chris are thrilled to be joined by Dan from the brilliant movie podcast Shoot the Hostage to discuss Dark Blue, an underseen, possibly underrated corrupt cop drama starring Kurt Russell. Then they put The Thing into it. Obviously! With a script by James Ellroy and David Ayer and directed by Ron Shelton, will this film be LA Confidential me…

Joel and Chris are joined by Matt O'Dwyer as they try to understand the ridiculous intensity of 1989's Tango & Cash! And then put The Thing into it. Kurt Russell and Sylvester Stallone wisecrack their way through the ultimate distillation of 1980s Buddy Cop nonsense. Parody? Sincere? Genuinely gritty cop drama? Probably not the last one. Chris drop…

How has it taken Chris and Joel this long to tackle a Steven Seagal film? Of course, 1996's Executive Decision is really more of a Kurt Russell film, but there's plenty of Seagal talk to be had in this episode, just before they add The Thing to it in the best way possible! Seriously, how many podcasts cover Executive Decision? Give this a listen! J…

Joel and Chris examine the first John Carpenter/Kurt Russell collaboration: the 1979 Elvis biopic! We discuss the controversies and ask the big questions: Did Elvis fake the moon landing? Did his mum die from being given a novelty Christmas decoration? And did Elvis get magical singing powers from his twin? Also we put the Thing in it. This episode…

Chris and Joel start Season 3's Kurt Russell odyssey by discussing Escape From New York! And then putting The Thing into it. A cult classic, and the first non-Thing John Carpenter film they've covered, featuring Russell's star-making performance as Snake Plissken, not to forget Van Cleef, Borgnine, Pleasence, and Mr. Harry Dean Stanton! Joel goes h…

Joel and Chris discuss Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One! SPOILER WARNING as in this bonus episode before the next season we do our own stunts, and by stunts we mean talking about this surprisingly strange film. Want to see how it connects to spaghetti westerns, John Wick, Grant Morrison, JJ Abrams ... and The Thing? Then listen! Joel e…

Joel and Chris celebrate their one-year podcast anniversary with a discussion on all they've learned from the movies of 1982! Do we deliver an incisive definitive answer as to why The Thing flopped in that year? Maybe? Do we take a look at the 1982 films we watched and also somehow end up talking about the 2001 film Swordfish? Yes! Chris remembers …

Joel and Chris discuss Steven Lisberger's ground-breaking sci-fi epic Tron, and then try to put the creature from John Carpenter's The Thing into it. Cult masterpiece or weird experiment? Or both? And did they cast Dan Shor because he was easy to lift? Joel confesses his lamest prank ever, Chris reveals their surprising Tron connection, and they pl…

Get ready for a Just The Thing like you've never heard before, as Joel and Chris discuss Wayne Wang's documentary-style indie detective film Chan is Missing, and then try to put John Carpenter's The Thing into it! Joel and Chris get very personal about their own experiences together at university making guerilla films! They discuss Chris' Dad's obs…

Joel and Chris are joined by film analysts Alex Jessep and Matt O'Dwyer to discuss 1982's Blade Runner and put a Thing in there! The Thing. John Carpenter's The Thing. Alex and Matt are two of Joel's oldest friends, so who better to discuss Blade Runner, the ultimate film about friendship? Chris loves Harrison Ford's goofy persona, Joel realises it…

Joel and Chris are joined by filmmaker and podcaster Ross Boyask to discuss 48 Hrs and put The Thing into it! We not only tackle Eddie Murphy's star-making action comedy but get Ross' insight into previous episodes and get ever closer to understanding why The Thing might flop in 1982! Joel controversially comes out against Director's Cuts and then …

1982 season continues as Joel and Chris put John Carpenter's The Thing into First Blood! It's the second part of our Stallone mini-mini-series as we look at the surprisingly low-key first Rambo film and ask the question: masculinity? Chris is terrified by Australia, Joel does much less Stallone impressions than last time, and we start to put togeth…

It's the Just The Thing 2022 Christmas Special! Joel Jessup and Chris Regan are joined by Andrea Regan to discuss Santa Claus: The Movie, and put The Thing into it! Andrea's such a big fan of the film that she married Chris many years ago, just so she could get on this podcast. Joel absolutely roasts Dudley Moore, Chris reveals his anti-wooden toy …

1982 Season continues as Joel and Chris discuss Rocky III! They've never seen any of the other films, and they don't know anything about boxing! Can they turn their relative ignorance into a pile-driving knockout blow of insight? Joel falls in love with the limpid eyes of the young Stallone, Chris ponders the very existence of Mr T, and they both e…

1982 season continues as Joel and Chris are joined by author (and part-time Chris' brother) Peter Regan to discuss Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and put The Thing into its plot, somehow! Our first ever guest means a super-sized episode! Joel realises he can't pronounce oeuvre, Peter tries to steal Joel's vocal tic, and Chris discusses his chronic…

In this special Halloween episode, Chris and Joel discuss 1982's Poltergeist. Was this the film that held The Thing's hands behind its back while E.T. beat it up? Joel gives such a spooky opening that the audio quality drops horrifyingly! (It gets better.) Chris is most horrified by all the beer being wasted in the opening sequence. And we have a s…

Joel and Chris discuss what would happen if The Thing was in Conan and ask all the important Conan-related questions, like did right-wing politics used to be more palatable? And what exactly is a snake cult? This episode also includes a rare deep dive into the actual plot of the film so if you haven't seen Conan the Barbarian you would be well-advi…

1982 Season begins as Chris and Joel reimagine E.T. with John Carpenter's The Thing. That's right, it's a film most of you will have seen! Chris recalls how he spent his school years haunted by frogs, Joel does an amazing impression of E.T. being hit by a flamethrower, and would becoming a pod person be such a bad thing, really? Music - Solitude by…

In this episode Chris and Joel enter the futuristic world of the year 2021 as they discuss perhaps the one, true cyberpunk movie, Johnny Mnemonic. There is so much to talk about with this movie, including the William Gibson source material, the short-lived career of Robert Longo and the eclectic cast that includes Japanese cult film star Takeshi Ki…

Joel and Chris dive into The Matrix Resurrections and lose themselves (and the core concept of the podcast) in a maze of tangents before uncovering the secret of the hallowed Warner Brothers creator-controlled sequel. Along the way they also find parallels between The Matrix Resurrections and Gremlins 2, contemplate the deeper meaning the creators …

In this episode Joel and Chris examine the 1999 superhero comedy, Mystery Men, and look at how it manages to parody superhero tropes that barely existed at the time. They also consider the short-lived career of director Kinka Usher, ponder the real life origin of Michael Bay and compare the cast of characters to real life creative types they may or…

In this episode Joel and Chris reimagine the third film in the Bad Boys trilogy if it had been invaded by John Carpenter's The Thing. What sounds like the most unlikely pairing in the series so far may be the first to actually work! Come with us as we discover a world in which Will Smith and Martin Lawrence team up to take on a shape-shifting alien…

In this episode, writers Joel Jessup and Chris Regan discuss Peter Chelsom's 2001 rom-com, Serendipity and imagine how things may have worked out differently for John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale if John Carpenter's The Thing had invaded their movie. Music - Solitude by Karl Casey https://karlcasey.bandcamp.com/ Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio…

Writers Joel Jessup and Chris Regan reimagine cult and classic movies by adding John Carpenter's The Thing into the story. Not even the two hosts understand why they are doing this but they'll figure it out, one movie at a time. This week, Chris and Joel discuss Terry Marcel's 1983 sci-fi epic, Prisoners of the Lost Universe. Music - Solitude by Ka…