Shoot The Hostage: A Deep Dive into Movie Genres

Movie podcasts are as numerous as the number of popped kernels in movie theater popcorn. But just like the variance in taste between the best and worst movie popcorn (You need butter even if it’s bad for you!), movie podcasts can excel, and others can leave a bad taste in your mouth and a popcorn kernel spot-welded to the back of your mouth. 

Shoot The Hostage is unique among movie podcasts because it focuses on a single theme each season. Here's their marketing statement: 

 "Welcome to Shoot The Hostage with Sarah and Dan, the movie podcast where we pick one movie at a time and take a deep dive into anything and everything we can. Each season, we dive into a new theme, which we take turns in choosing. We tend to choose a diverse pick of films for each season, trying our best to cover different genres and themes."

Sarah and Dan explain: "If you’re in the market for a movie podcast with hosts that don’t take themselves too seriously and love films just as much as you, then head over. Take your shoes off and come on in."

 The co-hosts pick apart eight films per season, based on a theme. So far, the show has completed 126 episodes.

We don't know much about Sarah and Dan from the U.K. other than Dan has links to the Twin Picks Podcast, and Sarah is linked to the Radio Gorepress podcast. I think that the U.K. connection enables the co-hosts to provide a different perspective on film. 

The phrase "shoot the hostage" originated from a scene in the 1994 action movie

Speed, where a character suggests the counterintuitive strategy as a solution to a hostage crisis. The term has since become a trope in film and a metaphor in business for taking drastic, and seemingly illogical, action to gain an advantage.

The phrase has evolved into a metaphor used in business and other fields, especially when a team's progress is stalled by a key dependency, system, or "hostage." The idea is to take decisive, even painful, action to neutralize the problem and move forward. 

 Season nine was my favorite, where they reviewed Nicolas Cage movie bombs, including The Wicker Man, and Vampire's Kiss. The couple spend those episodes highlighting Cage's delightful, wild, and over-the-top overacting. 

Shoot The Hostage just began its twelfth season in September 

with a deep dive into the 2002 action horror film, Resident Evil. 

Sarah and Dan explain: "After our last season got us all hooked on movies about drugs, we're booting up a brand-new theme: video game movies! And who better to start with than the master of computer game adaptations, director Paul W.S. Anderson?"

The co-hosts explore the cult classic that spawned a franchise (and a very specific type of career for its director). They will Milla Jovovich's transformation into an action icon, her real-life romance with Anderson, and the shocking revelation that her role as Alice was nearly a damsel in distress! The co-hosts also discuss the memorable contributions of Michelle Rodriguez as Rain, and the unforgettable, meat-cubed moment starring Colin Salmon.

I'm going to love this season, and think you might, too. 

 Hosts Sarah and Dan bring an enthusiastic and unpretentious approach to their conversations about films. The podcast explores a variety of genres and film types, from sci-fi and horror to classics and lesser-known oddities. Episodes involve taking a deep dive into the chosen movie, discussing its merits, themes, and any relevant tangents.  

Shoot The Hostage is for true movie fans who love to dissect films and have a little fun while in the midst of the analysis.