Ribbon of Memes

It's been over a century and a quarter since the first moving picture was committed to celluloid - the "ribbon of dreams", as Orson Welles mellifluously intoned.

And so, welcome, one and all, to Ribbon of Memes, a new podcast in which Roger Bell_West and Nick Marsh supply grateful listeners hot takes about films considered masterpieces by critics or filmgoers in general.

The rules: we choose one "masterpiece" from every year from the earliest days of cinema to our dreadful modern dystopia. Do we agree these films are classics? Are we entertained? Did we even understand what the film was trying to say? The questions are endless!*

We start in 1973 (for reasons explained in the first podcast) and progress vaguely chronologically (unless we think of another film that makes an interesting comparison to the one we have just seen, or are otherwise distracted by shiny new things).

Yes, that's right, we decided that what the world really needed was two more uninformed middle-aged white guys telling the world about media largely produced by similar people. Find out whether we were right or not herein!

*Actually, no, that's most of them.

We're also on iTunes and Google Podcasts.

The Great Graal Robbery 03 October 2026

Roger and Nick jump back to the early days of film, and some David Thomson recommendations, with 1903's The Great Train Robbery and 1917's Thomas Graals bästa film (Thomas Graal's Best Film, rereleased as Wanted - A Film Actress.)

Dr Safelight 19 September 2026 - 3 comments

I got a pretty fair idea that something doggone important is goin' on back there. Nick and Roger take three looks at nuclear war averted, or not, with 1964's Dr Strangelove and Fail Safe, then 1990's TV movie By Dawn's Early Light.

The African Queen (1951) 05 September 2026 - 1 comment

More war, if peripherally, as we go back to old Ribbon of Memes favourites Huston and Bogart for 1951's The African Queen.

Night of the Demon (1957) 22 August 2026

The great Jacques Tourneur had a vision… that he didn't entirely get to use, in this adaptation of M R James' "Casting the Runes." Nick and Roger are excessively brash and American in 1957's Night of the Demon.

The film is freely available from archive.org.

Where Navarone Dares 08 August 2026 - 2 comments

We're back in the Second World War, in that genre of films that gradually shifted from near-documentary to fantasy. This time we're more at the fantasy end, with two films of Alistair MacLean's books, 1961's The Guns of Navarone and 1968's Where Eagles Dare.

Anatomy of a Murder (1959) 06 June 2026

An open and shut case, the victim raped the man's wife and then the man shot him. But is it legally murder? Nick and Roger take a look at 1959's Anatomy of a Murder.

Wake Up Dead Man (2025) 23 May 2026

We've previously talked about Knives Out and Glass Onion, and now Roger and Nick return for the third Benoit Blanc film, 2025's Wake Up Dead Man.

Laura (1944) 09 May 2026 - 1 comment

The dame is lovely, and very dead. But that's just another day in the big city as Nick and Roger take a look at 1944's Laura.

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) 25 April 2026

A forgotten classic, overrated, or (as usual) something in between? Roger and Nick go from surgery to jet car to concert stage in 1984's The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.

The Devil Rides Out (1968) 11 April 2026 - 3 comments

Nick and Roger take another dip into the barrel of Hammer with Christopher Lee in Wheatley's terribly serious tale of satanism, 1968's The Devil Rides Out.

The Shining (1980) 28 March 2026 - 4 comments

Roger and Nick approach a horror classic from different angles as we take a look at 1980's The Shining.

The Road to Spies Like Ishtar 14 March 2026

Nick and Roger take a look at famed cinematic turkey Ishtar (1987), and at another film inspired by the Hope/Crosby Road To series, Spies Like Us (1985).

Waterworld 28 February 2026 - 5 comments

Roger and Nick blend cinematic apocalypse with cinematic disaster as we go back to what was at the time the most expensive film ever made, 1995's Waterworld.

Fifties Apocalypse II 14 February 2026

Nick and Roger conclude our look into 1950s visions of nuclear apocalypse (for now) with World Without End (1956), Panic in Year Zero! (1962, but it feels very 1950s so we kept it in) and On the Beach (1959).

Fifties Apocalypse I 31 January 2026 - 1 comment

Roger and Nick haul on our lead BVDs and revisit several 1950s visions of nuclear apocalypse and its aftermath. This episode, Five](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043539) (1951) and The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959).

The Ice Pirates (1984) 17 January 2026

Nick and Roger aren't going to face 1984's The Ice Pirates sober.

Condorman (1981) 03 January 2026 - 2 comments

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a lovable bumbler? Roger and Nick visit one of the films that turned Disney back towards animation, 1981's Condorman.

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