The first podcast in the series that I wasn’t previously listening to and I’m already wondering why I even bothered!

The Film Vault

The Gist

The Film Vault is a podcast based out of, I believe, Los Angeles, that has been around for a few years now, I think. The reason I’m so murky with my facts is because The Film Vault was just recently canceled by its host network and then brought back independently. That may not even have been the first time the podcast was canceled, changed networks, or the like. All this means is that there are no dedicated archives of the show, nor is there a repository of information about the show. Thus my background info is a bit shady, but them be the breaks folks. As far as the content of the show goes, an episode is usually released weekly, running somewhere around an hour to an hour and a half. The hosts are Anderson Cowan and Bryan Bishop, and their main drawing point is a top five feature. There are other features they run, but to be honest the feature names are irrelevant as every one of the features is the same, “this is a movie I just watched and I’m going to talk about it” with no real external or internal theme separating one feature from another.

Episodes Listened To

#Unknown: And We’re Back

#Unknown: Top 5 Comebacks

#Unknown: Summer Movie Recap 2011

My Thoughts

The Film Vault was recommended to me by a guy whose opinion I don’t always agree with, but I gel with the type of guy he is. However, I can not for the life of me understand what he sees in The Film Vault. Unless I am mistaken he has called The Film Vault one of the best, if not the best, film related podcasts out there. I ended up falling on the other end of the spectrum. The Film Vault is at the bottom of the barrel with such crap like Comedy Film Nerds, it is that worthless of a podcast.

I’m being harsh right out of the gate, I know, but the show really left me no choice. From the start I was annoyed by the show on every possible level. I could sit here and tell you that The Film Vault is professional as far as its audio and technical aspects are concerned. I could, but a piece of shit is still a piece of shit, no matter how pretty the toilet it is deposited into. There isn’t a single redeeming quality to be found in The Film Vault, and trust me I tried like heck to find some sort of redeeming quality. Try as I might at every turn I was left with a show that had nothing to say about film, featured a pair of annoying hosts, and was too interested in name dropping to bother bringing actual film discussion to the table.

It made perfect sense when I found out that The Film Vault sprang from an association with Adam Carolla. I’m not a fan of Adam Carolla, he isn’t funny and when he does talk about movies, such as his second appearance on The Nerdist, he comes across like a man who has no idea what he is talking about. Once I found out that The Film Vault had previously been on Carolla’s podcasting network my distaste for the show made even more sense. The Film Vault brings the same level of aimless crassness to the table that is the norm for Carolla. There’s a level of banality to The Film Vault that is impossible to get past, and I could never shake the feeling that I was listening to two guys trying to talk about film as opposed to actually talking about film.

If that last sentence was confusing, and I can see how it could be, it is spelled out in the way the two hosts comport themselves. They aim for humor mixed with film talk, but they fail in both regards because neither man is funny and neither man is knowledgeable about film. I know the type of show that Anderson and Bryan want to put out and I know the type of show they think they produce. The reality is that they produce a show devoid of worthwhile content. The hosts of The Film Vault are more interested in annoying turns of a phrase, nose sniveling, and name dropping than producing an actual quality show. I get it guys, you live in LA and you know a lot of people. Guess what, no one cares how many people you know and it sure as heck doesn’t make me want to hear what you have to say. Say something of interest, stop with the stories about your interactions with “insert celebrity name here” and tell me something that makes me think you have a reason to occupy my ears every week.

You know what, there’s not much more I feel the need to say about The Film Vault. It’s a terrible podcast, one of the worst I have ever had the displeasure of listening to. The show has its legions of fans, but for the life of me I can’t figure out why. There’s no worthwhile film talk to be found in The Film Vault. There’s no humor to be found in The Film Vault. There’s plenty of banal surface discussion, name dropping, and a pair of annoying hosts to be found in The Film Vault. If that’s your thing then have it, I’ll kindly pass and enjoy my life all the more for it. My obvious advice is that you unsubscribe from The Film Vault, it’s the only course of action that makes any sense if you are a person who actually loves film and likes to laugh.

The Bottom Line

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Cheers,

Bill