This is the first podcast I’ve reviewed that isn’t North American based!
The Gist
A podcast that prides itself on two hosts with very divergent ways of looking at film, Chin Stroker VS Punter is a United Kingdom based podcast that has been around since April of 2008 and it shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. The hosts are Mike and Paul, and they represent the idea behind the podcast. Mike is a former film student, while Paul is more of a casual film lover, and the conversations on the show are meant to be listened to through the veneer of this difference in cinematic upbringing. In their main episodes they spend an hour to two hours discussing what they’ve seen recently, one specific film, and feedback from fans of the show. Occasionally Chin Stroker VS Punter has a guest host, and they also have episodes that are interview driven or that cover a TV series, such as Star Trek.
Episodes Listened To
#144: The Evil Dead
#145: Stroker Ace
#146: Stake Land
My Thoughts
I stayed with Chin Stroker VS Punter for twenty or so episodes until I realized I needed to move on. I have issues with the two hosts, but those are directly related to the way I view film and the discussions about film that I seek out. I don’t have anything inflammatory to say about Chin Stroker VS Punter, it’s not a terrible or worthless podcast by any measure. It’s not a podcast for me though, that much I now know and that’s why I will be moving on to other film podcasts.
Chin Stroker VS Punter is a little rough production wise, but honestly unless a podcast is asking me to pay for it or the production values are absolutely horrendous I tend to not have a problem with lesser production values. I enjoy the variety of films that the show looks at, and I do enjoy the conceit of two hosts from different cinematic upbringings arguing about film. I really like that Mike and Paul allow themselves the freedom to adequately delve into their thoughts on a film. They never hold back on those thoughts either, and that is another aspect of the podcast that I enjoyed.
Where the show first loses me is in its TV based episodes and in its incredibly lengthy feedback section. I could care less about Star Trek or almost any of the TV that Chin Stroker VS Punter highlights from time to time. Others do, so do the hosts, that’s fine, I can easily skip the episodes I know are all about TV. I get annoyed when Mike and Paul get into a discussion about TV during an episode that is supposed to be about movies. Again, I’m sure this doesn’t bother others, but I find those discussions boring and don’t want to listen to them. The listener feedback is another drain on my want to listen to the podcast. Every segment I heard was super long and never offered anything of value to the discussion. I’m not saying listener feedback is a bad thing, I often provide it myself, but Chin Stroker VS Punter spent a lot of time on listener feedback with next to no returns.
The larger problem that I developed towards Chin Stroker VS Punter dealt with their way of discussing films. To be frank I ended up not wanting to listen to either Paul or Mike talk about film. This is another personal thing, and I’m not saying either man is an idiot or that they don’t come from informed places in their discussions. Paul looked at film too broadly for me to connect with what he was saying, while Mike looked too deep. I spent a majority of my time wanting Paul to look deeper at what he was watching, while concurrently hoping that Mike would pull back more and stop looking for a deep meaning or connection in every aspect of a film. A lot of people can obviously relate to the way Mike and Paul discuss cinema, but I couldn’t, simple as that.
I can see Chin Stroker VS Punter working for a lot of people, but it didn’t work for me and that’s why I can’t recommend it to anyone. I don’t hold any ill will towards Chin Stroker VS Punter, it’s not one of the podcasts that I am walking away from screaming how terrible it is and warning everyone to stay away from it. Chin Stroker VS Punter didn’t measure up to what I look for in a film related podcast, it never grabbed me and made me look forward to the next episode. My verdict is that you unsubscribe, but maybe you’ll find something to enjoy about Chin Stroker VS Punter that I couldn’t.
The Bottom Line
Unsubscribe
Cheers,
Bill
Bill's Movie Emporium 
Can’t really argue with that!
Mike
Thanks for reading. 🙂
No worries. Sorry we didn’t do it for you. Bit that’s a balanced view man. Respect.
Thanks for the cool headed reply. Good luck with the podcast as it continues to move forward.
Same to you Bill!
🙂
Well, I couldn’t disagree more. Chin Stroker v Punter podcast has held my interest far better than Bill’s site so far and I don’t think he is a good source for podcast reviews…Not to Bill’s taste but doesn’t really back up the “unsubscribe” grade as a PODCAST. They also cover TV – that’s a negative?!
Csvp is Great podcast! Funny and the hosts have way more charisma than anything on this site…I found “The List”…tedious…
Bill – stick to movie reviews – (C+), I don’t think you do very good/fair podcast review.
Yes, I do not like when film podcasts cover TV. Others will, but for me that is not something I want to hear or look forward to listening to.
Really, you found “The List” which is nothing more than a listing of movies with grades and link to the reviews tedious? I’m not sure if this is sarcasm, but if it’s not I really can’t think of a way to reply to someone criticizing an ordered list that is devoid of any actual opinion content by virtue of it being tedious. It’s a list, it’s not exactly supposed to be scintillating.
Your opinion is yours and valid, but one of the hosts of this very podcast didn’t seem to have much of a problem with my review, described it as fair in fact. Others haven’t had issues with my opinions either. So, nope, when I have the time I’ll keep doing reviews of movie based podcasts.