The Empire Film Podcast

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast sees Chris Hewitt in the grip of a mild addiction to Australian (and, originally, New Zealand) comedy show, Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee and, as a result, test his three colleagues of such lethal cunning — Helen O'Hara, Amon Warmann, and Harry Stainer — on a bunch of film-related words. What a dictionary. It's not all spelling, though, as our intrepid quartet discuss the best screenplays written by actors (trying to make a name for themselves), discuss the imminent arrival of Dune and Doomsday popcorn buckets, look at the week's movie news, and review Martin McDonagh's Wild Horse Nine, Takashi Yamazaki's Godzilla Minus Zero, Peter Farrelly's I Play Rocky (which inspired the listener question), and Los Javis' La Bola Negra. Oh, and Martin McDonagh is this week's guest, having a lovely natter with Jamie Graham about his new movie, which stars Sam Rockwell and John Malkovich. And your word, listeners, is Malkovi... oh, spelling bees don't work so well written down. Anyway, enjoy!

It's another jam-packed episode of The Interviews, folks, as Jamie Graham talks to Sofia Coppola about Making Marie Antoinette, the fly-on-the-wall making of documentary that was shot on the set of Marie Antoinette by Sofia's mother, Eleanor Coppola, and which has been finished by Sofia in time to mark Marie Antoinette's 20th anniversary. Then Amon Warmann has a fun chat with I Love Boosters' writer/director, Boots Riley, and his star, Naomi Ackie, about their bold and brilliant heist caper comedy. And last but not least, we have an extended excerpt from our spoiler special interview with Brian Duffield, director of Whalefall. Enjoy!

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast largely takes the form of a heartfelt tribute to Sir Patrick Stewart, who passed away on Thursday at the age of 86. In an extended news section, Chris Hewitt is joined remotely over Riverside by Helen O'Hara and James Dyer to share their memories of, and affection for, the great man, as well as some other greats who left us this week, including fellow Star Trek legend Walter Koenig and Alien star Tom Skerritt. Either side of that you will find the recording we made in the studio this week, in which Chris and Helen are joined by Alex Godfrey to talk about their favourite body horror movies (just in time for Halloween), and review Primetime, Wicker, I Love Boosters, Gentle Monster and Animol. And speaking of Primetime, Chris sits down in person with that film's star and producer, Robert Pattinson, and director Lance Oppenheim for an interview that covers everything from the origin of their movie, about the US TV show To Catch A Predator and its host, Chris Hansen, to working with Creed from The Office, and the greatest spit-take in many a year. Enjoy.

This week's Empire Podcast sees Simon Farnaby, Mathew Baynton, and Kiell Smith-Bynoe, three members of the gargantuan cast of Ghosts: The Possession Of Button House, the big-screen debut of the beloved BBC sitcom Ghosts, possess the podbooth and have a delightful and deliciously daft chat with Chris Hewitt which, at one point, involves trying to explain the concept of Taskmaster to Farnaby. Either side of that, Chris is also joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara, James Dyer and, visiting us from the US of A, Anthony Breznican, who makes his pod debut in excellent fashion. Our intrepid quartet discuss the week's movie news, including the new issue of Empire and Steven Soderbergh stepping in on The Batman Part II, chat about their favourite documentaries, review Wildwood, Ghosts: The Possession Of Button House, Clayface, Klara And The Sun, and Fatherland, and take a listener question from a most unusual source. Enjoy!

Another cracking episode of The Interviews this week, folks, as Chris Hewitt sits down on Zoom with Tom Rhys Harries, who plays the title role in Clayface as a hotshot actor who goes on a rip-roaring rampage of revenge armed with a newfound ability to perfectly mimic anyone he meets. But they also talk torn ACLs, an inability to grow beards, and Chris' dreadful golf game. Then Chris sits down in person with Klara And The Sun writer/director, Taika Waititi, for an insight into Taika's writing process as he adapts the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. And finally Dan Jolin has a lovely chat with the young stars of Travis Knight's five-star Laika epic, Wildwood, Peyton Elizabeth Lee and Jacob Tremblay. Don't worry, they move at normal speed. Enjoy!