creation podcasts: movie-cast

On the podcast this week Kylie Olsson is joined by film critic Ambrose Heron as they take a look at the latest releases. At the cinema, Sacha Baron Cohen wreaks havoc on the USA as "Borat" is finally unleashed after a wave of publicity. Meanwhile, Kate Winslet is in superb form as a frustrated suburban housewife in Todd Field's drama "Little Children" and the new British comedy "Sixty Six" takes a unique view of the year England won the World Cup. Plus, we speak to one of the stars of that film, the one and only Eddie Marsan.

Our DVD pick this week is "Police Squad!", the madcap TV series that eventually spawned The Naked Gun, and our website of the week is Screen Online" - a truly marvellous guide to British TV and Film.

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On this week's podcast we take a look the latest cinema and DVD releases, which include a culture clash drama, a familiar British comic character and a gruesome horror.

The Namesake is a drama based on the Pulitzer prize winning novel by Jhumpa Lahiri. It tells the story of an Indian couple (played by Irfan Khan and Tabu) who settle in New York and start a family. They have a son who they name Gogol and the film then charts their struggles to adapt to American culture whilst not losing their traditional Indian ways.

Mr Bean's Holiday sees the bumbling character (played by Rowan Atkinson) return to the big scree and in this film he goes on his travels to the south of France where mishap and mayhem begin, most notably at the Cannes Film Festival.

The Hills Have Eyes 2 is a sequel to last year's remake of the cult horror. Here a group of National Guard trainees fighting for survival against the vicious group of mutants in the desert.

Our DVD Pick is Stranger Than Fiction in which Will Ferrell plays a dour Chicago taxman who begins to hear a voice that describes his thoughts and actions as if he were a

character in a book.

Our website of the week is Live Plasma a very

handy site that helps you find DVDs you might like.

We take a look at the five major releases out at UK cinemas this week and we also have our DVD and website picks.

300 is the big screen adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel about the Spartan soldiers who fought off a much bigger Persian army at The Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. Director Zack Snyder speaks to us about the challenges of adapting the graphic novel and Gerrard Butler gives us his thoughts on playing the Spartan King Leonidas.

Amazing Grace is the story of 18th century anti-slavery pioneer William Wilberforce. Ioan Gruffud plays Wilberforce and is joined by an illustrious cast that includes Albert Finney, Michael Gambon and Toby Jones. Michael Apted directed the film and he tells us why the story appealed to him and how it got financed.

I Want Candy is a new British comedy with Carmen Electra as a porn star who is persuaded by two budding young filmmakers to star in their low budget film set in Leatherhead (!). We speak to Carmen about the delights of shooting a film in England and also chat with co-star Tom Riley about whether or not they actually filmed in leafy Surrey.

Catch a Fire is the story of 1980s ANC freedom fighter Patrick Chamusso (played by Derek Luke). We spoke to director Philip Noyce about the film and why he has gone back to material with a more political edge.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sees the 80's cartoon characters return although this time around it is in animated form as Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael return to do battle with new foes.

Our DVD pick is Happy Feet, director George Miller's eco-friendly tale of dancing penguins proved a huge hit at the box office last autumn and even scooped the Oscar for Best Animated Film. It features an illustrious voice cast with the likes of Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman all doing their best as the penguins.

Our website pick is iLetYou.com, a social DVD and video game exchange. It allows you to create your own rental stores and earn money or credit on a revenue share basis. It's a bit like having an eBay Store, but you rent your DVDs out, rather than sell your unused stuff.

On this week's podcast we take a look the latest cinema and DVD releases, plus we also speak to some of the actors and directors who helped make them.

Premonition is a drama starring Sandra Bullock as a housewife who discovers that her husband (Julian McMahon) has just died. Only he hasn't. Or has he?

Factory Girl is a biopic about 60s fashion icon Edie Sedgwick (played by Sienna Miller) and her relationship with Andy Warhol (Guy Pearce). We speak to director George Hickenlooper about the film and why he wanted to turn her story into a film.

On DVD we have three releases to recommend:

Casino Royale is the latest Bond film that sees the franchise get a reboot with a new 007. We speak to Daniel Craig about how he prepared to play the world's most famous spy and the controversy that surrounded his casting.

The History Boys is the film version of Alan Bennett's stage play about a group of Sheffield sixth formers trying to get into Oxford and Cambridge. Nicholas Hytner directs and we speak to Samuel Anderson (Crowther) and Samuel Barnett (Posner) about their roles on stage and now in the film.

Plus, we also speak to the director of one of the best films of last year. Alfonso Cuaron tells us all about the DVD release of Children of Men, which is now out as a 2-disc special edition. He gives us an in depth interview where he describes his approach to the original novel by P.D. James, the visual design of the film and why he wanted it to be the "anti-Blade Runner".

Our website of the week is Star Links a very handy site for finding out if certain actors have worked with each another.

On this week's podcast we take a look at the big four cinema releases out this week and the best DVD releases.

Norbit is a comedy about a geek where Eddie Murphy plays several different characters opposite British actress Thandie Newton.

Becoming Jane tells the story of the young Jane Austen (played by Anne Hathaway) and how her early life influenced her later novels. James McAvoy co-stars as her love interest.

Outlaw is a tale about a group of vigilantes in modern Britian led by an ex-soldier (Sean Bean) who has become disgruntled with modern society.

The Good German is director Steven Soderbergh's homage to the films of the 1940's starring George Clooney as a reporter drawn into a web of intrigue in Berlin just after World War Two. Tobey Maguire and Cate Blanchette co-star.

Our DVD picks this week are Pan's Labyrinth and The Queen, plus we speak to Dame Helen Mirren about how she prepared to play Her Majesty.

Our website of the week is Rich Kline's comprehensive movie review site Shadows on the Wall

On the podcast this week we take a look at The Illusionist, the new drama starring Edward Norton as the enigmatic Eisenheim - a magician in turn of the century Vienna. We also speak to Norton about his role in the film.

We also review Ghost Rider, the latest Marvel comic book adaptation to hit the big screen. We chat to the two stars Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes, plus writer-director Mark Steven Johnson discusses the challenges of adapting the character to film.

Our DVD pick is Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, the hilarious mock documentary that was one of the funniest films of last year.

We also discuss the winners at the Oscars as Martin Scorcese finally bagged the Best Director Oscar for The Departed.

One of the big winners on the night was Forest Whitaker scooping Best Actor for The Last King of Scotland. That film was co-produced by Film4 and we speak to their Senior Commissioning Executive Peter Carlton about the film and his company's upcoming projects, which includes the online film making experiment My Movie Mashup

Our website of the week is the official site for the Golden Raspberry Awards

On the podcast this week we discuss the two big cinema releases, the best DVD to rent or buy, the Oscars this Sunday and our website pick of the week.

Letters from Iwo Jima is director Clint Eastwood's second World War 2 film about the Battle of Iwo Jima (after last December's Flags of Our Fathers), only this time he looks at the conflict from the Japanese perspective.

The Good Shepherd is Robert De Niro's second film as director and charts the birth of the CIA amidst the intrigue of the Cold War. Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie and De Niro himself star.

Our DVD pick is a guilty pleasure from 1986, Highlander: The Special Edition which stars Christopher Lambert as an immortal Scotsman(!), Sean Connery as a Spaniard (!!) and Clancy Brown as a particularly mean villain named Kurgan.

We also give our Oscar predictions for this Sunday and our website of the week is a sort of movie version of MySpace - a handy site named Flixster where you can rate movies and share your tastes with other people.

On this weeks podcast the two big cinema releases up for discussion are police spoof Hot Fuzz and the surreal comedy The Science of Sleep.

Our DVD pick is Martin Scorcese's crime drama The Departed and we also speak to Leonardo DiCaprio about his role in the film.

In the news we discuss the winners at this week's BAFTA awards and our website of the week is MovieProfiler

This week's cinema release is Hannibal Rising, the prequel to The Silence of the Lambs. It focuses on how the young Lecter became the chianti swilling serial killer we all know and love. We speak to the young Lecter Gaspard Ulliel about the production.

Goal 2 is the story of a young footballer playing for Spanish giants Real Madrid. We speak to associate producer and former Liverpool and Real Madrid star Steve McManaman about his role in the film.

On this week's podcast we take a look at Dreamgirls- the new musical starring Beyonce Knowles and Eddie Murphy, Notes on a Scandal - a contemporary drama starring Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett and Arthur & The Invisibles- a surreal mixture of animation and live action.

Our DVD picks are The Maltese Falcon and The Devil Wears Prada. Plus, we speak to one of the stars of that film, British actress Emily Blunt.

Our website of the week is the very handy TV listings site

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