In anticipation of The Odyssey's release, we’re traversing the course of Christopher Nolan’s career and plotting his signature hallmarks along the way. Plus: the box office-shattering success of Backrooms and Obsession, and the AI movie showing at Tribeca Film Festival. 

References 

Christian Zilko’s IndieWire article

Nolan’s 60 Minutes interview 

The Nolan Variations: The Movies, Mysteries, and Marvels of Christopher Nolan by Tom Shone

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Produced and edited by Lily Austin and James Brailsford

Original theme music by James Brailsford

Logo design by Alfie Garland

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Website: groovymoviespod.co.uk

We take a deep dive into indie cinema’s biggest success story: production company A24. Plus, we discuss its latest hit, the non-rom-com The Drama.

References
That needle drop in The Drama we mentioned: "Inside Out" by Jesse Rae

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Produced and edited by Lily Austin and James Brailsford

Original theme music by James Brailsford

Logo design by Alfie Garland

Follow us: ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠ & ⁠Letterboxd⁠

Email us: ⁠[email protected]⁠

Website: ⁠groovymoviespod.co.uk

This week we’re learning lessons from blockbusters: the latest, Project Hail Mary, and a classic, Jurassic Park. With the help of Hannah McGregor, the author of the brilliant “Clever Girl” and co-host of the podcast, Material Girls (do go and subscribe), we decipher the messages about care, chaos and lady monsters which lay under the wobbly surface (get it? that's a Jurassic Park reference) of these popcorn movies. 

References 

Buy Clever Girl by Hannah McGregor here

Material Girls podcast 

Kodak’s Verita film, used on Euphoria season 3

John Travolta’s novel on Good Reads

If you love what we do, please like, subscribe and leave a review!

Produced and edited by Lily Austin and James Brailsford

Original theme music by James Brailsford

Logo design by Alfie Garland

Follow us: ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠ & ⁠Letterboxd⁠

Email us: ⁠[email protected]⁠

Website: ⁠groovymoviespod.co.uk

After another lacklustre awards season and a decline in viewers, is it time to reinvent the awards ceremony or just retire it altogether? Then we get up to speed on the latest in the Warner Bros. takeover psychodrama (and future hopes for Star Trek nerds the world over), before reviewing two recent films that take big, beautifully flawed swings: Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride and Oliver Laxe’s Sirāt.

References

Peter Bradshaw’s Sirāt review for The Guardian

Dune: Part Three trailer

If you love what we do, please like, subscribe and leave a review!

Produced and edited by Lily Austin and James Brailsford

Original theme music by James Brailsford

Logo design by Alfie Garland

Follow us: ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠ & ⁠Letterboxd⁠

Email us: ⁠[email protected]⁠

Website: ⁠groovymoviespod.co.uk

Finally, Valentine’s Day weekend has finally come to pass, which could only mean one thing: we’ve been to see Wuthering Heights - sorry, “Wuthering Heights” that is. Was it as erotic as the test screen audience reported? And can Jacob Elordi really not grow a beard?  We search for answers.

References
That World of Reel article 
Emerald Fennell’s BFI interview on Wuthering Heights
Emerald Fennell’s Ask Penguin podcast interview 

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If you love what we do, please like, subscribe and leave a review!

Produced and edited by Lily Austin and James Brailsford

Original theme music by James Brailsford

Logo design by Alfie Garland

Follow us: ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠ & ⁠Letterboxd⁠

Email us: ⁠[email protected]⁠

Website: ⁠groovymoviespod.co.uk

We’re back and it is our 101st episode! And we’re marking the milestone with an area of special interest for James, and mostly special disinterest for Lily: Star Wars (or at least until she watched the burlesque show “The Empire Strips Back.” We take a whistlestop tour through the three sagas to consider how one of the great trilogies became such a mess. But could this year’s 50th anniversary of A New Hope offer a new hope?

References 

The Empire Strips Back burlesque show

The Phantom Menace BTS documentary 

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Produced and edited by Lily Austin and James Brailsford

Original theme music by James Brailsford

Logo design by Alfie Garland

If you love what we do, please like, subscribe and leave a review!

Follow us: ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠ & ⁠Letterboxd⁠

Email us: ⁠[email protected]⁠

Website: ⁠groovymoviespod.co.uk

What could be more festive than a masked orgy? Or an axe-wielding husband? Or a smart device going rogue in space? We finish this series with a Christmas special for those looking for an alternative movie recommendation during the holidays, by counting down our top 5 Kubrick Christmas movies. 

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Edited by Lily Austin
Original music by James Brailsford
Logo design by Alfie Garland

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The end of the year is drawing in, you have precisely 15 days to catch the best movies of 2025 and/or swerve the worst. This mission, should you choose to accept it, can be aided by this very podcast. Enjoy. 

References
The reviewer of Actors On Actors - @theamateurstake
BTS of the making of Kill Bill's lost chapter for Fortnite
Charli XCX's The Moment trailer
Gwyneth Paltrow and Jacob Elordi on Actors on Actors
Alexander Skarsgård and Stellan Skarsgård on Actors on Actors 

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Edited by Lily Austin
Original music by James Brailsford
Logo design by Alfie Garland

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We discuss the Netflix-Warner Bros. deal and whether or not this spells the end of cinema. Then we look at a lesser reported Netflix controversy - the streamer muscling in on The Hallmark Channel's turf, the festive rom-com. And to save this episode from too much doom and gloom, we finish with a fantastic new release, Harry Lighton's Pillion, starring Alexander Skarsgard and Harry Melling (i.e. Dudley Dursley). 

References
The Netflix-Warners Bros deal
How the big tech monopoly is killing cinema
Champagne Problems beats Frankenstein to Netflix’s top spot
The Shining on IMAX

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Edited by Lily Austin
Original music by James Brailsford
Logo design by Alfie Garland

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You may not have clocked it, given the lack of fanfare, but the third installment of Knives Out was released last week. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery will only be in cinemas for 2 weeks, before moving to Netflix, but is it worth catching on the big screen? We also discuss WGA and SAG renegotiations which will be taking place in 2026. Is another strike on the cards?

References
For horror fans: The Knickel Cinema
The Odyssey cinema in St Albans

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If you love what we do, please like, subscribe and leave a review!

Edited by Lily Austin
Original music by James Brailsford
Logo design by Alfie Garland

groovymoviespod.co.uk
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