Ramblin: An Amblin Podcast

Ramblin is back - and we’re more Geisha than ever. After an extended summer break, the boys are back to continue down the Amblin road, staying in 2005 to explore Rob Marshall's period drama MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA, based on Arthur Golden’s novel of the same name. To chart the journey of young Chiyo’s self-discovery and efforts to become a Geisha in pre and post-WW2 Japan, we welcome back returning guest, friend and film journalist Barry Levitt. Together, we discuss the film’s origins, its questionable sense of authorship and posit the question; could this film -  a follow-up for a filmmaker who just won Best Picture for a musical adaptation that revived the genre - have worked better as, well, a musical?

You can follow Barry on Twitter and Letterboxd @blevitt93 , and catch his writing over at the likes of Vulture, The Daily Beast, Empire, LA Times, Rolling Stone and more.

Follow the podcast on Twitter (@RamblinAmblin) and be sure to like and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode! Get in touch with us either via Twitter or email [email protected]. Please feel free to give us a 5-star review, share your favourite Amblin movies and tell us if ET makes you cry.

Ramblin is created and produced by Andrew Gaudion and Joshua Glenn. A special thanks as always to Emily Tatham for the artwork, and Robert J. Hunter & Greg Sheffield for the theme music.

After donning the Mask, it is now time to continue THE LEGEND OF ZORRO with our episode on Martin Campbell’s 2005 sequel, once again starring those damn fine sexy leads Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. But, coming some seven years after the original, something seems to have been lost along the way: the juice. To find out why this Zorro doesn’t quite whip like he used to, we enlist the help of podcaster MJ Smith of Let’s Jaws For a Minute fame to see if this follow up was just a case of too little too late - or if it is a greater miscalculation of appeal than that. 

You can follow Harley on Twitter at @MJSmith891 and you can find his shows (Let’s Jaws For a Minute, Let’s Party with Marty and Reel Perspective) where you get this podcast. 

Follow the podcast on Twitter (@RamblinAmblin) and be sure to like and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode! Get in touch with us either via Twitter or email [email protected]. Please feel free to give us a 5-star review, share your favourite Amblin movies and tell us if ET makes you cry.

Ramblin is created and produced by Andrew Gaudion and Joshua Glenn. A special thanks as always to Emily Tatham for the artwork, and Robert J. Hunter-Clayton & Greg Sheffield for the theme music.

We finish the tub of Neopolitan Spielberg trilogy by saving the best (chocolate) for last: his 2005 adaptation of WAR OF THE WORLDS. Together with returning guest Harley Mumford (of the fabulous Fandomentals podcast), we talk through the various different interpretations of H.G. Wells’ 1897 classic—particularly Orson Welles’ (no relation) infamous 1938 broadcast and the 1953 movie—and chart how each acts as a response to its particular place and time. In this instance, we discuss Spielberg’s film as an explicit response to 9/11 (and its place as the final instalment of his Paranoid Sci-Fi Trilogy), the surprisingly dour tone for a summer blockbuster and what the changes to the source material say to the contemporary mindset. We also talk about Tom Cruise in deadbeat dad mode, draw some surprising connections with the Jurassic Park sequels and try to understand what the hell is going on with Robbie. Andy also talks about the musical. A lot. Brace yourselves.

You can follow Harley on Twitter at @HarleyMumford and his Fabdomentals Podcast at @FandomentalsPod. You can listen to Fandomentals wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow the podcast on Twitter (@RamblinAmblin) and be sure to like and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode! Get in touch with us either via Twitter or email [email protected]. Please feel free to give us a 5-star review, share your favourite Amblin movies and tell us if ET makes you cry.

Ramblin is created and produced by Andrew Gaudion and Joshua Glenn. A special thanks as always to Emily Tatham for the artwork, and Robert J. Hunter-Clayton & Greg Sheffield for the theme music.

It’s time to check in with Steven Spielberg’s 2004 comedy-drama THE TERMINAL, the second part in our Neapolitan Spielberg trilogy. The ‘vanilla’ section of the trio is a rare Amblin joint where we have quite different opinions on the movie, and to help us unpack our feelings is our guest; friend, musician and one half of the Ramblin-theme composing team Robert J. Hunter-Clayton. Together, we delve into the inspiration behind the Tom Hanks-starring tale, marvel at the scale of its production design, weigh up the strengths and weaknesses of its various subplots and despair at Hanks’ Whopper-eating technique. So, boarding tickets at the ready and hop aboard - we hope you have a pleasant flight.

You can follow Robert on Instagram and Twitter @RJHunterMusic and experience his musical stylings on Spotify: https://tr.ee/J3DdSljatd - You can also purchase physical copies of his latest album over on Bandcamp: https://robertjhunter.bandcamp.com/album/nothing-but-rust 

Read production designer Alex McDowell’s production diaries here: https://rb.gy/91x59x   

Follow the podcast on Twitter (@RamblinAmblin) and be sure to like and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode! Get in touch with us either via Twitter or email [email protected]. Please feel free to give us a 5-star review, share your favourite Amblin movies and tell us if ET makes you cry.

Ramblin is created and produced by Andrew Gaudion and Joshua Glenn. A special thanks as always to Emily Tatham for the artwork, and Robert J. Hunter-Clayton & Greg Sheffield for the theme music.

We kick off the first chapter in our self-coined ‘Neapolitan Spielberg trilogy’ with the strawberry of the trio, the beard’s 2002 con-man caper ‘CATCH ME IF YOU CAN’, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. To join us in tracking down the tale of putting the story of Frank William Abagnale Jnr to the screen is film historian and musical expert Miles Eady. Together, we discuss the long line of filmmakers who couldn’t quite get their clutches on the story, try out a Christopher Walken impression or two, consider the difficulties of a broadway adaptation, and look at what depths lie beneath the stylish and breezy surface of one of Spielberg’s most surprising works. And we also grapple with the age old question: should you ever let the truth get in the way of a good story?

You can check out more of Miles’ work over on his website: https://mileseady.com/ 

Here’s a link to the real Frank William Abagnale’s appearance on The Johnny Carson Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIYtKR24LQs&pp=ygUkZnJhbmsgYWJhZ25hbGUgb24gam9obm55IGNhcnNvbiBzaG93 

And a taste of the Broadway musical: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zayv01x1QLs&pp=ygUcY2F0Y2ggbWUgaWYgeW91IGNhbiBicm9hZHdheQ%3D%3D 

Follow the podcast on Twitter (@RamblinAmblin) and be sure to like and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode! Get in touch with us either via Twitter or email [email protected]. Please feel free to give us a 5-star review, share your favourite Amblin movies and tell us if ET makes you cry.

Ramblin is created and produced by Andrew Gaudion and Joshua Glenn. A special thanks as always to Emily Tatham for the artwork, and Robert J. Hunter-Clayton & Greg Sheffield for the theme music.

We’re back - in black - to get things rolling for Ramblin in 2024. We’re checking in with the MIB franchise, investigating the bad case of sequelitius that seems to have infected the Barry Sonnenfeld directed follow up to the 1997 sci-fi comedy classic. Both Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones return from Amblin past, and so does our guest -critic and broadcaster Rihanna Dillon. Together, we dig into the film's dragged out road to production, stressful shooting schedule and try to put our finger on just what is missing from this misfire of a sequel. But always remember, when there’s an Amblin movie to discuss, the elite is here, so have no fear, just, let me see you, NOD YA HEAD.

You can follow Rhianna on Twitter @RhiannaDhillon and you can listen to her on BBC Radio 6 Music and catch PodPod (@podpodofficiak) wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow the podcast on Twitter (@RamblinAmblin) and be sure to like and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode! Get in touch with us either via Twitter or email [email protected]. Please feel free to give us a 5-star review, share your favourite Amblin movies and tell us if ET makes you cry.

Ramblin is created and produced by Andrew Gaudion and Joshua Glenn. A special thanks as always to Emily Tatham for the artwork, and Robert J. Hunter-Clayton & Greg Sheffield for the theme music.

This Christmas, everybody runs - particularly everyone's favourite Hollywood cross country champ Tom Cruise. It is time to wave our hands in the hand and catch the red ball that is Steven Spielberg’s ‘MINORITY REPORT’ the sci-fi action-thriller based on the short story by Phillip K. Dick. 

To join us in unpacking this vision of the future is our pal and fifth-time guest Dan Kelly. We get into the project’s origins as a retooled Total Recall sequel, reflecting on the film’s themes of free will and state surveillance, while also offering many Max Von Sydow impressions. Please listen and enjoy, as the precogs foretold - and a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all you Ramblers out there. 

Follow the podcast on Twitter (@RamblinAmblin) and be sure to like and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode! Get in touch with us either via Twitter or email [email protected]. Please feel free to give us a 5-star review, share your favourite Amblin movies and tell us if ET makes you cry.

Ramblin is created and produced by Andrew Gaudion and Joshua Glenn. A special thanks as always to Emily Tatham for the artwork, and Robert J. Hunter-Clayton & Greg Sheffield for the theme music, and to all our guests and listeners over the year that was 2023.

This time it’s not just a walk in the park. The same could be said for the production of ‘JURASSIC PARK III’ - the third entry in the Jurassic franchise, directed by Joe Johnsotn. We get into its turbulent journey to the screen with returning  guest David from Jurassic Collectables (@JurassicCollect), musing on the film that could have been, reminiscing about our first encounters with both the franchise and Johnston, as well as unpacking just what works and what doesn’t in the finished feature, Spinosaurus and all. Just don’t go drifting off and dreaming of talking raptors now.   

Follow the podcast on Twitter (@RamblinAmblin) and be sure to like and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode! Get in touch with us either via Twitter or email [email protected]. Please feel free to give us a 5-star review, share your favourite Amblin movies and tell us if ET makes you cry.

Ramblin is created and produced by Andrew Gaudion and Joshua Glenn. A special thanks as always to Emily Tatham for the artwork, and Robert J. Hunter-Clayton & Greg Sheffield for the theme music, and to all our guests over the decade that was the 1990s.

Cirrus. Socrates. Particle. Decibel. Hurricane. Dolphin. Tulip. Ramblin. Listener. Ramblin.

Now we’ve got that out of the way, it’s time to get serious about Papa Spielberg’s first offering of the new millennium: 2001’s moody, existentially shattering A.I. Artificial Intelligence. Beginning as a short story in the pages of Harper’s Bazaar in the early-‘70s, the film started out as a Kubrick project before gradually, over the years, forging a bridge between the two master filmmakers and ultimately coming to fruition as a ghostly collaboration. 

We talk about the extent to which the film represents the nexus of these two very (ostensibly) different sensibilities, the truly remarkable work done by Hayley Joel Osment in doing the impossible and making human this uncanny life form, and the wild (mis)interpretations that have led to people taking very different things from the conclusion. It’s heavy stuff, so we’ve brought out the big guns to help us wade through it. That’s right, for this episode we’re joined by the one and only Good Doctor himself, Mr. Mark Kermode, a man who famously reassessed the film (as well as his own reaction to it) in the years since, even going so far as to confessing to the director himself. We’re over the moon that he could join us and we hope you find this discussion (which begins at around the 40 minute mark) as rewarding as we did, instead of looking at us blankly and asking: ‘What were those words for, Mommy?’

You can listen to Mark Kermode every Friday on Kermode and Mayo’s Take, available on all good pod catchers of choice. If you’re already a member of the vanguard, we salute you.

Follow the podcast on Twitter (@RamblinAmblin) and be sure to like and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode! Get in touch with us either via Twitter or email [email protected]. Please feel free to give us a 5-star review, share your favourite Amblin movies and tell us if ET makes you cry.

Ramblin is created and produced by Andrew Gaudion and Joshua Glenn. A special thanks as always to Emily Tatham for the artwork, and Robert J. Hunter-Clayton & Greg Sheffield for the theme music, and to all our guests over the decade that was the 1990s.

Bright light city is gonna set my soul on fire. But will The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas have the same incendiary effect? We’re back in the podcastin’ business and back in Bedrock for Brian Levant’s prequel, swapping out the original crew for newer, younger,  improved(?) models to see how Fred, Barney, Wilma and Betty all got together in the first place - with a little help from The Great Gazoo (may God have mercy on us all). To take the trip to Rock Vegas, we have cordially invited back two returning guests, Daisy Edwards and Clare Brunton - collectively the hosts of the W-Rated podcast - to take in the garish sights and sounds. What will we find under this turn of the century rock as we embark on a new decade for Amblin Entertainment? Get on your tippy toes and join us for the ride!! 

You can find episodes of W-Rated wherever you get your podcasts, and can follow the show over on Twitter (X) @WRatedPod).

Follow the podcast on Twitter (@RamblinAmblin) and be sure to like and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode! Get in touch with us either via Twitter or email [email protected]. Please feel free to give us a 5-star review, share your favourite Amblin movies and tell us if ET makes you cry.

Ramblin is created and produced by Andrew Gaudion and Joshua Glenn. A special thanks as always to Emily Tatham for the artwork, and Robert J. Hunter-Clayton & Greg Sheffield for the theme music.