On the pod this week, we welcome Alma Har'el, director of Honey Boy, the Shia LaBeouf biopic written by the man himself. Plus we delve in to Chinese heartbreaker So Long My Son

So Long My Son explores the impact of China's one child policy. It spans from the 1980s to the present day, regularly shifting back and forth in time. The story details the changing fortunes of a family and those around them, and how government policy has consistently affected their lives.

Directed by Alma Har’el, in her first foray in to narrative fiction, having previously directed the documentaries Bombay Beach and Love True; Honey Boy is written by Shia LaBeouf, whilst he was in Rehab, and is a retelling of his experience as a child actor, his tumultuous relationship with his father (who LaBeouf plays a proxy of here) and his reconciliation with his experiences.

Discussing the films this week are Jake Cunningham, Sam Howlett, Kelly Powell and Ella Kemp

Follow the team on Social Media:

@jakehcunningham - Jake

@samhowlett_1 - Sam

@ks_powell - Kelly

@csquinlan - Caitlin

Produced by Jake Cunningham

Edited by Mark Towers

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Murder! This week we're joined by writer-director Rian Johnson who tells us about his new whodunnit Knives Out, and we discuss the controversial revenge thriller The Nightingale.

Knives Out is an entertaining old-school murder mystery, boasting an incredible cast including Daniel Craig, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans and Don Johnson amongst many others. The Nightingale is director Jennifer Kent's follow-up to her acclaimed horror The Babadook, starring Aisling Franciosi as a young Irish prisoner in colonial Australia in pursuit of the British solider (Sam Claflin) who committed a terrible act of violence against her and her family.

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'Tis the season (nearly) so we unwrap our presents early and discuss Paul Feig's festive comedy Last Christmas, as well as take a look at offbeat animation I Lost My Body.

Written by Emma Thompson, Last Christmas stars Emilia Clarke (aka Daenerys Targaryen) as Christmas shop worker Kate, a down-on-her-luck Londoner who meets handsome stranger Tom, who seems too good to be true. I Lost My Body tells the bizarre story of a severed hand who, having been removed from it's owner's arm, frantically roams the streets of Paris looking for its former body.

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In this episode we get the report on The Report from director Scott Z. Burns. Plus, the amazing Amazing Johnathan Documentary...

The Report is about Daniel Jones (played by Adam Driver), who is tasked by Senator Dianne Feinstein (that’s Annette Bening) with delivering a definitive report on the CIA's use of torture after 9/11. What he uncovers will shake America. But, under constant threat from the US security forces, will their publication of the 6,700 page report bring change?

Our second film follows The Amazing Johnathan (John Edward Szeles), who built a career as a magician out of shock and deception in the 1980s. After Johnathan is diagnosed with a terminal heart condition and given one year to live, he’s forced to retire his act. Cut to three years later: Johnathan is not dead, much to everyone’s amazement, and documentarian Ben Berman films perhaps the illusionist’s greatest trick an epic comeback tour that careens off the rails in highly entertaining and unexpected ways...

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In this episode we soar into new heights, with guest Felicity Jones, and her new film The Aeronauts. Plus, we get in to the story of Noah Baumbach's new one on marriage.

Noah Baumbach, director of The Squid and the Whale and The Meyerowitz Stories, returns with a new family drama that ranks among his very best, and is a front runner for acting awards over the coming months. This one’s about a stage director (played by Adam Driver) and his wife, an actress played by Scarlett Johansson, as they struggle through a gruelling, coast-to-coast divorce that pushes them to their personal and creative extreme.

In The Aeronauts, it's 1862 and scientist James Glaisher (Eddie Redmayne) and widow Amelia Wren (Felicity Jones) embark on a remarkable mission to go where no human has gone before: 37,000 feet into the sky in a hot air balloon. As they begin their journey into the unknown, we flash back to their reasons for taking this momentous step... Battling weather conditions and their uncertain vessel, can the two return to Earth safely?

Discussing the films this week are Jake Cunningham, Sam Howlett, Kelly Powell and Ella Kemp

Follow the team on Social Media:

@jakehcunningham - Jake

@samhowlett_1 - Sam

@ks_powell - Kelly

@ella_kemp - Ella

Produced by Jake Cunningham

Edited by Mark Towers

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we take delivery of Ken Loach's latest, Sorry We Missed You and talk to the director himself. Plus, 37 years later, we return to the Overlook Hotel for The Shining sequel Doctor Sleep

Director Ken Loach teams once again with I, Daniel Blake screenwriter Paul Laverty for another indictment of the capitalist forces shaping modern Britain. Ricky is dreaming of better things for his family when he becomes a delivery van driver. But as an ‘independent contractor’, he’s working in unsparing conditions, just like his wife Abbie, a care nurse, both of them on zero hours contracts. Living like this means that they’re pushed to the brink, and their world falls apart when their teenage son starts to go off the rails.

Whatever happened to Danny Torrance, the gifted young boy from The Shining? It's a question that must have vexed Stephen King enough to produce a sequel 37 years later. In Doctor Sleep, a grown-up Danny (Ewan McGregor) finds himself in the role of protector to a young girl on the run from a cult that is hell-bent on harvesting her gift.

Discussing the films this week are Jake Cunningham, Sam Howlett, Kelly Powell and Ella Kemp

Follow the team on Social Media:

@jakehcunningham - Jake

@samhowlett_1 - Sam

@ks_powell - Kelly

@ella_kemp - Ella

Produced by Jake Cunningham

Edited by Mark Towers

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, for the first time, we welcome a guest for the third time. François Ozon, director of Swimming Pool, In The House and L'amant Double, joins for a hat-trick appearance on the podcast to talk about his new film By The Grace of God

Francois Ozon's gripping true-life drama tells the story of three men who come together to dismantle the code of silence around historic abuse cases within the Catholic Church. Alexandre (Melville Poupaud) lives in Lyon with his wife and children. One day he learns by chance that the priest who abused him when he was in scouts is still working with children. He decided to take action and is soon joined by two other victims of the priest, François (Denis Ménochet) and Emmanuel (Swann Arlaud). They band together to “lift the burden of silence” surrounding their ordeal. But the repercussions and consequences will leave no one unscathed.

Exiled on a mountainside, the Monos are a teenage guerrilla group. Far away from clear orders, they must watch over a cow and a single hostage. But things go quickly awry, shaking the group apart and severing their links with the outside world. A rich allegory that bears many interpretations, Monos pairs breathtaking, hallucinogenic visuals with intense character dynamics. With a score from Mica Levi (Under the Skin, Jackie) propelling the action, this is gripping, original filmmaking at its best.

Discussing the films this week are Jake Cunningham, Sam Howlett and Ella Kemp

Follow the team on Social Media:

@jakehcunningham - Jake

@samhowlett_1 - Sam

@ella_kemp - Ella

Produced by Jake Cunningham

Edited by Mark Towers

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we pull a new page from Olivier Assayas's filmography, as we discuss Non-Fiction. Plus, we share our final highlights from the 2019 edition of the London Film Festival.

Non Fiction begins when an affair between actress Selena (that’s Juliette Binoche) and writer Léonard (Vincent Macaigne) is nearly discovered thanks to Léonard’s recent thinly veiled autobiographical novel. Fortunately, Alain (Guillaume Canet), who is both Selena’s husband and Léonard’s publisher, rejects the book, remaining oblivious to the whole ordeal, maybe because he’s having his own affair as well.

Discussing the films this week are Jake Cunningham, Kelly Powell, Sam Howlett and Alasdair Bayman

Follow the team on Social Media:

@jakehcunningham - Jake

@ks_powell - Kelly

@alasdairbayman - Alasdair

@samhowlett_1 - Sam

Produced by Jake Cunningham

Edited by Mark Towers

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we welcome Marchánt Davis, breakout star of The Day Shall Come, Chris Morris' return to film, a decade after Four Lions. Plus we delve in to our highlights from the London Film Festival so far.

In The Day Shall Come, an impoverished preacher, played by Marchant Davis, who’s attempting to bring hope to the Miami projects is offered cash to save his family from eviction. However, he’s got no clue that his sponsor works for the FBI, and in search of promotion, they’ve got big dreams on turning Moses and his followers him in to the next big terrorist thread to America.

Discussing the films this week are Jake Cunningham, Duncan Carson and Sam Howlett.

Follow the team on Social Media:

@jakehcunningham - Jake

@nowolvesplease - Duncan

@samhowlett_1 - Sam

Produced by Jake Cunningham

Edited by Mark Towers

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we travel from Gotham City to the Emerald one as we cover Joker and Judy, with special guest Rufus our Sewell in the crown.

Judy Garland became one of the undisputed icons of the Golden Age of Hollywood. But behind that success was a darker tale, one of innocence exploited. In Rupert Goold’s new biopic, Renée Zellwegger plays Judy in the twilight of her career. Battered but not beaten, financial ruin forces Garland to return to the stage. Setting ‘60s London alight, she reconnects with her love of performance, but old demons resurface.

Drawing upon the work of Martin Scorsese – especially The King of Comedy and Taxi Driver – director Todd Philips has delivered a new standalone origin story for the clown with the cracked smile. Joaquin Phoenix plays Arthur Fleck, a clown-for-hire by day, who spends nights as a struggling stand up comic. But when he is pushed too far, Joker is ready to regurgitate Gotham City’s hate.

Discussing the films this week are Jake Cunningham, Ella Kemp and Alasdair Bayman.

Follow the team on Social Media:

@jakehcunningham - Jake

@efe_kemp - Ella

@alasdairbayman - Alasdair

Produced by Jake Cunningham

Edited by Mark Towers

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.