The Playlist

Fiona is joined by longtime listener, first-time co-host, Ben Nguyen, who takes time out from his day job as SBS Channel Manager to join The Playlist. Ben's been watching HBO's 'Chernobyl', and Fiona has been watching and loving Bong Joon-ho's Palme d'Or winning 'Parasite'. Director Bong returns to The Playlist to talk about his darkly funny thriller.

It’s Nick’s last episode this week. Along with tearful farewells, Nick and Fiona discuss what they’ve been watching... 01:37 Fiona's been seeing things at the Sydney Film Festival, including Her Smell, starring Elisabeth Moss. 03:55 Nick did not like Dark Phoenix, the latest X-Men movie. 09:24 Fiona has mixed feelings about the Oscar-nominated Never Look Away, another SFF film. 12:09 Nick re-watched an old favourite: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and has questions about how sexism in movies has evolved. 21:36 Fiona recommends Brazilian film Bacurau. 23:16 We farewell Nick from The Playlist and introduce Fiona’s new co-host, Ben Nguyen.

It's time for another instalment of Michael Apted's ground-breaking '7 Up' documentary series, which has chronicled the lives of a group of Brits from the age of seven to 63. The director of the landmark social experiment about modern living Britain is our special guest on this episode of The Playlist, and he joins Fiona to talk about the impact of this venture upon his own life, and also, what it's like to cop a spray from participant Jackie.

0:44 Is Rocketman, the new Elton John biopic musical, a good movie? Nick and Fiona try to work it out. 10:40 Fiona interviews Rocketman director Dexter Fletcher and star Taron Egerton. 18:45 Nick and Fiona go back to 1980 to discuss whether Paul Schrader's American Gigolo, starring Richard Gere at peak handsomeness, holds up. American Gigolo airs on Sunday, 2 June at 8:30pm on SBS VICELAND and streams afterwards at SBS On Demand. 23:59 Was the Veep finale satisfying? Nick and Fiona discuss what kind of American political satire works in the current climate. Plus Fiona got around to seeing the Charlize Theron romcom Long Shot.

0:35 Guy Ritchie directs Disney’s new live-action remake of Aladdin, starring Will Smith as the genie. Nick wasn’t overly impressed, but Fiona thought it found its feet, eventually. It was always going to be a tough ask to meet the much adored 1992 version starring Robin Williams. Aladdin is in cinemas now. 16:11 Nick’s been watching the finale of Game of Thrones, “the biggest and most important TV show of all time”. How could it possibly have met fans’ sky-high expectations? Nick and Fiona discuss TV finales in general, including from The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Six Feet Under, Seinfeld and The Wire, and why so many of them are so terrible. 23:21 Fiona’s been watching new movie, Wine Country in which a bunch of women friends gather for a 50th birthday in California’s Napa Valley. Starring Amy Poehler (who also directed) and Rachel Dratch, it’s a story about unresolved tensions and the beauty of friendship. Tina Fey, Melissa McCarthy and others make cameo appearances. Wine Country is now showing on Netflix.

0:37 Nick and Fiona talk about Mike Leigh’s new film, Peterloo. It’s about an 1819 pro-democracy workers’ rights rally in Manchester, UK which turned into one of the bloodiest massacres in English history when government forces mowed into and over crowds. 03:16 Fiona interviews acclaimed director Mike Leigh about Peterloo, in cinemas now. 21:26 Pro-wrestling fan and colleague Shelly Peacock (Orvilleland podcast) joins Nick and Fiona to talk about new series, Dark Side of the Ring now streaming at SBS On Demand and coming to SBS VICELAND in June. The show reveals the darker, lesser known stories of 1970s and ’80s pro-wrestling. 35:47 Nick’s been watching The Hustle, a remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, starring Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson, and Long Shot, a romantic comedy starring Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen. Both films are in cinemas now. Fiona’s been absorbed in the world of Eurovision, but found time to re-watch her go-to ’70s disaster film, The Poseidon Adventure. This episode was recorded on Wednesday, 15 May 2019.

00:39 Nick and Fiona have a [spoiler heavy] conversation about Avengers: Endgame 14:51 Fiona talks to Miranda Tapsell and Gwilym Lee about the Aussie romcom Top End Wedding 26:12 A segment is spent trying to figure out how anyone would find Chris Lilley's Lunatics series funny

00:46 Nick and Fiona talk about Tin Star, which stars Tim Roth as a washed-up English cop who ends up in small-town Canada where the oil company reigns supreme. Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) co-stars 06:26 Fiona interviews Downton Abbey star Elizabeth McGovern about her new film The Chaperone 22:52 We're talkin' game shows! Mastermind, hosted by Jennifer Byrne, and Beat the Internet, hosted by John Robins... 30:08 Fiona recommends Korean film, Burning, in cinemas now, and Nick is loving HBO series, Barry

0:32 Nick and Fiona preview season 3 of The Good Fight, which premieres on Wednesday 17 April at 8:30 pm on SBS 06:58 Ang Lee’s 1997 film The Ice Storm is streaming now at SBS On Demand. Nick and Fiona look back on the film set in 1973 Connecticut starring Joan Allen, Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver 15:316 Nick’s been watching the last season of Veep and Fiona’s getting into Schitt’s Creek

A special episode devoted to new true crime documentary series, 'The Case Against Adnan Syed'. Fiona talks to writer/director Amy Berg ('West of Memphis' / 'Deliver Us From Evil') about why she chose to revisit the very high profile case, first explored in the podcast Serial. Amy reflects upon how she won the confidence of key witnesses, to convince them to tell their side of the story for the first time. She also explains how new evidence was uncovered over the course of the series' lengthy production.