The Empire Film Podcast

The Shameless Plug returns, folks, for a second glorious episode in which Chris Hewitt and Empire editor, Nick de Semlyen, sit down in the podbooth and tell you how (and why) the sausage is made. That sausage being the new issue of Empire, which is on sale now in all good, evil, and virtual newsagents. Our dynamic duo talk through the month's big cover feature, a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Jaws, look back to a dark moment in Empire's history, and Chris has a bone to pick with Nick. Enjoy.

This week's Empire Podcast (episode 664 if you're keeping score!) is more packed with goodness than your average Easter egg. Not only do Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, and Alex Godfrey get into a discussion about what exactly makes a musical a musical (along with an impromptu visit to a certain mountain), but they tackle the week's movie news, including the revelation that the Oscars will finally have a Best Stunt Design category (note: this was recorded, due to the Easter holidays, before the new Fantastic Four trailer and Star Wars movie news. We'll get to those next week), and review Ryan Coogler's Sinners, Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza's Warfare, and the new Steve Coogan film, The Penguin Lessons. And if that weren't enough, our guest egg overcracketh, as Chris sits down with Steve Coogan and co-star Jonathan Pryce, [21:13 - 33:16 approx] and Sinners' genius composer, Ludwig Göransson, [1:31:25 - 1:45:01 approx] while Alex has an engrossing chat with Warfare's directors, Ray Mendoza and the other Alex G. [52:19 - 1:07:55 approx] And finally, there's an excerpt from Chris' wonderful spoiler special chat with The Monkey director, Osgood Perkins. [1:46:16 - 1:57:31 approx] Our full spoiler special for that movie is now up in our spoiler special feed. Phew, told you it was a packed show. Enjoy!

Kevin Macdonald's latest documentary, One To One: John & Yoko, is out now in cinemas around the UK, folks, and it's well worth your time for anyone with even a passing interest in John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, and their lives after The Beatles split up. But if you're a Beatlemaniac, this is manna from heaven as it not only brings you remastered footage of the One To One benefit concerts that Lennon and Ono performed at Madison Square Garden in 1972 (the only full-length concerts Lennon performed after leaving The Beatles), but also a glimpse into their lives and personal dynamic, courtesy of some incredible archive footage (video and audio). It also paints a portrait of the year 1972, and the political maelstrom that was swirling across America at the time. In this interview special, Chris Hewitt sits down on Zoom with Macdonald for a deep dive into how and why he made the film, and much, much more, including a little chat about The Runner, the action film Macdonald is just about to start directing any day now. Enjoy.

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast is jam-packed etc. etc. Bumper-sized, and so on and so forth. But it's true, perhaps this week more than ever as Chris Hewitt sits down for chats with two pairs — first, there's Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche, who reunite almost 30 years after The English Patient for this week's Odyssey-sampling drama, The Return. [24:05 - 38:32 approx] Then, there's Rami Malek and Laurence Fishburne, stars of the new spy thriller The Amateur, who reflect upon where they met, their working relationship, and the influence of Event Horizon upon modern cinema. [1:03:32 - 1:17:24 approx] Finally, Ben Travis has a lovely chat with Christopher Landon, the always affable director of this week's thriller, Drop. [1:38:53 - 1:53:53 approx] Either side of those, Chris welcomes Ben and James Dyer into the podbooth, as well as our returning geek queen, Helen O'Hara, back after that small business of getting married. They talk about that, discuss the great movie weddings they'd like to attend, run their eye over the week's movie news (including a whole bunch of trailers), and review The Amateur, The Return, Holy Cow, Drop, and One To One: John & Yoko. Also, Chris unleashes a new and almost instantly unwanted impression, and the question is asked: who is the funniest person Helen knows? The answer may shock you. Enjoy.

This week's Empire Podcast sees the long-awaited return of one of our favourite guests, the wonderful British actor Will Poulter, who talks to Chris Hewitt about his role in the new movie, Death Of A Unicorn, playing a prize A-hole, and impromptu tongue-twisters. [20:38 - 33:28 approx]Another returning guest joins us this week, as the delightful Amber Midthunder sits down on Zoom with Amon Warmann to dive deep into her role in the new action comedy Novocaine. That interview does contain some spoilers, so tread carefully! [1:07:21 - 1:23:34 approx] Either side of those, Chris is joined in the podbooth by James Dyer and, for the first time in forever, Ben Travis as they discuss the videogames they'd like to see adapted into movies, review Death Of A Unicorn, Holland, Last Swim and The Most Precious Of Cargoes, and go deep on tons of movie news, including the casting of The Beatles, the Once Upon A Time In Hollywood sequel, and the sad news of the death of the great Val Kilmer.