The Empire Film Podcast

How do you get Rebecca Hall on the Empire Podcast? Practice! Yes folks, in the week that the London Film Festival throws opens its doors to the world, Chris Hewitt has a natter with Rebecca Hall, the writer-director of the compelling drama, Passing, which is playing at the Festival. They talk about the personal connection Rebecca felt to the story, which is about an African-American woman passing herself off as white in 1920s America, and what she inherited as a director from her father, the legendary Sir Peter Hall, and much more besides. Elsewhere, Chris is joined in the actual podbooth this week by Helen O'Hara and James Dyer for an episode in which they discuss the best movies set in deserts (brace yourself for Dunesplaining), talk about the week's movie news, review No Sudden Move, Infinite, and John And The Hole, come up with a brand new name for one of the deadliest snakes in the world, and prove that Helen does NOT trample on jokes. So there! Enjoy!

Wake up... No Time To Die! Yes, this week finally sees the release of the final film in Daniel Craig's five-movie stint as James Bond, and to celebrate the occasion Chris Hewitt sits down for chats with both a relaxed and convivial Craig and his villainous counterpart, Rami Malek, who plays new Bond baddie, Safin. Do we expect you to listen? Well, ideally. Either side of those, Chris hits the virtual podbooth due to a touch of lurgy, where he's joined by James Dyer and Beth Webb for a fun episode in which they talk about great scenes set in recording studios, discuss the week's movie news, review (with the help of John Nugent) No Time To Die in a spoiler-free stylee, along with The Starling, and The Guilty, and talk of exotic locations like Pontypandy, Lusty Beg and Giggly Corner. (One of those is actually a real place.) Joy. En joy.

It's another big old bumper Empire Podcast this week. For reasons that are beyond our control (maybe have a word with S.P.E.C.T.R.E.), we're back on Squadcast, with Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara and James Dyer getting up very early (for them) to talk about the strangest places they've ever conducted interviews, discuss the week's 'fantastic' movie news, and review Sopranos spin-off The Many Saints Of Newark, David Lowery's long-awaited The Green Knight, and Everybody's Talking About Jamie. And, on the interview front, Chris has a good old natter with our favourite Variant, Sophia Di Martino, about her new movie, Sweetheart; Amon Warmann sits down for a chat with Alessandro Nivola about starring in The Many Saints Of Newark; and, in what's fast becoming a regular feature, we bring you brief excerpts from our spoiler special interviews with Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings director, Destin Daniel Cretton, and writer Dave Callaham. And if you still haven't seen it and wish to remain spoiler-free, they're right at the end of the show. But whatever you're listening to on this week's show, enjoy.

Where was this week's Empire Podcast recorded? *very Phil Collins voice* Stu-stu-studio! That's right, folks. After a year and a half of SquadCasting and podcasting remotely, this week's pod sees Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara and James Dyer gather in the same studio for some film-related fun. Join them as they natter on about the great reunion moments in movie history, discuss the week's movie news (Chris Nolan leaving WB? Hawkeye looks fun?), and review Gunpowder Milkshake, Kate, and Malignant. A film, it's fair to say, that has divided the pod. But it's not all studio-bound shenanigans. Chris logs onto Zoom not once, but twice, this week to talk to Karen Gillan, star of Gunpowder Milkshake, and Mark Cousins, former Moviedrome maestro and now the director of documentary The Story Of Looking. And, somewhere along the way, he explains to Helen what orange chicken is. This podcast contains multitudes, folks. Dive in. And sorry for the delirium; we were very happy to see each other. (Not in a sex way.) Enjoy.

This week's Empire Podcast sees Phyllida Lloyd, director of the excellent drama Herself, sit down with her star and writer, Clare Dunne, for an interview with Chris Hewitt about how they pulled off one of the year's best films. And when we say she sits down, we mean it. They were sitting beside each other in Phyllida's kitchen. A sign that nature is healing, folks. Actual physical proximity! Elsewhere, Chris is joined this week by Nick de Semlyen and Beth Webb for a fun episode in which they discuss pond-swimming, the best eyebrows in movies, take a peek at the week's big movie news (including some discussion of a certain trailer... yes, we're talking Moonfall), and pay tribute to some of the incredible talent which sadly left us this week, including Jean-Paul Belmondo and Michael K. Williams. They also review Herself, Copshop, and Respect (James Wan's Malignant wasn't screened for critics, and will be reviewed on next week's show). Finally, we also hear from Candyman director Nia DaCosta in a spoilerific excerpt from our Candyman spoiler special. Enjoy.

Ever since Groundhog Day burst onto the scene in 1993 with all the force of Bill Murray decking Stephen Tobolowsky, we’ve fallen in love with timeloop films; those movies that trap their protagonists in an endless cycle and challenge them to improve themselves or get lost forever. And in this very special episode of the Empire Podcast, Chris Hewitt, Helen O’Hara and James Dyer discuss the greatest timeloop movies of all time, ask why it took so long for a serious contender to escape from Groundhog Day’s shadow, and come up with their own perfect timeloop movie playlist for those stuck in their never ending loop. From Edge Of Tomorrow (or whatever it’s called this week) to the Happy Death Day movies, this is one pod that will knock you for a loop. Enjoy.

Celebrate Our Cinemas is a brand-new, limited-edition podcast series, brought to you by Empire in association with Meerkat Movies from Compare The Market. Each week, Chris Hewitt sits down with a notable guest from the world of film and digs deep into their cinema-going history. In this, the sixth and final episode of the series, Chris chats with Elijah Wood, star of a little trilogy of films called The Lord Of The Rings and upcoming drama No Man Of God, which launches digitally on September 13, about the cinemas that helped shape his viewing habits. There is much talk of horror movies, of Raisinets, of seeing movies in Austin, Texas, and Wellington, New Zealand, and of the challenges of bringing a baby to the pictures. And, as predicted on last week's episode, the Alamo Drafthouse gets a lot of love. Enjoy.

This week's Empire Podcast sees Chris Hewitt sit down with Simu Liu, the title star of the latest MCU film, Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, for a wide-ranging chat (1:18:17.675 - 1:36:05.820) that takes in Liu's time in London as a teen, his prediction for Avengers 20, and a heartfelt tribute to the late Brad Allan, the film's second unit director, who passed away recently. Also this week, we bring you an excerpt (34:12.487 - 48.32.970) from James Dyer's epic spoiler-filled interview with Lisa Joy, the writer-director of Reminiscence. This, you'll be glad to know, is completely spoiler-free. The rest is available only to spoiler special subscribers shameless plug shameless plug. And in the virtual podbooth, Chris and James are joined by Helen O'Hara and, making her full debut on the podcast, Katie Smith-Wong to discuss the greatest movie scenes involving snakes (involuntary shudder), talk about the week's movie news including yet another delay for Top Gun: Maverick, and review Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, Annette, and the latest Cinderella. Oh, and with four people in the booth, The Three Fact Structure makes another welcome return. And we ask the biggest question of them all: what are the bottom five MCU films? The answers may shock you. Enjoy.

Celebrate Our Cinemas is a brand-new, limited-edition podcast series, brought to you by Empire in association with Meerkat Movies from Compare The Market. Each week, it sees Chris Hewitt sit down with a notable guest from the world of film and dig deep into their cinema-going history. What was the first film they remember seeing? What film made them laugh so hard that tears streamed down their face? What's their favourite cinema? And, most important of all, what's their cinematic snack of choice? In this penultimate episode, Chris chats with Russell and Ron Mael, the brothers better known as the art-pop band Sparks. They've had one heck of a year, cinematically speaking, being both the subjects of Edgar Wright's excellent documentary, The Sparks Brothers, and the co-writers of Leos Carax' new movie, Annette, which opens this week (September 3rd, to be precise) and simply has to be seen and heard to be believed. They're also huge film fans and dyed-in-the-wool cinephiles, having immersed themselves in all things silver screen since they were young, and in this chat they recall their early experiences, talk about the film that made them laugh the most (you will never guess it), and we get to the bottom of the big question: does Ron like nachos? Enjoy.

This week's Empire Podcast is a sad, sombre, reflective affair. Not because the Empire Podteam -- Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, and James Dyer -- are particularly maudlin about the prospect of discussing the week's movie news, including the revelation that The Matrix 4 is now called The Matrix Resurrections, or reviewing (with the help of newcomer Katie Smith-Wong) Candyman, The Nest, Vacation Friends, Sweet Girl, and Our Ladies. And the interviews aren't laced with melancholy either, as Mike Muncer talks to Yahya Abdul-Mateen II about his role in the rebootquel of Candyman, while Beth Webb has a good old natter with Jude Law about The Nest. No, the reason we're all a little sad is that this podcast marks the final fling, the last hurrah, the long goodbye of Empire's outgoing Editor-In-Chief, Terri White. She's leaving Empire after six glorious years in charge, and to mark the occasion we dedicate the whole of an especially engorged Listeners' Questions sections to Terri, who reveals all about her favourite covers, her biggest triumphs, her future plans, and which Sylvester Stallone characters she'd like to invite to a dinner party. There won't be a dry eye in the house. So, naturally, we'd like to dedicate this week's show to Terri. As Jonathan 'The Duke' Mardukas once said, see you in the next life.