Screenshot

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode devote the final episode of the current series of Screenshot to the world’s most famous doll, ahead of the release of director Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie. Ellen is joined by critic Christina Newland for a look at how movies like Legally Blonde, Clueless and The House Bunny brought 'Barbiecore' to the screen, decades before the new live action film about the Mattel doll.And Mark speaks to comic and culture critic Ashley Ray about some of the most fascinating uses of the Barbie figure in film and TV, from Toy Story to The Simpsons to Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story - director Todd Haynes' biopic of the Carpenters' singer, told using Barbie dolls. Mark also talks to Film Threat magazine founder Chris Gore about his memories of Todd Haynes' Superstar, which became a cult, underground classic when it was refused a commercial release. This week's Viewing Note comes from actor and comedian Harry Trevaldwyn, who has a role in Greta Gerwig's Barbie film. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore sport on screen, from Field of Dreams to Ted Lasso.Ellen looks at the life lessons to be gleaned from baseball movies such as Field of Dreams, The Natural and A League of Their Own, with the help of film critic Simon Brew and the first woman to coach men's baseball in the US - trailblazer Justine Siegal.And Mark focuses on football in film and TV, speaking to Ted Lasso co-creator and star Brendan Hunt about the inspirations for the sitcom about an American football manager hired to manage a fictional Premier League team. He also talks to critic and programmer Ashley Clark about his favourite screen depictions of the beautiful game, from Escape to Victory to Sunderland 'Til I Die. Pioneering BBC Sport broadcaster and journalist Eleanor Oldroyd shares her Viewing Notes. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

With its outrageous audience, pioneering programme, all night film marathons and a particularly vicious house cat, The Scala cinema in London’s King’s Cross blazed a flamboyant trail across the repertory cinema scene of the 70s, 80s and 90s. As Jane Giles recounts in her book on The Scala, director John Waters describes it as “a country club for criminals and lunatics and people that were high... which is a good way to see movies..." Among that membership were the burgeoning creative filmmakers of the 21st century - Christopher Nolan, Peter Strickland, Joanna Hogg and Ben Wheatley to name a few.Ellen E Jones separates truth from legend with the man who started it all - film producer and director Stephen Woolley. They discuss the infamous screenings, the intersection of music, politics and film, and the ‘collective of lost souls’ who came together over a shared love of film.Mark Kermode discusses the age of cinema before video and streaming with film writer and curator Anne Bilson. They remember trekking across London by bus to hunt down one-off screenings, and staying up all night for kung fu specials. Mark then talks to film programmer Andrew Woodyatt about invoking the spirit of The Scala for today’s audiences at his weekly Queer Cinema club, the Pink Palace at the Rio Cinema.And in this week’s Viewing Note, filmmaker Carol Morley remembers a Scala moment which has haunted her dreams ever since.Producer: Freya Hellier A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

As Judy Blume’s classic YA novel Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is adapted for the big screen, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore how a recent wave of coming of age films have looked at the subject from a teenage girl’s perspective. Ellen speaks to critic Hannah Strong about the coming of age films that made her feel seen as a teen, from The Virgin Suicides to Welcome To The Dollhouse. She also talks to director Domee Shi about the inspiration for her 2022 Pixar film Turning Red.And Mark talks to filmmaker and actor Marielle Heller about her directorial debut The Diary of a Teenage Girl, and why making a coming of age film can be a coming of age experience in itself.Plus Nida Manzoor, director of teen comedy-drama Polite Society, shares her favourite teen girls on screen in Viewing Notes. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

In May 1983, Sony released the first camcorder for domestic consumers, the Betamovie. This milestone in amateur filmmaking, 40 years on, prompts Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode to explore how home movies are depicted and used in feature film.Ellen meets academic Liz Czach to find out about the history of home movies, amateur filmmaking and and how its role has shifted in today's world of the internet and Tik Tok.John Wilson, creator of the hit docufiction show How To... With John Wilson, also joins Ellen to discuss how his early experiences with found footage, and the documentaries of Bruce Brown, impacted his approach to film. Mark talks to Canadian auteur, Atom Egoyan, about how the advent of the digital camcorder and our changing relationship to video technology influenced his early films.This week's viewing note is from the director of Skate Kitchen and The Wolfpack, Crystal Moselle, who recommends a film that utilises home movie footage. Producer: Mae-Li Evans A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ahead of International Workers' Day, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore how the struggle for workers' rights and other movements for change have been depicted on screen.Ellen speaks to artist Jeremy Deller, who in 2001 restaged and filmed perhaps the most pivotal and violent event of the 1984/85 miners' strike - the confrontation between police and picketing miners in South Yorkshire, which has come to be known as the Battle of Orgreave. She also talks to cultural historian Christopher Frayling about some of the most interesting films about the labour movement to emerge in the UK, from The Proud Valley to It's All Right, Jack. And Mark investigates how activism is depicted on screen in the present day, speaking to How To Blow Up A Pipeline director Daniel Goldhaber, and activist Megan Kapler, whose work with advocacy group Prescription Addiction Intervention Now was recently portrayed in documentary All The Beauty And The Bloodshed. This week's Viewing Note comes from film director Lizzie Borden, who shares her favourite recent activist documentaries.Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode discuss how restaurants are portrayed throughout cinema and the small screen, from Big Night to Ratatouille.Mark is joined by film and TV journalist Roxana Hadadi to discuss an overview of the best depictions of restaurants on the silver screen and to define which ingredients make for a good restaurant movie.And Ellen talks to Philip Barantini, the director of one-take restaurant film Boiling Point, about how his experience as a head chef has made him the director he is today. Ellen also speaks to restaurant critic Jimi Famurewa about how and why restaurants are the perfect setting for TV and film. This week’s viewing note is courtesy of food critic and broadcaster Jay Rayner.Producer: Hester Cant A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones take the scenic route through slow cinema - a genre of film that might challenge your attention span, but is almost guaranteed to change the way you watch. There is one particular film that’s inspired this week’s show, Chantal Akerman’s 3-and-a-half hour, slow moving masterpiece from 1975 - Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080, BrusselsIn December 2022, Jeanne Dielman topped Sight and Sound magazine’s Greatest Film of All Time poll. That caused quite a fuss because, for the last few decades, the poll has been dominated by Citizen Kane and Vertigo. Ellen speaks with critic Wendy Ide and film academic Dr Tiago de Luca to get deeper into the genre of slow cinema and explore this sea change in critics' tastes.One reason for Jeanne Dielman’s new found popularity is down to access. A film that was once almost impossible to see is now enjoying sell out runs in art house cinemas. In an extended interview, Mark talks with writer and filmmaker Adam Roberts who, along with director Joanna Hogg, has long been at the centre of the quest to take Chantal Akerman’s filmography from the underground into the spotlight. They discuss Akerman’s life, work and her unique creative vision.And in this week’s Viewing Note, friend of the show and director of the Cornish folk horror Enys Men, Mark Jenkin, shares his slow cinema recommendations.Producer: Freya Hellier A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

The Long Good Friday elevated the British gangster film to a level not seen for a decade since Get Carter, and sees London gangster Harold Shand (Bob Hoskins) and his girlfriend Victoria (Helen Mirren) embroiled in a scheme to redevelop parts of London’s Docklands with finance from a New York mafia boss. The film features some prophetic scenes in which Harold espouses a new future for London, a London at the centre of Europe, with opportunity to create incredible wealth - a wealth he would most likely have made had the IRA not started interfering in his affairs.In this episode of Screenshot, Mark Kermode speaks to Dame Helen Mirren about the changes she made to the script and to her character's role, and also about how her uncle’s connections to the London underworld helped her in the part. Mark also talks to tour guide Rob Smith, who leads a tour of the film’s locations around London’s Docklands.Exploring the world of the British gangster film further, Ellen E Jones meets author Kim Newman who talks us through the changing nature of these films from the 1930s to the present day, and Louis Mellis who, alongside David Scinto, wrote a triptych of British gangster films including 2000’s Sexy Beast.Lynda La Plante, creator of the seminal British gangster crime drama Widows, drops in with a Viewing Note in which she makes an offer you can’t refuse.Producer: Tom Whalley A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the dark arts of the film trailer, 110 years on from the first ever trailer, for Broadway musical The Pleasure Seekers. Ellen talks to writer and trailer aficionado Matt Schimkowitz about the origins of the trailer, its development since the early days of cinema, and the Christopher Nolan film that totally changed the landscape.And Mark speaks to director Edgar Wright about the film trailers that left the biggest impression on him growing up, as well as about his experience making a parody trailer - Don’t - for Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s Grindhouse project. Mark also speaks to actor-turned-director Elizabeth Banks about the trailer for her forthcoming film Cocaine Bear, which has proved a huge viral hit. This week's Viewing Note is from Oscar-winning director Guillermo Del Toro.Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4