The Playlist Podcast Network

This week on the podcast, we have the filmmaker Neill Blomkamp, the director of “District 9,” “Elysium,” “Chappie,” and his upcoming IFC Midnight film, “Demonic.” In this episode, Blomkamp tells us all about the creation, conception, and shooting of “Demonic,” his attempts to bring “Alien 5” to the screen—he thinks it's deader than Dillinger, by the way— a little bit about “Robocop” and touches upon perhaps more films in the “Elysium” universe, but also a sequel to “District 9” which he is now actively working on. All that in more in a conversation that spans about 40-some minutes. Enjoy

HBO’s “Westworld” with her husband, Jonathan Nolan. Having now guided the dystopian sci-fi series through three critically acclaimed seasons, Joy found herself in the director’s chair for the first time, directing the season two episode “The Riddle of the Sphinx.” “I learned a lot about my directorial style,” said Joy about her work on the episode, “which is, before I even start prep, I normally have the whole [episode/movie] cut together in my head. When I walk the crew through a location, I act out and pre-block everything, and I also tend to talk about, not the technical aspects, but the emotional feeling and intent behind the scene.” It was only a matter of time before Joy’s talents saw her at the helm of a feature film, and she got to do just that with this year’s “Reminiscence,” from a Blacklist-certified screenplay written by Joy, and purchased all the way back in 2013. Placed firmly in Joy’s established wheelhouse of science fiction, “Reminiscence” stars Hugh Jackman as Nick Bannister, a private investigator of the mind in Miami, who helps clients recover lost memories using a machine that brings the memories themselves to life. With an eight-year gap from the screenplay’s purchase to the release of the final product, there’s potential for the script to radically change, but in the case of “Reminiscence,” it was “not that much, except some of the worldbuilding,” according to Joy. “Memory is lovely, it’s a way of time travel that we can all experience, but we can’t live there, the spaceship does not hold,” said Joy. “Maybe that’s a good reason why memory does organically fade, why the machine does not exist. We cannot hold ourselves in a perfect simulation of the past. And I think that if you are experiencing a perfect simulation of [your] past, it’s probably a sign that you are making something up. That you have overly idealized a moment so much that you have turned it into a story.” “Reminiscence” will also provide “Westworld” fans with more thought-provoking sci-fi as they eagerly await the fourth season of the hit HBO series, the latter of which Joy was able to provide a brief, but encouraging update on. “[Jonathan] isn’t here and he’s always like ‘don’t say this or say that,’ so I have to be very careful,” said Joy. “I will say we know how ‘Westworld’ ends, but right now I’m focusing on the fourth season, and there will be some new world situations coming on that I’m very excited about. I might get in trouble [for saying that], but I’m married to the person who would be mad at me, so there’s really not much he can do.” During our insightful conversation with Lisa Joy, we get into the philosophy and making of “Reminiscence,” her directorial debut on "Westworld," how she taught herself guitar and became pen pals with some of her favorite writers during the lockdown, which cut of “Blade Runner” she may or may not prefer, and much more! “Reminiscence” arrives in theaters on August 20th, and will make its one-month streaming debut on HBO Max on the same day.

On this episode of The Playlist Podcast, we’re joined by filmmaker Ferdinando Filomarino, the director of the new Netflix thriller, “Beckett," starring John David Washington and Alicia Vikander. You can hear us talk more about “Beckett,” the underrated skills of Boyd Holbrook, and the future of the theatrical experience in our discussion.

"Y’all wanna hear a story about why me & this bitch here fell out? It’s kind of long but full of suspense.” On this episode of The Playlist Podcast, we have on writer, director and actor Janicza Bravo, who directed and co-wrote A24's Sundance indie "Zola." Delayed by a year because of the pandemic, "Zola" finally came out earlier this summer and now, the film arrives on DVD and Blu-ray (plus Digital) on August 14. If you don't know "Zola," it is an insane ride that's nightmarish yet entertaining. Based on the viral 148-tweet Twitter thread from Detroit waitress A’Ziah “Zola” King about her wild road trip to Florida, "Zola" centers on that title character (newcomer Taylour Paige), a Detroit waitress, strikes up a new friendship with a customer, Stefani (Riley Keough), who seduces her to join a weekend of dancing and partying in Florida. But that glamorous trip full of “hoeism” rapidly transforms into a 48-hour journey into something much darker.  "Zola" arrives on DVD and Blu-ray™ (plus Digital) September 14 from Lionsgate and Playlist contributor Sharronda Williams spoke to Bravo about the ins and outs of her complex, dark and comical movie. 

There are few performers who manage to maintain a high profile in the public eye, and who are perpetually coveted by filmmakers, in the way that Joseph Gordon-Levitt has. Having started as a child actor in hit films like “A River Runs Through It” and “Angels in the Outfield,” Gordon-Levitt came into adulthood while starring in the iconic sitcom “3rd Rock from the Sun” and the fan-favorite rom-com “10 Things I Hate About You.” It was in the 2000s where his star rose into the stratosphere, turning in widely acclaimed work in films such as “Mysterious Skin,” “Inception,” and his frequent collaborations with Rian Johnson, including the lead roles in “Brick” and “Looper.” This is all without mentioning his Golden Globe-nominated performances in “(500) Days of Summer” and “50/50,” or his directorial debut firestorm, “Don Jon,” which Gordon-Levitt also wrote and starred in, or the fact that Gordon-Levitt is as talented a musician and singer as he is a performer and filmmaker. With a huge resume of beloved films under his belt, Gordon-Levitt has been somewhat absent from our screens recently, with his biggest acting credits in the past few years being “Snowden,” “Project Power,” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” The actor also began to shift more of his efforts towards ramping up operations on HITRECORD, a collaborative media platform owned by Gordon-Levitt that fosters collaboration between its users as well as Gordon-Levitt himself. For example, one user might create a short animation, which can then be “remixed” by another user who adds original music, a third user who does voiceover narration, and so on, until the original submission has turned into a collaborative, complete project. HITRECORD now boasts a user base of over 80,000 people and pulls in about 1,000 pieces of original, user-created media every day. However HITRECORD isn't the sole reason for Gordon-Levitt's absence from the silver screen and it just so happens to serve as the genesis for his latest venture, "Mr. Corman:" parenthood. Writing, starring in, and even directing eight episodes of the 10-part miniseries which streams on Apple TV+ this summer, Gordon-Levitt, now 40, reflects on his life and the new perspective that comes with fatherhood through the lens of an alternate reality. He plays Josh Corman, a middle school teacher in San Fernando who struggles with a crisis of conscience when he considers what might have been if he had pursued a musical career instead of becoming a teacher. You can hear all about “Mr. Corman”, including why it was essential to bring additional writers on board, how the arrival of COVID-19 affected the show’s scripts while it was already in production, and how becoming a real-life father directly influenced the inception of the show. The first two episodes of “Mr. Corman” are available now on Apple TV+, and the remaining episodes will debut on the platform weekly, beginning this Friday, August 13th.

The folks behind Marvel Studios' first animated series, "What If?" (head writer A.C. Bradley and director Bryan Andrews) join The Playlist Podcast to talk about their new multiverse series, why they didn't know anything about "Loki" before working on the show, and how other Marvel Studios filmmakers helped them shape their stories. 

Surprise, surprise! HBO put together yet another prestige show with outstanding performances, cinematography, and direction. The recent remake of "Perry Mason" didn’t so much as show up to thrill us, but confront us with simultaneously beautiful and abhorrent dread, and at the center of that is a masterful lead performance by none other than Matthew Rhys ("The Americans"). Matthew recently sat down with The Playlist Podcast for an interview on the Emmy nominated role and what to expect for Season 2.

In this episode of The Playlist Podcast, we’re once again joined by Rodrigo Perez to talk about the latest film in the DCEU, “The Suicide Squad.” Did James Gunn succeed where David Ayer couldn’t? Are you going to believe Polka-Dot Man and Ratcatcher 2 are two of the best characters in modern superhero films? We dive deep into the new film and talk about all that and much more.

What is a soul? Where do souls come from? And is life even worth living if everything feels hopeless? These are questions that are tackled in “Nine Days,” the debut feature from filmmaker Edson Oda. And helping answer those questions are the two leads, Zazie Beetz and Winston Duke, who joined The Playlist Podcast to talk about the new film, plus their Marvel experiences. 

Writer Michael Waldron is one busy guy lately. Not only did he lead the writer’s room for "Loki" and the upcoming Starz series "Heels," but he’s also writing the upcoming "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" and producer Kevin Feige’s upcoming "Star Wars" project. On the latest episode of The Playlist Podcast, Michael Waldron sat down with Mike and Brian to talk a little about every one of those projects.