The Curzon Film Podcast

We're lucky enough to welcome the now Oscar nominated Richard E. Grant on to the podcast to talk about his new film 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?'. As well as that, we delve in to the burning questions and rare answers found in Lee Chang Dong's new film In 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?' Melissa McCarthy is brilliantly unsympathetic as literary fraud Lee Israel. With her writing career permanently stalled, inability to get over her ex-girlfriend and no job prospects, she turns her craft to penning elaborate fake letters from the likes of Noël Coward and Dorothy Parker, with the help of her drinking buddy Jack Hock. Adapted from Haruki Murakmi’s short story ‘Barn Burning’, Lee Chang Dong’s ‘Burning’ was the toast of Cannes, turning the heat on the Croisette even higher. It’s about Jong-soo, who dreams of becoming a writer, who bumps into Hae-mi (Jeon Jong-seo), a forgotten childhood friend. They begin a relationship, but she vanishes, only to return with the mysterious Ben in tow (The Walking Dead’s Steven Yeun), who starts to reveal some fascinating hobbies. Discussing the films this week are Kelly Powell, Ella Kemp, Jake Cunningham and Sam Howlett Follow the team on Social Media: @ks_powell - Kelly @jakehcunningham - Jake @SamHowlett_1 - Sam @efekemp - Ella Produced by Jake Cunningham Edited by Mark Towers  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode we speak to director Adam McKay, whose latest film 'Vice' has just received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Director. Christian Bale is Vice-president Dick Cheney in this brilliant reconstruction of the madness of the George W. Bush presidency. An arch-manipulator, Cheney plays business, politics and warfare as mere tools for his personal gain, with his wife Lynne (Amy Adams) as his confidante. Sam Rockwell plays willing dupe Bush alongside Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld, offering us a panoramic portrait of the craven misuse of political power. In 'Destroyer', Karyn Kusama (Girlfight, The Invitation) directs an unrecognisable Nicole Kidman as an embittered and cynical LA cop Erin Bell on the hunt for an old foe. Tracking back many years to an undercover case gone wrong, we slowly discover what has brought Erin to her current battle-scarred state. Discussing the films this week are Sam Howlett, Kelly Powell and Jake Cunningham Follow the team on Social Media: @ks_powell - Kelly @jakehcunningham - Jake @SamHowlett_1 - Sam Produced and Edited by Jake Cunningham Music from Incompetech.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode of the Curzon Film Podcast we talk to Curzon’s Head of Programme about the best upcoming films, as well as dissecting this week’s new releases: M Night Shymalan’s ‘Glass’ and ‘Beautiful Boy’ starring Timothee Chalamet  Based on bestselling memoirs, Steve Carrell and Timothée Chalamet star in ‘Beautiful Boy’ a raw look at a father-son relationship pushed to the edge by addiction. Felix van Groeningen (The Broken Circle Breakdown) directs this emotionally powerful story of a child living a secret life with candour and empathy for both parent and child. A collision between M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable and his recent smash Split, Glass finds Bruce Willis’s David Dunn entering an asylum, in pursuit not only of James McAvoy’s Kevin Wendell Crumb but also Samuel L. Jackson’s Mr Glass. Discussing the films this week are Sam Howlett, Kelly Powell, Ella Kemp and Louisa Maycock Follow the team on Social Media: @ks_powell - Kelly @jakehcunningham - Jake @SamHowlett_1 - Sam @louisamaycock - Louisa @efekemp - Ella Produced and Edited by Jake Cunningham Music from Incompetech.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, the team are joined by Curzon's very own programmer Lydia Penke, as well as director Jason Reitman (Juno, Up in the Air, Tully) to talk about two of the week's biggest releases: Colette and The Front Runner. Colette is a truly modern, complex woman: a libertine and bisexual, she also made her fortune from her wits and pushed back against the patriarchy. Wash Westmoreland presents an elegant but not sanitised view of turn of the century Paris, where we watch as Colette (Keira Knightley) is seduced and married by notorious rake Willy (Dominic West). Pushed into ghostwriting novels for this charismatic cad, she uses her exuberance to push back against all constrictions placed on her in this rich portrait of a dazzling talent. In The Front Runner, it's 1988 and Gary Hart, played Hugh Jackman, is the likeable and inspirational Democratic nominee, winning hearts and minds on the campaign trail. But he’s unwilling to open up about his family life, and the press unearth explosive details that begin to derail his marriage and his political aspirations. the personal fall out from this tabloid story changed the course of American politics. Discussing the films this week are Steven Ryder, Lydia Penke, Kelly Powell and Jake Cunningham Follow the team on Social Media: @ks_powell - Kelly @jakehcunningham - Jake @SamHowlett_1 - Sam @hydra815 - Steven Produced and Edited by Jake Cunningham Music from Incompetech.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode of the Curzon Film Podcast, we’re lucky enough to be joined by Mark Gatiss (Sherlock, Doctor Who, The League of Gentleman) to talk about The Favourite, the new film from the director of The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer. A triple threat of acting talent drives this acid period drama of courtly scheming. Olivia Colman is Queen Anne, a capricious and sickly ruler led by the nose by Rachel Weisz's courtier Lady Sarah. Abigail (Emma Stone) is a disenfranchised noblewoman who quickly sets about regaining her position by wheedling her way into the Queen's favours. Cue an equal parts hilarious and horrific love triangle-cum-battle royale, played out against the backdrop of the English Restoration. The fullest realisation of Yorgos Lanthimos's (The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Lobster) talents to date, The Favourite has the beauty of Barry Lyndon and the avant garde edge of Peter Greenaway. A fantastic start to the year of film. Discussing the film are Sam Howlett, Steven Ryder and Kelly Powell Follow the team on Social Media: @ks_powell - Kelly @jakehcunningham - Jake @SamHowlett_1 - Sam @hydra815 - Steven Produced and Edited by Jake Cunningham Music from Incompetech.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode of the Curzon Film Podcast, we discuss what the entire Curzon staff have decided are the top 10 films of 2018 - as well as some honourable mentions that didn’t quite make the cut. From early 2018 releases like Phantom Thread and A Fantastic Woman to recent award favourites like Roma, the pod team delve in to what have been some of the highlights of the year. Stick around as well for a festive quiz at the end of the podcast - and play along at home! Discussing the films this week are Kelly Powell, Sam Howlett, Steven Ryder and Jake Cunningham Follow the team on Twitter: @ks_powell - Kelly @jakehcunningham - Jake @SamHowlett_1 - Sam @hydra815 - Steven Produced and edited by Jake Cunningham Music from incompetech.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The 31s European Film Awards took place on 15th December in Seville and we were lucky enough to be invited along too. Podcast hosts Jake Cunningham and Sam Howlett attended the ceremony on behalf of Curzon, hosting the exclusive UK live stream of the event, reporting on the prestigious Awards and in general just celebrating another fantastic year of achievements in European cinema. In this episode of the Curzon Film Podcast, you'll head a round up of the nominees and winners from this star-studded ceremony. Make sure you visit the Curzon Blog to read an interview with Armando Iannucci ('The Thick of It', 'The Deat of Stalin') as well as a full breakdown of the categories and winners in Seville. Follow the team on Twitter: @jakehcunningham - Jake @SamHowlett_1 - Sam Produced and edited by Jake Cunningham Music from incompetech.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode we tackle one of the year's most controversial films, from one of cinemas most controversial directors, Lars Von Trier. In a mesmerising career best, Matt Dillon plays failed architect turned serial killer Jack who leads us through his thought processes behind his increasingly more depraved acts of murder which he names “incidents”. As he retells his crimes to Verge (Bruno Ganz) as if they were all individual works of art in themselves, the audience is invited to question the nature of artistry, where its limits lie and when is far too far? And with pitch black humour and undeniable cinematic vision, von Trier delights in taking us there. Hosted by Jake Cunningham, Little White Lies' Hannah Woodhead guests on the show to defend Lars' latest, whilst The Independent's Clarisse Loughrey has had enough of this provocateur. Follow the team on Twitter: @clarisselou - Clarisse @goodjobliz - Hannah @jakehcunningham - Jake  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, we welcome David Lowey - director of Pete's Dragon and A Ghost Story - on to the podcast to talk about his latest film The Old Man and the Gun. We also chat about Boots Riley's startling debut Sorry to Bother You David Lowery (A Ghost Story, Ain't Them Bodies Saints) brings the heist genre to a human level, with this tale of a senior citizen bank robber, played by Hollywood royalty Robert Redford. Redford's bank robber has all the charm and warmth we've come to expect across his seven decades in film. Keeping pace with him we’ve also got Danny Glover, Tom Waits, Sissy Spacek and Casey Affleck as the cop tasked with tracking the “Over the Hill Gang” In his anarchic debut feature, Boots Riley sets fire to the modern world and blasts off to brilliantly original territory. An absurdist film that savages capitalism, low-paid labour and racism in a cutting, surprising trip that’s left American audiences baffled, buoyed and bruised in equal parts Discussing the film this week are Ella Kemp, Steven Ryder and Jake Cunningham Follow the team on twitter: @efekemp - Ella @CunninghamJH - Jake @irma_pep - Steven Produced and edited by Jake Cunningham Music from incompetech.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode we're talking about Sebastian Lelio's follow up to 'A Fantastic Woman', the acclaimed drama 'Disobedience', and Alfonso Cuaron's 'Roma' which sees the director of 'Gravity' revisit monochromatic memories of his childhood. In the same year as winning the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film with A Fantastic Woman, Sebastián Lelio delivers the English-language Disobedience, starring Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams. When her estranged rabbi father suddenly passes away, Ronit (played by Oscar-winner and co-producer Rachel Weisz) returns from New York to the north London Orthodox Jewish community that rejected her years previously after a scandalous transgression. The most personal project to date from Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Children of Men, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Roma follows Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), a young domestic worker for a family in the middle-class neighborhood of Roma in Mexico City. Delivering an artful love letter to the women who raised him, Cuarón draws on his own childhood to create a vivid and emotional portrait of domestic strife and social hierarchy amidst political turmoil of the 1970s. Discussing the films this week are Kelly Powell, Sam Howlett and Jake Cunningham. Follow the team on Twitter: @ks_powell - Kelly @jakehcunningham - Jake @SamHowlett_1 - Sam Produced and edited by Jake Cunningham Music from incompetech.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode of the Curzon Film Podcast we look at one of the most universally acclaimed films of the year, Hirokazu Kore-eda's Shoplifters, and one of the most controversial, Sam Levinson's Assassination Nation. Twenty years in to a directing career focused on quietly devastating family dramas, Kore-eda hits a high water mark with the Palme d’Or winning Shoplifters - the story of a ramshackle, puzzle piece family surviving through petty crime, who take an abandoned young girl in to their home.  What if everyone’s online life were exposed? As it turns out: sheer, bloody anarchy, all led by four teenage feminists. The Purge jumps into a blender with Mean Girls in Assassination Nation a this story of youth gone wild in Salem, USA. Discussing the films this week are Kelly Powell, Kambole Campbell, Steven Ryder and Jake Cunningham Read Kambole's interview with Hirokazu Kore-eda here: http://www.curzonblog.com/all-posts/hirokazu-koreeda-interview-shoplifters-palmedor Follow the team on Twitter: @ks_powell - Kelly @jakehcunningham - Jake @irma_pep - Steven @kambolecampbell - Kambole  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It's a quite bewitching week of cinema; in this episode we're discussing two of the year's most talked about releases, Luca Guadagnino's remake of horror classic 'Suspiria' and Potter spin-off sequel 'Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald' Suspiria sees Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name) reunite with serial collaborator Tilda Swinton, to play the artistic director of a world-renowned dance company to create a bold and memorable horror from one of the most reliable auteurs in cinema today. Expanding JK Rowling's Wizarding World even further, this second installment in the Fantastic Beasts series finds Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) battling notorious dark wizard Gellart Grindleward (Johnny Depp). Newt must team up with Albus Dumbledore (now played by Jude Law) to thwart Grindlewald's plans for his pure-blood wizards to conquer the world. Discussing the film this week are Sam Howlett, Ella Kemp and Jake Cunningham Follow the team on twitter: @efekemp - Ella @CunninghamJH - Jake Sam - Kelly Produced and edited by Jake Cunningham Music from incompetech.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In a week of remarkable cinema releases, we discuss two of the year's most acclaimed films, Steve McQueen's 'Widows' and 'Wildlife', directed by Paul Dano, who we also spoke to for this episode. Paul Dano’s debut feature as director is set in 60s Montana, and follows the small town separation of Jeannete and Jerry, played by Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal, and their son Joe who gets caught in the firefight. With 'Widows' Steve McQueen, one of the most interesting voices in contemporary British cinema directs a vital reimagining of the 80s TV drama of the same name. McQueen's crime-thriller transplants the story to modern-day Chicago and ups the ante, with Viola Davis shining through in an ensemble cast of widows who follow their husband's footsteps into crime after a botched job. Discussing the film this week are Kelli Weston, Kelly Powell, Ella Kemp and Jake Cunningham Follow the team on twitter: @efekemp - Ella @CunninghamJH - Jake @KS_Powell - Kelly Produced and edited by Jake Cunningham Music from incompetech.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this condensed episode, we sit down with Mike Leigh, to discuss his lauded historical epic ‘Peterloo’, which debuted at the Venice Film Festival to great acclaim.  Mike Leigh's latest film is an epic portrayal of the events surrounding the infamous 1819 Peterloo Massacre, where a peaceful pro-democracy rally at St Peter's Field in Manchester turned into one of the bloodiest and most notorious episodes in British history. The massacre saw British government forces charge into a crowd of over 60,000 that had gathered to demand political reform and protest against rising levels of poverty. Many protestors were killed and hundreds more injured, sparking a nationwide outcry but also further government suppression. Discussing the film is Sam Howlett Follow the team on Twitter: @SamHowlett_1 - Sam @jakehcunningham - Jake Produced and edited by Jake Cunningham Music from incompetech.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this special episode of The Curzon Film Podcast, we venture from our seats at the cinema to seats at the theatre, for an interview with Alfred Molina and Alfred Enoch about the play 'Red', which is being broadcast in cinemas on November the 7th. Under the watchful gaze of his young assistant, and the threatening presence of a new generation of artists, Mark Rothko takes on his greatest challenge yet: to create a definitive work for an extraordinary setting. MGC Artistic Director Michael Grandage directs this first ever UK revival since directing the world premiere at the Donmar Warehouse in 2009. The production went on to win six Tony Awards, including Best Play. Award-winning stage and screen actor Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2, Raiders of the Lost Ark) reprises his critically acclaimed performance as the American abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko. He is joined by rising star Alfred Enoch (How to Get Away with Murder, Harry Potter) as his assistant Ken. Follow the team on Twitter: @SamHowlett_1 - Sam @jakehcunningham - Jake Produced and edited by Jake Cunningham Music from incompetech.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.