The Curzon Film Podcast

In this spooktacular edition of the podcast, we're discussing David Gordon Green's ('Joe', 'Manglehorn') latest entry in to the legendary 'Halloween' franchise, which sees Jamie Lee Curtis reprise her iconic role as Laurie Strode in a new battle with the iconic Michael Myers. You might have thought this franchise was done but Michael Myers still has terror to give. Forty years after the fateful night of John Carpenter’s original he’s back, but this time Laurie Strode is ready for him. David Gordon Green helms this terrifying sequel with the blessing of Carpenter, who has contributed a new score. Discussing the film are Sam Howlett, Jake Cunningham and special guest Catherine Bray (The I, Variety, 'Beyond Clueless') Follow the team on Twitter: @SamHowlett_1 - Sam @jakehcunningham - Jake @catherinebray - Catherine Produced and edited by Jake Cunningham Music from incompetech.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this bonus episode the podcast team discuss their favourites from the 62nd edition of the BFI London Film Festival. Highlights include 'Roma', 'The Favourite', 'Non Fiction' and many more, and as well as our regular podcast contributor's picks, we also checked in with some of the wider Curzon team and one of our listeners as well, to cover as many fantastic films as we could. Discussing the film are Jake Cunningham, Sam Howlett, and Kelly Powell Follow the team on Twitter: @SamHowlett_1 - Sam @ks_powell - Kelly @jakehcunningham - Jake Produced by Jake Cunningham Edited by Sam Howlett Music from incompetech.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We welcome Matteo Garrone, director of modern Italian mafia classic 'Gomorrah' and anthology fantasia 'Tale of Tales', on to the podcast to talk about his latest work 'Dogman' Marcello is a small and gentle dog groomer who wants two things, to look after his dogs and take his daughter on exotic holidays. But to fund this lifestyle he runs a side business which has more unsavoury clientele and he soon finds himself involved in a dangerous relationship of subjugation with Simone, a former violent boxer who terrorises the entire neighbourhood. When Simone exploits him too much Marcello must make a crucial and potentially dangerous decision in order to regain his dignity. Discussing the film are Sam Howlett, Steven Ryder, Kelly Powell and Alasdair Bayman Follow the team on twitter: @alasdairbayman - Alasdair @CunninghamJH - Jake @KS_Powell - Kelly @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're talking about Damien Chazelle's latest out of this world directorial effort First Man - which chronicles the story of Neil Armstrong's journey to the moon. On the heels of their six-time Academy Award-winning smash, La La Land, Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle and star Ryan Gosling reteam for First Man, the riveting story of NASA's mission to land a man on the moon, focusing on Neil Armstrong from the years 1961-1969. A visceral, first-person account, based on the book by James R. Hansen, the film explores the sacrifices and the cost - on Armstrong and on the nation - of one of the most dangerous missions in history. Discussing the film are Jake Cunningham, Sam Howlett, Kelly Powell and special guest Kobi Omenaka (Flixwatcher Podcast, The Wire Stripped with Kobi and Dave) Follow the team on Twitter: @SamHowlett_1 - Sam @ks_powell - Kelly @jakehcunningham - Jake @kobestarr - Kobi Produced and edited by Jake Cunningham Music from incompetech.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode we preview the 62nd edition of the BFI London Film Festival, which takes over the cinemas of the capital this October. We're also lucky enough to be joined by two of the festivals programmers Kate Taylor and MIchael Blyth.   From the biggest films, well on their way to Oscar glory, to the tiniest arthouse ventures that might slip through most cinematic nets, the London Film Festival features over 200 films with an incredibly eclectic variety. Here, our podcast team dissect the films their most anticipating. Discussing the film are Kelly Powell, Sam Howlett, Steven Ryder and Ryan Hewitt Follow the team on Twitter: @SamHowlett_1 - Sam @ks_powell - Kelly @jakehcunningham - 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 discussing 'The Wife' - a new drama set to earn Close another Oscar nomination - directed by Björn Runge who we're lucky enough to talk to about the film itself. Joan Castleman (Glenn Close) is "the perfectly devoted wife". Forty years spent sacrificing her own talent, dreams and ambitions to fan the flames of her charismatic husband Joe (Jonathan Pryce) and his skyrocketing literary career. Ignoring his infidelities and excuses because of his 'art' with grace and humor. Their fateful pact has built a marriage upon uneven compromises and Joan's reached her breaking point. On the eve of Joe's Nobel Prize for Literature, the crown jewel in a spectacular body of work, Joan's coup de grace is to confront the biggest sacrifice of her life and secret of his career. The Wife is a poignant, funny and emotional journey; a celebration of womanhood, self-discovery and liberation Discussing the film are Sam Howlett, Kelly Powell and Steven Ryder Follow the team on Twitter: @SamHowlett_1 - Sam @ks_powell - Kelly @jakehcunningham - Jake @irma_pep - Steven Produced by Jake Cunningham Edited by Stephanie Watts Music from incompetech.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We recently welcomed Academy Award nominated director Lenny Abrahamson ('Frank', 'Room') to Curzon Mayfair for a special Q&A about his new film 'The Little Stranger', where he was joined by the writer of the original novel Sarah Waters ('Fingersmith') WWII has ended and Dr Faraday (Domhnall Gleeson) has built a life of quiet respectability as a country doctor. During one hot summer he is called out to attend to a patient at Hundreds Hall. He finds that the scullery maid, Betty (a fantastic performance by Liv Hill, one to watch) has been sensing things and events turn more peculiar after that. Produced by Jake Cunningham Edited by Sam Howlett  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Marking her long-awaited return to filmmaking, Faces Places sees iconic, 90-year-old auteur Agnès Varda forging an unlikely partnership with enigmatic photographer JR as they embark on a road trip unlike any other. Varda and JR share a lifelong passion for images and how they’re created, displayed and shared. Varda expresses this through cinema and documentary, JR through his emotionally arresting open-air photo gallery installations. When the pair first met they instantly recognised the opportunity for a unique collaboration and set about exploring the villages and small towns of rural France. Meeting different groups of people, they were inspired to create large-scale portraits plastered across unconventional locations. What followed was a heartwarming insight into hitherto unnamed communities, documented here in Varda’s typically tender, playful and humanist manner. Discussing the film are Rowan Woods, Alasdair Bayman and Jake Cunningham. Follow the team on Twitter: @rowanwoods - Rowan @jakehcunningham - Jake @alasdairbayman - Alasdair 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 'Lucky', the directorial debut from John Carroll Lynch ('Fargo', 'Zodiac') and the final performance of the late, great Harry Dean Stanton. Lucky follows the spiritual journey of Harry Dean Stanton’s character Lucky, a cantankerous, self-reliant 90 year old atheist, and the quirky characters that inhabit the Arizona town where he lives. Having out-lived and out-smoked all of his contemporaries, the fiercely independent Lucky finds himself at the precipice of life, thrust into a journey of self-exploration, leading towards that which is so often unattainable: enlightenment. John Carroll Lynch's directorial debut also features director David Lynch, Ron Livingston (The Conjuring, Swingers, Office Space), Ed Begley Jr. (St. Elsewhere), and Tom Skerritt (Alien, Top Gun, Contact). Discussing the film are Sam Howlett, Kelly Powell, Ryan Hewitt and first time podder Mark Towers. Follow the team on Twitter: @SamHowlett_1 - Sam @ks_powell - Kelly @MarkDTowers - Mark @jakehcunningham - Jake Produced and edited by Jake Cunningham Music from incompetech.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In our second podcast of the week we welcome Desiree Akhavan ('Appropriate Behavior') on to the podcast to talk about her Sundance award winning sophomore feature 'The Miseducation of Cameron Post' Cameron Post (Chloë Grace Moretz) is shipped off to a Christian conversion camp after she is discovered kissing a female friend. No sooner there, she realises that almost all the inductees are repressing their true feelings and the notion of a cure is absurd. Desiree Akhavan’s Sundance Grand Jury winner is an articulate and funny drama that speaks out against the current tide of social conservatism in the US. Follow the team on Twitter: @SamHowlett_1 - Sam @ks_powell - Kelly @jakehcunningham - 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 of the podcast, we welcome Bart Layton, director of the BAFTA winning 'The Imposter', to the show with his new film 'American Animals', a stranger-than-fiction heist thriller set in suburban Kentucky. This isn't based on a true story, this happened. Writer-director Bart Layton (The Imposter) takes the heist movie into bold new territory with this unbelievable but true story of four young men who attempt one of the most audacious art heists in US history. Barry Keoghan and Evan Peters play two friends from the middle-class suburbs of Lexington, Kentucky, who upon enrolling in college realise that their lives may in fact never be important or special in any way. Determined to live lives that are out of the ordinary, they plan the brazen theft of some of the world’s most valuable books from the special collections room of the college Library. Follow the team on Twitter: @SamHowlett_1 - Sam @ks_powell - Kelly @jakehcunningham - Jake Produced and edited by Jake Cunningham Music from incompetech.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

'Cold War' is the latest film from Pawel Pawlikowski, director of the Oscar winning 'Ida'. 'Cold War' won Pawlikowski the award for Best Director at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival and we were lucky enough to speak to the film's lead actors Joanna Kulig & Tomasz Kot for this episode of the Curzon Film Podcast. 'Cold War' is an epic romance set against the backdrop of Europe after World War II. Sumptuously shot in luminous black and white, it spans decades and nations to tell a love story that is as tragic as it is moving, and as transportive as it is honest. Discussing the film are podcast regular Sam Howlett, Kelly Powell and Steven Ryder, as well as special guest contributor Iana Murray, editor of Much Ado About Cinema. Follow the team on Twitter: @SamHowlett_1 - Sam @irma_pep - Steven @ks_powell - Amy @yorgosianthimos - Iana @jakehcunningham - Jake 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 extremely excited to welcome a true legend of cinema, Spike Lee, on to the show to talk through his latest joint ‘BlacKkKlansman’.  In the studio, to discuss the film, we’re also thrilled to be joined Kaleem Aftab, author of ‘Spike Lee: That’s My Story and I’m Sticking to It’ as well as Little White Lies’ social producer Hannah Woodhead and regular contributors Kambole Campbell and Steven Ryder. Spike Lee’s hugely enjoyable and politically timely film uses this unbelievable case to lift a lid on racism in America, both past and present. It’s frequently hilarious, particularly in highlighting the idiocy of the Klan, but never misses a moment to comment on racial inequality. Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) was a black Colorado police officer who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan by going undercover, with the help of a white colleague (Adam Driver), to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan. Follow the team on Twitter: @kambolecampbell - Kambole @goodjobliz - Hannah @aftabamon - Kaleem @irma_pep - Steven @jakehcunningham - Jake Produced and edited by Jake Cunningham Music by incompetech.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

France, 1915. The impact of the First World War is being felt across Europe as conscription forces the men to leave their homes for the battlefield. Featuring touching performances from French screen legend Nathalie Baye and astounding newcomer Iris Bry alike, and cinematography that captures the bucolic life with painterly splendour, 'The Guardians' shines a light on the untold lives, characters and details that helped shape the First World War. Discussing the film this week are Sam Howlett, Steven Ryder and Amy Watts. Follow the team on Twitter: @SamHowlett_1 - Sam @irma_pep - Steven @amyvioletwatts - Amy @jakehcunningham - Jake Produced and edited by Jake Cunningham Music by incompetech.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Gleaning Truths is a new programme from Curzon, available across the UK and Ireland to exhibiting and engaging with brand new digital restorations of eight of Agnès Varda’s best-known films, as well as extensive previews of her upcoming Oscar-nominated documentary 'Faces, Place' ahead of its general release on the 21st September. To celebrate Gleaning Truths and Varda's work 9 essays have been written about her work and are available to read at www.agnesvarda.co.uk/essays/, for this special episode of our podcast, we have invited 3 of these essayists - Beth Webb, Corrina Antrobus and Rowan Woods - to discuss Varda's work. Revered for her bold political and autobiographically inspired work, Agnès Varda is a seminal feminist filmmaker and matriarch of French Cinema. Her influential career began in the 1950s with 'La Pointe Courte' – often considered the first film of the New Wave – and has spanned seven decades with no sign of slowing down as she enters her 90th year. Follow the team on Twitter: @BethKWebb - Beth @corrinacorrina - Corrina @rowanwoods - Rowan @jakehcunningham - Jake Produced and edited by Jake Cunningham Music from incompetech.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.