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The Empire Film Podcast

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The Empire Film Podcast is the official podcast of Empire, the world's biggest and best movie magazine. We bring you all the latest movie news and nonsense, as well as reviews of the week's new films, an assortment of irreverent, film-related chat and interviews with some of Hollywood's best and brightest. New episodes every Friday.

For our famous deep dives into specific movies, subscribe to the Empire Spoiler Special Podcast at https://empire.supportingcast.fm/

Love TV? Subscribe to our sister show, The Pilot TV Podcast, which covers every quality show landing on the small screen — because you can't watch *everything*. https://podfollow.com/pilot-tv-podcast/
940 Episodes
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This week's episode of the Empire Podcast would surely deserve to get a full fat five points from Greg Davies, the Taskmaster himself, as Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and John Nugent apply themselves wholeheartedly (some more wholeheartedly than others, it must be said) to deciding which Taskmaster contestant has appeared in the best film. Then, the podteam take a look at the week's movie news and, in a bumper reviews section, cast their eyes over Edgar Wright's The Running Man, Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein, Ruben Fleischer's Now You See Me: Now You Don't, Julia Ducournau's Alpha, Gurinder Chadha's Christmas Karma, and James Vanderbilt's Nuremberg. Three of those movies provide this week's guests, as Edgar Wright drops by the podbooth to natter with Chris about The Running Man, and meeting Stephen King; [21:43 - 33:05 approx] Now You Three Me's Isla Fisher and Rosamund Pike talk magic and manky accents, again with Chris; [56:16 - 1:09:05 approx] and Michael Shannon talks Nuremberg and (mostly) R.E.M., also with Chris. [1:42:53 - 1:55:38 approx] Oh, and there's a huge revelation about the pod itself lurking within there somewhere. Forget what you think you know... and enjoy.
Alpha is the third film from the brilliant French filmmaker, Julia Ducournau, following on from her titanic debut, Raw, and her raw follow-up, Titane (which won the Palme D'Or, no less!). A tale of an unusual epidemic and generational trauma, there's much going on above and below the surface, which we get into in this interview special, as Jamie Graham sits down on Zoom with Ducournau and the actor Tahar Rahim, who plays the title character's drug-addicted uncle. It's a great interview, and if you fancy going to see Alpha after listening to this, it's out now in cinemas across the UK. Enjoy.
Nicholas Hytner's The Choral, a delightful drama set in 1916 Yorkshire, is in cinemas now, folks. It features costumes designed by the legendary Jenny Beavan, who is one of the best costume designers in the business. Nominated for 12 Oscars, winner of three, Beavan has worked with directors like Robert Altman, James Ivory, and George Miller across an astonishing forty-year career, and we were delighted when she popped into the podbooth recently to talk with our Chris Hewitt about that career and her approach to costume design. Enjoy.
Every year at the London Film Festival, Empire hosts a gala screening for a film that we particularly admire. This year's choice was Ronan Day-Lewis' Anemone, a drama that we called 'sad, absurdist, brooding, tender, and intense', and which marks the return to acting of the great Daniel Day-Lewis, father of Ronan and co-writer of the movie, after eight years away from the screen. It's good to have him back, for he's electric in this, going toe-to-toe with a never better Sean Bean as two brothers attempting to reconcile, after a fashion, in a secluded cabin. And the morning after the gala at the LFF in October, Alex Godfrey sat down with Daniel Day-Lewis and Sean Bean for a candid chat about their approaches to, and reasons for, acting; [2:05 - 24:00 approx] and then Ronan Day-Lewis for a conversation about the film, and directing his own dad. [24:19 onwards, approx] And we're delighted to bring you both of those in this interview special, now that Anemone is out in cinemas in the UK. Enjoy!
Blimey, this week's episode of the Empire Podcast is star-studded, and then some. First, Chris Hewitt chats with Die, My Love star, Jennifer Lawrence, and director Lynne Ramsay, about unpredictability on set and receiving an email from Martin Scorsese; then, he has a crash course in Yautja from Predator: Badlands stars Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi and Elle Fanning; and then Alex Godfrey pops up to have a lovely natter with the stars of new drama, Anemone, Sean Bean and Daniel Day-Lewis, returning to acting after a long hiatus. Then, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Alex, James Dyer and, dialling in (hence the odd glitch here and there), Helen O'Hara to discuss just how much they want to see a Steven Soderbergh-directed Star Wars movie, which Ghostface they could take in a fight, the week's movie news (including resurrections for The Mummy, Gremlins, and Miss Piggy), and their thoughts on Predator: Badlands, The Choral, Anemone, and Die, My Love. Enjoy!
Another month, another issue of Empire, another episode of The Shameless Plug. This time, Chris Hewitt and Nick de Semlyen sit down to talk about how Stranger Things ended up on the cover of the world's biggest movie magazine, and nearly did so upside down. And they also talk about less strange things, including the stories behind the stories of the latest issue of Empire, on sale now in all good, evil, and virtual newsagents. From wild ukulele tales from the set of Wake Up Dead Man to recruiting David Lowery to write a personal tribute to Robert Redford, it's another belter of an episode, somehow even more shameless than the last. Enjoy.
It's Halloween, folks, so this week's episode of the Empire Podcast is extra-spooky, with Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Beth Webb get way too invested in a listener question about the horror movie death that they would want for themselves. Just keep repeating: it's only a podcast, it's only a podcast, it's only a podcast. Elsewhere, our Core Four talk about the new Scream 7 trailer, the Hello Kitty movie and more in the news section, and they review A House Of Dynamite, Ballad Of A Small Player, Bugonia, and Relay. Guest-wise, we're loaded to the gills, as Chris chats with Ballad Of A Small Player director Edward Berger [24:30 - 38:01 approx] and The Hand That Rocks The Cradle stars, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Maika Monroe [1:38:05 - 1:52:44 approx], while Harry Stainer talks Bugonia with that film's director, Yorgos Lanthimos. [56:00 - 1:09:18 approx] Oh, and Chris sings that song. No, not that one. The other one. Just in time for All Hallow's Eve. Enjoy...
If you can hear a high-pitched squealing noise in the background of our latest interview special, that's just Chris Hewitt vibrating with excitement. For this podcast puts him in the room with one of his all-time heroes, Liverpool FC icon Kenny Dalglish, who is the eponymous subject of Asif Kapadia's latest documentary, which is out today (October 29) and tomorrow (October 30) in cinemas across the UK, before moving to Prime Video from November 4. In this indepth interview with Dalglish and Kapadia (making a welcome return to the pod), the trio discuss how the documentary came about, Kapadia's aims and creative decisions, Kenny's goals (and goals) and, in the last ten minutes or so, the Hillsborough Disaster, its depiction in the film, and its impact on Dalglish. It's a frank and fascinating chat, and one that we'd recommend even if you're not a Liverpool fan. Enjoy.
This week's Empire Podcast sees Chris Hewitt struggle with the enunciation of one word in particular (you'll have to listen to find out which). Incredibly, it's not 'Howl-o-ween', which is just one of the many things discussed by Chris and his three colleagues of such lethal cunning, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Ben Travis. They get their teeth into movies in which a main character is ill, talk about the shock revelation that Adam Driver and Steven Soderbergh had developed a literal Solo movie for Kylo Ren, and review Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Nia DaCosta's Hedda, and Kelly Reichardt's The Mastermind. Guest-wise, we have a veritable bounty as Helen has a lovely chat with Nia DaCosta, and Chris talks to Jeremy Strong, star of the Springsteen flick; and has a joyous natter about the end of the world with Rebecca Ferguson and Kathryn Bigelow, star and director respectively of A House Of Dynamite, which is now out on Netflix. No timecodes yet, as the guy who writes this blurb has to leg it to a screening. But they're roughly 23 minutes, one hour and three minutes in, and one hour and 38 minutes in. Enjoy!
This week's Empire Podcast sees Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara and James Dyer pay tribute to two cinematic greats who left us this week: the legendary Oscar-winning actress, Diane Keaton, and Drew Struzan, the artist who defined posters, and people's walls, for decades. Struzan's work inspires this week's question, which asks our trio to identify the greatest poster of all time. Elsewhere in the show, they discuss the week's movie news, including the return of Sam Raimi, and review Roofman, After The Hunt, Black Phone 2, and briefly discuss Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein and Edward Berger's Ballad Of A Small Player. Guest-wise, our cup overfloweth yet again, as Chris sits down on Zoom (sorry about his audio track, he didn't have access to his microphone) with Rebecca Miller, director of the excellent Apple documentary about Martin Scorese, Mr. Scorsese, [25:26 - 40:19 approx] and in person with the delightful stars of Roofman, Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst. [1:04:01 - 1:19:13 approx] And Sophie Butcher has a lovely chat with Black Phone 2 stars, Mason Thames (who, contrary to what Chris thinks, does not pronounce his name like the river) and Madeleine McGraw. [1:43:07 - 1:58:08 approx] Enjoy!
This week's episode of the Empire Podcast sees Alex Godfrey display his versatility as an interviewer, going from utter chaos with Tron Ares stars Greta Lee & Jodie Turner-Smith [22:46 - 34:31 approx] and Gillian Anderson [1:33:01 - 1:43:53 approx] to a heartfelt and passionate chat with Robert Aramayo, star of this week's excellent drama, I Swear, about a man who finds himself dealing with Tourette's [54:06 - 1:13:25 approx]. Either side of those, Chris Hewitt returns to the podbooth after his bout with The Cove, and is joined by Helen O'Hara and James Dyer for a discussion of their picks at this year's London Film Festival, and the film they think might be the best American effort produced this century. They also talk about Ocean's 14, Linda McCartney, and Heat 2 in the news section, and run their eyes over Tron Ares, I Swear, and the dog vs demon horror movie, Good Boy. Oh, and Chris wishes Helen well. Enjoy.
In this month's Shameless Plug, the show in which Chris Hewitt sits down with Empire editor Nick de Semlyen to do a deep dive into the latest issue of Empire, Chris Hewitt sits down with Empire editor Nick de Semlyen to do a deep dive into the latest issue of Empire. Which, for the first time in our history, has a musical on the cover, Jon M. Chu's Wicked For Good, and Nick explains how he went down the yellow brick road towards making that happen. Elsewhere, the pair discuss eating panna cottas on the set of Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein, asking Josh Brolin about lions, and much, much more. And if you haven't read the new issue yet, it's on sale right now in all good, wicked, and virtual newsagents. Enjoy!
Justin Tipping's Him is a Jordan Peele-produced horror film in which a young quarterback discovers the kind of sacrifices it takes to become the GOAT of American Football. That young quarterback is played by Tyriq Withers, who is taken under the wing of a legendary quarterback played by Marlon Wayans, and in this Empire Podcast interview special Jamie Graham sits down with the duo for a fun chat about the film's themes, getting pumped in the gym, their favourite horror movies, and more. Jamie also sits down with Tipping for a deep dive into his thematic preoccupations, his reaction to some of the film's reviews, and his realisation that he may just have remade one of his favourite films. But with an American Football bent, of course. It's a cracking pair of interviews — as ever, the choice of whether you should see Him before listening is yours. But if you haven't seen Him yet, it's out now in cinemas across the UK.
Paul Greengrass' The Lost Bus stars Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera as a bus driver and teacher, respectively, who have to navigate a deadly Californian wildfire while stuck on a school bus with a group of terrified children, very little water, and fire and flames closing in on all sides. Based on a true story (the 2018 Camp Fire is one of the deadliest wildfires in US history), it's Greengrass at his intense best, conjuring a cinematic experience that's among the best depictions of the intensity of fire, heat and flames ever put on film. And in this interview special, Chris Hewitt sits down with Greengrass (on Zoom), and McConaughey and Ferrera (in person) to talk about the experience of making it. The film is out now on AppleTV+ and, while this isn't a spoiler special, reference is made throughout to key moments from the movie, so it might be best for you to have watched it beforehand. Either way, enjoy.
This week's Empire Podcast sees us welcome another hat-trick of wonderful guests, as Chris Hewitt has lovely chats with The Smashing Machine writer-director (and Happy Gilmore 2 villain), Benny Safdie, [24:13 - 40:39 approx] and bona fide acting legend, Malcolm McDowell, star of new WWII drama, The Partisan (please excuse the sound quality of Chris' mic); [59:42 - 1:13:48 approx] while John Nugent sits down with Urchin director, Harris Dickinson, about making his directorial debut with the acclaimed drama. [1:37:05 - 1:52:43 approx] Either side of those, Chris doesn't let a little thing like Covid-19 stop him from hosting this week, dialling in to the podbooth (again, please do forgive the odd attendant audio glitch) to have all kinds of film-related fun with Helen O'Hara and James Dyer. The trio discuss some of the best final films from acting greats, run their eyes over Urchin, Play Dirty, The Smashing Machine, and Him, and find the week's movie news to be so lacking that they wind up doing an impromptu Simpsons quiz. Oh, and James is all giddy this week, after a close encounter with none other than Taylor Swift. To find out how close she came to being on this show, or a Cats retro spoiler special, you're going to have to listen. Enjoy.
This week's episode of the Empire Podcast is one of those jam-packed ones in which we specialise. Guest-wise, Chris Hewitt is blessed with the presence of our old chum, Brett Goldstein, who talks beards, bums, and baring his soul in new romantic drama, All Of You; [18:37 - 36:33 approx] and Chris also has a lovely chat with Emma Thompson as she enters her action hero era in Dead Of Winter. [1:01:07 - 1:16:03 approx] And if that weren't enough, Alex Godfrey talks Leonardo DiCaprio and car chases with One Battle After Another director, Paul Thomas Anderson. [1:40:45 - 1:57:06 approx] Then, in the podbooth, Chris is joined, after a week away, by Helen O'Hara and James Dyer to discuss which dystopian gameshow they would do best in, cast their eyes over the week's movie news, including a bunch of trailers, and review all three of the films listed above (with a little help from Alex). Enjoy.
With Chris off on the fairway, taking his first proper holiday in approximately 20 years, its up to Helen O’Hara and James Dyer — the newly appointed Archbishop of Nerdbury — to hold down the fort, ably assisted by Empire news editor and former Pilot TV stalwart Beth Webb. Between the three of them, they do their level best not to refer to Cillian Murphy and Tim Mielants’ latest film as Steeeeeeeeeeeeeeeve, which is for the best as both actor and director join us on this week’s show, as does Sean Penn who chats to Alex about One Battle After Another. As well as Steve, we also review A Big Bold Beautiful Journey and The Lost Bus, but all all film chat is summarily derailed by this week’s listener question, which opens the floodgates for an outpouring of nostalgia as we worship at the altar of ‘80s children’s TV, including a certain pink and white stuffed cat.
This week's episode of the Empire Podcast might just go ahead, make your day, as Chris Hewitt (having recovered from a colleague-inflicted mischief) invites Helen O'Hara and James Dyer into the podbooth for a discussion of the best films directed by Clint Eastwood. Amazingly, The Rookie is given short shrift. Then, our intrepid trio take a look at the week's movie news, including the surprising return of Michael Caine, and review The Long Walk, Spinal Tap II: The Grand Finale, and Downton Abbey: The End Continues. Or is it Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, and Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale? Either way, it's a big episode for Downton fans, as Hugh Bonneville and Allen Leech bid farewell to the cultural juggernaut in the best way possible, by talking to Boyd Hilton. [1:04:33 - 1:16:31 approx] And Chris has a wonderful time talking tennis and more with Islands star Sam Riley, making a triumphant return to the podcast. [27:44 - 43:45 approx] Oh, and Noel Coward pops in for a little song, which is nice. Enjoy.
The Shameless Plug — the show in which Chris Hewitt sits down with Empire editor, Nick de Semlyen, to shamelessly plug the new issue of Empire magazine — is back back back, folks, and comes with a lovely slice of Brisket. Not the meat, mind you, but Glen Powell's dog, who somehow wound up on Chris' lap during one of his forays to the set of Edgar Wright's The Running Man, in which Powell stars, and which is this month's cover feature. To hear more about that canine encounter, and Chris (and Nick's) observations of the film's sets, and our madcap The Running Mag idea, listen on. But there's plenty more here, as Chris and Nick do a deep dive into the issue, get bogged down in bad maths, and take some advice from Mick Scoresby. If you can't get out of it, get into it! Enjoy.
This week's episode of the Empire Podcast asks perhaps the biggest question ever tackled on this show: who would win in a fight between the Gleesons and the Skarsgårds? Join Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Amon Warmann, as they tackle that scenario and more. Is the world truly ready for the Coppola clan kicking bottom? Elsewhere, our intrepid quartet discuss the week's movie news (Star Wars! Superman! Lara Croft!), including a discussion of the trailer for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple that discusses spoilers for 28 Years Later. So, if you wish to skip, that runs from 53:44 - 58:00 approx. Oh, and they also review Spike Lee's reunion with Denzel Washington, Highest 2 Lowest, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, Ethan Coen's Honey Don't, and Orlando Bloom's searing boxing drama, The Cut. In fact, Orlando is one of our guests this week, joining The Cut's director Sean Ellis to chat with Chris on Zoom about the extreme lengths, physical and otherwise, he went to for the film. [1:08:37 - 1:25:12 approx] And Chris also sits down in the podbooth with MJ Bassett, director of the brand new version of Red Sonja, for a candid conversation about MJ's long-held determination to make a Red Sonja movie, her recent decision to leave the United States to return to Britain, and much, much more. [22:22 - 40:22 approx] Enjoy.
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Comments (36)

Mevish Jabeen

The Empire Film Podcast is a vibranthttps://superfilmeshd.me/filmes/ hub for movie enthusiasts, offering a blend of the latest film news, reviews, and engaging discussions. As the official podcast of Empire magazine, known for its comprehensive coverage of cinema, it features new episodes every Friday that include reviews of recent releases, interviews with industry talent, and lighthearted film-related banter.

Oct 12th
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Iván Malcolm Chessa

Maestro

Jan 8th
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SimplySpike

Awesome episode, Maria was a great addition and the guys are bouncing off each other like rubber 😁

Sep 11th
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faXtemeh

thank you for this episode.🫶🏼

Mar 28th
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leighton wilby

time stamps would be good so people know what time in the pod the bits they like are.

Jan 28th
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Jeff

RIP Seb YNWA

Aug 8th
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Alice Rosso

Where's 5th June podcast?

Jun 6th
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Pilbo2gp

boring as hell

May 10th
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Samuel Fisher

So disappointed with Empire right now! Removing content without any pre-warning and then moving it to an subscription only service that you have to pay for to access is a slap in the face of Empire supporters. I understand why they have the need to charge for it but at least have the decency to pre-warn (ex)loyal subscribers or only charge for new material. Ironically, if they hadn't been so underhanded and sneaky about it, I would happily have paid to listen to future spoiler specials but instead I feel like I have been slapped in the face and I will never buy a copy of Empire Magazine again.

Feb 7th
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Iván Malcolm Chessa

01:13:13 - 01:17:07 to skip Helen's anti-Joker rant

Jan 7th
Reply (1)

Luis Costa

how to completely miss the point.... Joker is about human condition, not about monsters.

Nov 7th
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Will Belfield

Simply my go to podcast.

Oct 22nd
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brian murray

did we know that tony mentions the endgame in Age of Ultron? am I just slow?

Sep 10th
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Paul Huyter

Unfortunately, this podcast becomes a lecture from the Left more often than not.... it is "problematic".

Sep 5th
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Henry Edwards

Over 50 minutes of random, unrelated dialogue? Not only is that unprofessional, it's pathetic

Jul 28th
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DocRobotnik

Gotta love Kevin. The guy is a fantastic storyteller, regardless of what you think of his work.

Jun 17th
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Stephen Coils

love the podcast these guys should have a TV show

May 30th
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B G

Anyone else having trouble downloading this episode?

May 6th
Reply (3)

Thomas Tang

This podcast is somehow longer than the movie and I am just as excited!

May 6th
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Igor No

no in

May 4th
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