The Empire Film Podcast

This week's episode of The Interviews sees two dynamic duos drop in for lovely cinema-connected chats. First, Chris Hewitt comes face-to-face with Austin Abrams and Josh Brolin, the actors who play out a fractious father-son relationship in Brian Duffield's Whalefall, in which Abrams gets trapped inside the stomach of a sperm whale, and they talk about what scares them as actors, filming inside a giant stomach, and more. Then, Alex Godfrey has a lovely chat, some of it concerning pick & mix, with Kitao Sakurai and Andrew Koji, the director and star respectively of Street Fighter, the film which adapts the classic fighting video game. Hadoukens at the ready!

VisionQuest, the latest MCU show to hit Disney+, launches tomorrow with a two-episode salvo which reintroduces us to Paul Bettany's Vision, or the latest version thereof. Last seen inhabiting a new (old) body in WandaVision, VisionQuest is partially concerned with Vision's attempts to emotionally connect with the memories of the android Avenger who once occupied that same body. Oh, and he also has to contend with a mysterious young man who may be his son, somehow, and also the return of James Spader's deliciously dapper and deadly Ultron, who's skulking around somewhere in Vision's mind palace. And for this preview interview special, Chris Hewitt sat down with both Bettany and Spader to talk about their MCU journeys, hats, an unexpected swear word, and the pronunciation of 'Edinburgh'. Enjoy.

Today — October 10 — is a pretty special day for S.S. Rajamouli, the groundbreaking Indian director behind epics like the Baahubali films, Eega, and 2022's Oscar-winning breakout hit, RRR, whose astonishing, vibrant, endlessly inventive action sequences won the hearts of audiences the world over. Why is today special? Well, it's Rajamouli's 53rd birthday. Happy birthday, sir. And why is this year special? Because he's also celebrating an anniversary as a movie director, what with it being 25 years since he first stepped behind the camera on Student No: 1. And we thought we'd celebrate, not by sending him a cake, but John Nugent, who travelled earlier this year to Ramoji Film City, just outside of Hyderabad, to not only visit Rajamouli on the set of his latest and most ambitious film yet, Varanasi, but also sit down with him for an epic conversation about the director's career. Thanks to S.S. Rajamouli for being so generous with his time, and to Team Rajamouli for making this happen. Enjoy!

It's time, folks. No, not time to watch the magic pumpkin — that's a few weeks away — but instead to glory in the majesty of the BFI London Film Festival, which kicks off today in, erm, London, and will bring all kinds of movies to the capital city. Every year, we devote a special podcast to the LFF, and this year we've really pulled out all the stops, with a fantastic virtual roundtable special in which four directors, all of whom have films at this year's LFF, sit down on Zoom with Chris Hewitt and have a good old natter about their approaches to filmmaking, the importance of film festivals, and the importance of cataract surgery. And those filmmakers are: Andrew Haigh, director of All Of Us Strangers and now haunting Colorado-set drama, A Long Winter; Ashley Walters, the acclaimed actor turned director with his debut movie, prison drama Animol; Carol Morley, director of Out Of Blue, The Falling, and her new semi-autobiographical drama, 7 Miles Out; and Mark Cousins, the former host of Moviedrome turned documentarian, whose latest effort, The Story Of Documentary Film (1990s), does exactly what it says on the tin. It's a compelling roundtable that is by turns profound and hilarious, and we strongly urge you to listen to it before checking out the films and more at this year's LFF via whatson.bfi.org.uk/lff

This week's episode of The Interviews is all about editors-turned-directors. First, we have an extended interview between Chris Hewitt and David Kittredge, the director behind the excellent documentary, Boorman And The Devil, which chronicles the wild making of John Boorman's legendary-for-all-the-wrong-reasons sequel, Exorcist II: The Heretic, and even rehabilitates the film's reputation somewhat. That film is in cinemas right now. After that, Jamie Graham has a fun chat with Padraic McKinley about his debut film, the gritty Ethan Hawke period thriller The Weight, which is out in cinemas this Friday. Enjoy!

Which witch is which? And more importantly, which witch is best? That's the big question on the lips of the Empire Podcast team this week, as Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, and James Dyer discuss their favourite movie witches, and ask if the Blair Witch is even a witch at all (we wouldn't say it to her face, mind). Speaking of witches, Zach Cregger created a truly memorable one last year with Aunt Gladys in Weapons, and now the director is already back with his latest movie, a reimagining of the survival horror video game Resident Evil, and Chris has a fun Zoom with Cregger and his star, Austin Abrams. Oh, and Chris, Helen and James also look at the week's movie news, featuring a whole bunch of trailers and an unexpected Vin Diesel Instagram post, and review Resident Evil (or, in Chris' case, the first 30 minutes), Bad Apples, In The Grey, Shaun The Sheep: The Beast Of Mossy Bottom, and Pulp: What Do You Do For An Encore. Packed to the gills with poddy goodness, this one. Enjoy.

With the latest issue of Empire magazine in shops for just another week or so, it's time for Chris Hewitt and Empire editor Nick de Semlyen to slide into the podbooth and dig deep in the latest episode of The Shameless Plug. Join our dynamic duo as they talk about Chris' adventures writing this month's cover feature on the Tom Cruise/Alejandro G. Iñárritu collaboration, Digger; plus his in-depth chat about The Frighteners with that movie's director, Peter Jackson. They also talk about the other goodies to be found within the issue, including features on VisionQuest, Paul Greengrass' The Uprising, Whalefall; a packed First Word section; and the story of a Hunt For The Wilderpeople reunion that, sadly, proved to be one of Sam Neill's final interviews. If you haven't picked up the new issue yet, it's still available now in all good, evil, and virtual newsagents and other magazine stockists until September 23. And if you have got a copy of the issue, why not read along with Chris and Nick? Enjoy.

It's another jam-packed edition of The Interviews this week, folks. First, Chris Hewitt sits down with Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight as he tackles another project about complicated brothers, the documentary Oasis: Don't Look Back In Anger, which chronicles the return and reconciliation of Liam & Noel Gallagher. We hear Damon Albarn loves it. Then Alex Godfrey has a lovely chat on Zoom with Camille Cottin, the star of Call My Agent!: The Movie, the feature-length continuation of the hit French Netflix series. And finally we bring you an excerpt from our live show at Kings Place last week, as Corin Hardy drops by to shamelessly plug an intriguing Shawshank Redemption experience. Enjoy!