Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones ask if we still go to the movies to be shocked.As Caligula: The Ultimate Cut hits cinemas, Mark talks to stars of the notorious cult classic, Dame Helen Mirren and Malcolm McDowell. They discuss the film's long journey to the new version, and what it was really like on set of one of independent cinemas most controversial productions.Ellen examines what shock value means in the digital age and how shocking cinema has evolved over cinema's history. She speaks to film critic Virginie Selavy about how critical and audience perception of 'shocking' content has evolved from Tod Browning's Freaks to the cinema of Lar Von Trier, and if audiences really are harder to shock. Ellen then talks to comedian and director Bobcat Goldthwait about his transgressive films, which are favourites of John Waters, and how an increasingly bizarre political landscape has affected his filmmaking.Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode take a deep ‘dive' into the world of water to mark the 40th anniversary this summer of the joyous romantic comedy Splash hitting our screens. Splash features Tom Hanks' leading man debut as he meets and falls for mermaid Daryl Hannah in New York, before they finally swim off into the sunset together. From The Little Mermaid through Miranda to The Lure, mermaids have a long rich history in the movies.Mark talks to director Agnieszka Smoczyńska about her 1980s set Polish mermaid musical The Lure. They discuss cinema's fascination with the mermaid myth.Ellen looks back into cinema history to explore the films of Esther Williams - nicknamed the Million Dollar Mermaid - a swimmer turned actress whose ‘aquamusicals' in the 40s and 50s featured elaborate synchronised swimming sequences and made waves at the box office. She speaks to synchronised swimming choreographer Mēsha Kussman and friend of the show Lillian Crawford about the enduring appeal and surprising legacy of the aquamusical.Producer: Queenie Qureshi-Wales A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode look at how popstars - and their fans - have been depicted in film and TV over the years. Mark speaks to record producer and documentary director Jeremy Dylan about some of the most memorable pop idols on screen, from A Hard Day’s Night to Spice World. And he talks to legendary songwriter Paul Williams about his dual role as both star actor and music composer on Brian DePalma’s prescient 1974 pop fable Phantom of the Paradise. Meanwhile, Ellen looks at portrayals of pop fans on screen with critic Kayleigh Donaldson, and screenwriter Janine Nabers, who co-created the recent Beyonce-inspired satirical comedy-horror TV miniseries Swarm.Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode take a deep dive into Spike Lee’s incendiary 1989 drama about simmering racial tension in and around a Brooklyn pizzeria.We celebrate 35 years of a film that announced itself like a beat box on full blast. Set within a single inner city block in Brooklyn, New York City on the hottest day of the summer, the movie depicts racial tensions that simmer, as things look set to explode.Ellen speaks to the film's director Spike Lee to find out how this extraordinary, legacy-defining film originated, and his reaction to its initial mixed reception. And we hear from film critic and Spike Lee biographer, Kaleem Aftab - to discuss the impact of the film, and the United States that it depicts.Meanwhile, Mark meets upcoming film director, Dionne Edwards to find out how the title sequence of Do the Right Thing inspired her own opening scene in the movie, Pretty Red Dress. Long time Spike Lee collaborator and cinematographer on Do The Right Thing, Ernest Dickerson, joins Mark to share his classical and dramatic visual influences, and how his use of colour palette and lighting rigs created such a scorching viewing experience.Producer: Mae-Li Evans A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

The Great American Western is having a resurgence - from Yellowstone and Bass Reeves on TV, to Beyoncé's acclaimed country album Cowboy Carter. Kevin Costner is back in the director’s saddle too, with his Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 - the first in a planned series of epic Westerns - recently riding into cinemas.But has the cinematic Western adapted to the modern age or is it trapped in a one-sided history of the past? Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode examine the enduring popularity of a genre that refuses to die.Mark speaks to cultural historian and Spaghetti Western obsessive Christopher Frayling about the genre’s 19th century roots, and about the impact of films like The Searchers and The Wild Bunch. And he talks to prolific independent director John Sayles, whose 1996 film Lone Star was nominated by the American Film Institute as one of the Fifty Best Westerns of all time. Meanwhile, Ellen explores the history of Black cowboys on screen with Mia Mask, author of Black Rodeo: A History of the African American Western. And she speaks to Jeymes Samuel - the galvanising force behind films like recent biblical epic The Book Of Clarence and 2021’s all-Black, all-star Western, The Harder They Fall. Jeymes tells Ellen why he was drawn to the genre - and why Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained might be due a reassessment.Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

In the past year, triangular love stories have loomed large in cinema - Past Lives, Challengers and Passages all had different angles on the spiky geometry of three-cornered relationships. Since Casablanca, these complicated love affairs have fascinated filmmakers and audiences alike. They can be the subject of romantic comedies, at the centre of a melodrama or the motive for murder in a thriller - the relationships can be gay or straight and the budgets big or small.Jean Luc Godard’s iconic new wave robbery tale Bande à part is 60 this year. It seems that each generation has its iconic love triangle movie - The Philadelphia Story, Sabrina, The Graduate, Blood Simple, Y Tu Mama Tambien, The Notebook and My Best Friend’s Wedding - the films could not be more different but the dynamics are always rich and provocative. Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones ask where love triangles have taken us over the years and how they reflect the sexual politics of the times.Guest interviews include Ira Sachs, director of the acclaimed Passages, and writer and critic Anne Billson.Producer: Tom Whalley A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

From early, Oscar-winning roles in The Deer Hunter and Sophie's Choice, through to Mamma Mia! and The Iron Lady, Meryl Streep has earned a reputation as the greatest actress of our times. As the star receives an honorary Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode discuss the remarkable depth, breadth and legacy of her career.Ellen speaks to writer Michael Schulman, author of Her Again: Becoming Meryl Streep, about the actor's beginnings in the 1970s, and the power of a Meryl acceptance speech. And she discusses the actress' breakout comedic role alongside Roseanne Barr in 1989's She-Devil, with the film's director Susan Seidelman. And Mark speaks to actor Kate Winslet about her decades-long love for Meryl's work, from Angels In America to Death Becomes Her, and about how it felt to beat her heroine to a Best Actress Oscar. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore whether films and TV can change the world.First up, Ellen talks to the award-winning independent filmmaker Eliza Hittman, whose critically acclaimed 2020 drama, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, charts the odyssey of 17 year-old Autumn, played by newcomer Sidney Flanigan from her home town in rural Pennsylvania, to her nearest accessible abortion clinic in New York City. Ellen also meets Caren Spruch, National Director for Arts and Entertainment Engagement at US-based organisation Planned Parenthood. They discuss her activism towards shaping TV and film storylines around abortion. Mark ponders how two film makers have addressed homelessness in their work - rising star Lorna Tucker who's deeply personal documentary Someone’s Daughter, Someone’s Son has recently brought homelessness back into the spotlight, and film legend Ken Loach who shares how his 1966 BBC TV play Cathy Come Home came to be and alerted the public and politicians alike to the country’s growing housing crisis. Producer: Mae-Li Evans A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

In 1974, Chinatown - now widely considered to be among the greatest films ever made - was nominated for 11 Oscars. Despite the creative confidence and freedom of the era, the 1970s were a time of tolerance for the morally questionable, or even downright illegal, behaviour of some of the powerful men creating these movies.Chinatown’s director, Roman Polanski, is the most totemic of those figures. His 1977 indictment for drugging and raping a 13 year-old led the director to flee the United States and seek legal and creative sanctuary in France, where he has remained and continued to make celebrated movies such at The Pianist, for which he won the Best Director Academy Award in 2003. Fifty years on from Chinatown's release, Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones ask how we can appreciate cinematic masterpieces like Chinatown which have been made by very problematic people? Ellen gets about as close as it’s possible to get to the creators of Chinatown - Hawk Koch worked with Roman Polanski on the set of Rosemary’s Baby and, as the First Assistant Director on Chinatown, he was deeply connected with the movie and its director. In a wide ranging interview, he shares his memories from the set, discusses his friendship with Polanski and reflects on remaining in love with a movie despite its troubled past.Claire Dederer’s Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma is a highly personal account of her own relationship with the works of film-makers like Roman Polanski and Woody Allen, and the questions of how knowledge of an artist’s personal life does or doesn’t change the way we feel about their art. Mark talks to Claire about the ethical and emotional issues of separating the art from the artist.Produced by Freya Hellier. A Hidden Flack production for BBC Radio 4

Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones examine the rich history of style and the moving image, from Pret A Porter to The Devil Wears Prada. Ellen talks to fashion historian and curator Amber Butchart about the close relationship between couture and cinema. They discuss the timeless influence on high fashion of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and Powell & Pressburger's The Red Shoes, and the movies that inspire what we all wear in real life. Mark enlists the help of a Screenshot regular, critic Christina Newland, to explore how the fashion industry has been depicted on screen, from the fashion editors of Funny Face and The Devil Wears Prada to the male models of Zoolander. And Mark talks to director Kevin Macdonald about his new documentary, High & Low: John Galliano, which follows the disgraced British fashion designer. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

As rising British director Rose Glass (St Maud) brings us Love Lies Bleeding - a film about female bodybuilders - Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones examine the precedents, including the action stars of the 80s like Schwarzenegger who broke out of the gym and into the mainstream, as well as how gyms make a rich setting for drama and action.Mark explores what bodybuilders have brought to the screen over the years. He talks to editor of Empire magazine and author of The Last Action Heroes, Nick de Semlyen, about the history of muscles and bodybuilders on screen. Mark then speaks to rising star Katy O’Brian about her breakout role in Love Lies Bleeding and her own background in bodybuilding. Ellen looks at how the gym and fitness culture are rich settings for drama. She speaks to film writer Brandon Streussnig about how the gym is portrayed on screen and his favourite gym movies. She then talks to Annie Weisman, the creator of Apple TV’s Physical, about fitness culture in the 80s and its relationship to women's empowerment.Producer: Queenie Qureshi-Wales A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Andrew Scott is the latest in a long line of actors to play Thomas Ripley - the seductive, sociopathic conman created by American crime writer Patricia Highsmith, and immortalised in films from Plein Soleil to The Talented Mr Ripley. Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode look at Ripley and other social strivers on screen, asking how these interlopers have insinuated themselves into our hearts and minds.Ellen explores what makes Patricia Highsmith’s work so cinematic, with a lifelong Highsmith fan – critic and novelist Kim Newman. And she speaks to Swiss documentary filmmaker Eva Vitija about her 2022 film Loving Highsmith – a fascinating look at the author’s life and artistry, told through her unpublished diaries, and interviews with her friends and former lovers.Mark Kermode looks beyond Highsmith’s work, to explore how the 'Ripleyesque' figure has endured. He discusses cinema’s most notorious interlopers, from The Great Gatsby to Saltburn, with Manuela Lazic, a French critic, writer and filmmaker. Mark also talks to two of his favourite filmmakers, Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor. Christine and Joe’s newest film Baltimore – about the debutante turned IRA member Rose Dugdale – is just one of many stories about interloping and identity that they’ve brought to the screen over the years. They tell Mark why the theme fascinates them. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

As the British Board of Film Classification publishes its new guidelines, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode delve into the long, chequered history of film censorship and classification in the UK.Mark speaks to BBFC President (and original Strictly Come Dancing winner) Natasha Kaplinsky about her role, and about her reaction to the new guidelines. And he discusses the Board's controversial history, and some of its most notorious decisions, with ex-BBFC Head of Compliance Craig Lapper. Ellen talks to director Prano Bailey-Bond about her debut film Censor, which was inspired by the 'video nasty' moral panic of the 1980s. And pop culture critic Kayleigh Donaldson talks her through some of the differences between the BBFC and its US equivalent, the MPA Ratings Board. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode look at divorce in film and TV, from His Girl Friday to The Split.Ellen looks at comedic takes on divorce, first discussing marriage, divorce and remarriage in the 1930s screwball comedy genre with critic Pamela Hutchinson.She then speaks to comedian Rob Brydon, who made what she considers to be the greatest TV programme about divorce - the BBC2 sitcom Marion and Geoff.Meanwhile, Mark talks to screenwriter Abi Morgan about her BBC1 series The Split, which follows a family of high-end divorce lawyers working in London.He also talks to Los Angeles family law attorney and chief of divorce evolution at Divorce.com, Laura Wasser about how accurate or misleading Hollywood depictions of breakups really are. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode take a deep dive into the cinematic subconscious to explore dreams in film and television. Mark talks to Sandra Hebron, psychotherapist and head of screen arts at the National Film and Television School, about the origins and history of dreams in film.He also speaks to director Bernard Rose, best known for his 1992 film, Candyman. They discuss his debut film, Paperhouse, and how it portrays the blurred lines between reality and dreams.Taking a look at everything from The Sopranos to The Big Lebowski, Ellen investigates some of film and TV's most memorable dream sequences with help from film critic, Anne Billson.Ellen then speaks to independent film director, Tom DeCillo, whose 1995 film, Living in Oblivion sought to subvert the clichés of the cinematic dream sequence.Producer: Queenie Qureshi-Wales A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Forty years on from 1984 and the release of the John Hurt-starring big screen adaptation of George Orwell’s novel, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore dystopian visions from British film and TV. Mark speaks to film critic Kim Newman about the literary roots of the dystopia, from 1984 to A Clockwork Orange. And he talks to actor Brian Cox about how, in a career that has included roles as Dr Hannibal Lecter and Logan Roy, the prophetic 1968 TV play The Year of The Sex Olympics remains one of the projects he is most proud of.Meanwhile, Ellen talks to Ngozi Onwurah, the director of landmark film Welcome II The Terrordome. Released in 1995, the radical British dystopian tale was the first feature directed by a black woman to get a UK cinema release. Ellen and Ngozi discuss why Welcome II The Terrordome was so prescient. And Ellen also speaks to Kibwe Tavares, who co-directed new film The Kitchen, about a dilapidated housing estate in a near-future London, with Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya.Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

In the year of a Presidential election, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode investigate the murky world of American Elections on screen.Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 Presidential election, inspired many film lovers to reconnect with two films - John Frankenheimer’s 1962 political thriller, The Manchurian Candidate, and David Cronenburg’s 1983 adaptation of Stephen King’s sci-fi horror The Dead Zone. Both films are steeped in subterfuge, conspiracy and corruption. Mark speaks with politically engaged comedian Greg Proops to ask why two movies from the 20th century seem so relevant to 21st century politics. Former Obama speech writer turned podcaster Tommy Vietor talks with Mark about the relationship between fictional presidents and real life PR.Ellen takes a look at the iconic and beloved drama The West Wing, and how it affects real world opinions on American politics and presidents. She speaks with West Wing writer Paul Redford to talk about what this portrayal of the perfect President does to real life democracy and the mindset of the electorate. Does it give us something to aim for? Or might it distract us from what’s really going on?And Professor Kristina Riegert talks about the wealth of academic research that The West Wing has been the focus of - political compromise is just as essential on screen as it is in real life.Producer: Freya Hellier A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore depictions of alcohol in film and television over the years, from the hilarity of Dudley Moore in Arthur, to the tragedy of Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas.Mark is joined by Little White Lies magazine's Hannah Strong to celebrate some of the most iconic drinkers in cinema, from Bridesmaids to Jaws. And he speaks to actor Richard E Grant about playing one of the definitive screen drunks in Withnail And I, despite famously not drinking himself. And Ellen looks at Hollywood's changing attitudes to booze, starting with the most sober time in history - in theory - Prohibition-era America. She speaks to critic Christina Newland and to writer Simone Finch, whose TV show Single Drunk Female offers a refreshingly modern depiction of sobriety. Details of organisations offering information and support with alcohol and addiction are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

As Bristol claymation legends Aardman's new film hits screens, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode look at the enduring appeal of the most painstaking and time-consuming art form conceivable - stop motion animation. Ellen talks to director Guillermo del Toro about his 2022 Oscar winner Pinocchio, as well as some of his favourite stop motion films, from Jason And The Argonauts to The Nightmare Before Christmas.And Mark speaks to animation professor Maureen Furniss and up-and-coming animator Joseph Wallace about why stop motion is so subversive - and so cool.Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

At this festive time of year it’s hard to escape those classic double acts and their equally classic Christmas specials, think Morecambe & Wise, the Two Ronnies, French & Saunders. In this episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the origins, legacy and evolution of the double act across film and TV, both in front of and behind the camera. Guests include one half of a very famous double act, whose members have both gone on to have incredibly successful careers beyond the partnership but in very different ways. He is the Fry in Fry & Laurie, a genuine national treasure - Stephen Fry.Producer: Tom Whalley A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode celebrate the life and career of the much-loved Liverpudlian screenwriter and director Terence Davies, who died earlier in 2023 at the age of 77.From an astonishing trilogy of early short films, to his final feature, 2021’s Benediction, Terence Davies seamlessly blended personal recollections with wider essential truths. His subjects ranged from autobiographically inspired portraits of postwar working-class life in Liverpool in films like Distant Voices Still Lives and The Long Day Closes, to intimate portraits of real-life authors, most remarkably the American poet Emily Dickinson in A Quiet Passion. Mark speaks to Scottish actor Jack Lowden, who played poet Siegfried Sassoon in Benediction, about his relationship with Davies. He also talks to critic and historian Lillian Crawford about why the director's work resonates so deeply for so many.And Ellen discusses Davies' relationship to his hometown with two fellow Scousers - author and screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce, and actor Tina Malone, who starred in The Long Day Closes.Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode don their red raincoats to celebrate the 50th anniversary of haunting British thriller Don't Look Now. Originally released in 1973, Don't Look Now is a spine-tingling psychodrama in which Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie play a married couple grieving the death of their young daughter in Venice. Adapted from a story by Daphne du Maurier and directed by Nicolas Roeg, the film manages to be an eerie occult chiller, a heart breaking meditation upon love and grief, and a shaggy dog story with a grisly sting in its tail. Ellen speaks to Allan Scott, who co-wrote the screenplay for Don’t Look Now with his partner Chris Bryant, about his memories of the film, including its notorious sex scene, and about his long working relationship with Nicolas Roeg. And Mark talks to two filmmakers for whom Don't Look Now has been a touchstone. Writer, actor and director Alice Lowe reveals how the film, and an encounter with Nicolas Roeg, influenced her black comedy thriller Prevenge. And the director of Another Round, Thomas Vinterberg discusses the impact Don't Look Now has had on his work, and the new resonance he finds in the film following the tragic death of his own daughter. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

To celebrate 50 years of the Bruce Lee classic, Enter the Dragon, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode look at the unsung heroes of cinema, stunt artists. Mark talks to stunt choreographer on the Oscar winning film Everything Everywhere All at Once, Daniel Mah, and stunt historian Scott McGee about the history of stunts in Hollywood and how the Hong Kong style influenced cinema. Ellen then speaks to journalist Brandon Streussnig and veteran stunt woman La Faye Baker about why stunt performers deserve awards recognition for their contributions to film. Producer: Freya Hellier A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode look to the silver screen to finally answer a big question. Cats or dogs - which are best? In the cat camp, Ellen enlists the help of film critic and author of the definitive book Cats On Film, Anne Billson. They discuss their favourite film felines, from Alien to Catwoman. Ellen also speaks to director Ceyda Torun and cinematographer Charlie Wuppermann, who are the married couple behind Kedi, an acclaimed documentary looking at street cats in Istanbul from the cats' own perspective. And in the canine corner, Mark talks to second generation animal trainer and co-ordinator Teresa Ann Miller about her career and unique upbringing surrounded by some of Hollywood's most famous animals. They discuss Teresa's work on 2014 Hungarian drama White God, which included a memorable and moving scene featuring 200 real dogs, as well as what it's like to grow up with Cujo in your backyard. Mark also speaks to Toby Rose, who is the creator of the Palm Dog - an award given every year to the best dog performance in a film at the Cannes film festival. They discuss why dogs deserve more acclaim and what exactly makes for a Palm Dog-winning performance. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode delve into the relationship between gaming and the movies, with help from a crack squad of video game experts. Mark is joined by pop culture critic Kayleigh Donaldson, who helps guide him through the messy and complicated history of game adaptations on the big screen, from Super Mario Bros to Doom. He also speaks to Duncan Jones, director of the first video game film to cross $400m at the international box office - 2016's Warcraft. They discuss the challenges of adapting the cult role-playing game for a cinema audience. And Ellen asks the big question of whether video games can be considered an art form on the same level as film. To help her on her quest, she first speaks to critic Kambole Campell about why games get called 'cinematic' and whether the gaming world has auteurs. Ellen then talks to cinephile and game director Sam Barlow, about his highly successful - and highly innovative - video games Her Story, Telling Lies and Immortality. Sam explains how experimental directors like Nicolas Roeg and Peter Greenaway have influenced his work, which employs live footage of actors, rather than motion capture or graphics. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode hit the road to explore the lovers on the run genre, and celebrate 50 years of Terrence Malick's film debut, Badlands. Since the film’s arrival in 1973, this dreamy and twisted fairy tale has inspired countless tales of lovers escaping dead end towns for the endless road - but it wasn't the first time this story had graced the silver screen. Mark enlists the help of a friend of the show, film critic Christina Newland. They discuss the hallmarks of the genre, its film noir beginnings, and why cinema is obsessed with tales of lawless lovers. Ellen then speaks to New Queer Cinema icon, Gregg Araki, who shares his subversive and anarchic take on the genre - and his theory as to why it is a staple of American cinema. Ellen also chats to director,Jonathan Entwistle to discuss relocating his TV show End of The F***ing World to this side of the Atlantic, and whether the genre is intrinsically American. Producer: Mae-Li Evans A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode take a look at offices and office politics on screen. Mark is joined by director Terry Gilliam who, back in 1985, created one of the most influential and iconic depictions of an on-screen office - Brazil. They discuss the Stanley Kubrick film which inspired Brazil's set design, Terry's own experience as an office drone and why his cult classic film still resonates today. And Ellen investigates office politics in two very different comedy films, made nearly four decades apart - 1980's 9 to 5 and 2018's Sorry To Bother You. First, she speaks to legendary screenwriter Patricia Resnick, who co-wrote 9 to 5 in her mid-20s. Patricia discusses how she came to work on the seminal satire of sexism at work, and reveals the real-life stories that influenced her script. Ellen then talks to musician, activist and filmmaker Boots Riley, whose visionary debut film Sorry To Bother You focuses on a black telemarketer who achieves success when he discovers he can use his 'white voice' on sales calls. They discuss how the film was inspired by Boots' own successful stint in telesales, and why absurdist humour is so well suited for office-set stories. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

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Ellen and Mark explore Brits abroad in the movies, taking a look at everything from 1972's Carry on Abroad to 2023's Cannes prize-winner How To Have Sex. Mark talks to Steve Chibnall, Professor of British Cinema at De Montfort University, about some of the most notable examples of Brits on holiday in 20th century cinema. They discuss the mid-century travelogue trend, what British holiday films can tell us about national identity and class, and how 1989's Shirley Valentine stands apart from other films in the genre. Ellen looks at two more recent examples of the British holiday film, speaking first to director Molly Manning Walker about her debut feature How To Have Sex. Molly reveals how the resort of Malia proved the perfect setting for the film, which follows three teenage girls navigating the complexities of sex and consent on a rite of passage clubbing holiday. And Ellen then speaks to actor Samantha Morton about her starring role in director Lynne Ramsay's 2002 cult classic Morvern Callar. They discuss Samantha's own experiences as a Brit abroad, her close working relationship with Ramsay, and why Morvern Callar remains so influential two decades on from its first release. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Latitude Festival boasts the biggest comedy lineup in the UK, so Ellen and Mark take a visit to discuss the best and worst of stand-up comedy on screen. Ellen and Mark and joined by three of the UK's biggest and brightest comedy stars from Latitude’s 2023 comedy line-up - Ania Magliano, Olga Koch and Romesh Ranganathan. Ania Magliano is an up and coming talent in the British comedy scene who, aside from selling out shows at Edinburgh Fringe and Soho Theatre, writes for the viral YouTube hit Chicken Shop Date with Amelia Dimoldenberg, Frankie Boyle’s New World Order and Newsjack on Radio 4. She shares with Ellen and Mark the fictional comic who makes her feel most seen. Olga Koch is another rising star in the UK comedy scene who has appeared on Mock the Week, Pls Like, Pointless Celebrities and QI. She's written and starred in several award winning Radio 4 shows, including last year’s Olga Koch: Fight and Olga Koch: OK Computer. She tells Ellen and Mark which stand-up comedy scenes make her cringe the most. Romesh Ranganathan is a familiar face on British television, as host of shows like The Ranganation and The Weakest Link, and as a regular panellist on A League of Their Own. He hosts For The Love of Hip Hop on Radio 2 and co-hosts the hit podcast The Wolf And Owl with fellow comedian Tom Davis. Romesh explains to Ellen and Mark why stand-up on screen can go out of fashion fast. Finally, comedian Greg Proops joins us for a viewing note, revealing his favourite stand-up scene. Producer: Tom Whalley A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode celebrate the power of pop music on screen, 50 years on from the release of George Lucas' American Graffiti, with its hits-packed soundtrack. First opening on 11 August 1973, coming of age classic American Graffiti was arguably the original ‘jukebox movie’. The film plays out over a single night in 1962, in a town where everyone is listening to the radio, and pop music of the era provides an almost unbroken accompaniment to the action. Mark looks back on how American Graffiti revolutionised the use of music in movies, speaking to legendary film-maker Walter Murch, who was responsible for the unique sound of the film. Meanwhile, Ellen delves into the relationship between pop music and the screen, with the help of music supervisor Jen Malone - the woman responsible for a resurgence in the career of The Cramps after including them on the soundtrack of Netflix hit Wednesday. And she talks to DJ, record producer and creator of original soundtracks David Holmes about the intrinsic connection he feels between pop music and cinema. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode devote the final episode of the current series of Screenshot to the world’s most famous doll, ahead of the release of director Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie.  Ellen is joined by critic Christina Newland for a look at how movies like Legally Blonde, Clueless and The House Bunny brought 'Barbiecore' to the screen, decades before the new live action film about the Mattel doll. And Mark speaks to comic and culture critic Ashley Ray about some of the most fascinating uses of the Barbie figure in film and TV, from Toy Story to The Simpsons to Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story - director Todd Haynes' biopic of the Carpenters' singer, told using Barbie dolls. Mark also talks to Film Threat magazine founder Chris Gore about his memories of Todd Haynes' Superstar, which became a cult, underground classic when it was refused a commercial release. This week's Viewing Note comes from actor and comedian Harry Trevaldwyn, who has a role in Greta Gerwig's Barbie film. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore sport on screen, from Field of Dreams to Ted Lasso. Ellen looks at the life lessons to be gleaned from baseball movies such as Field of Dreams, The Natural and A League of Their Own, with the help of film critic Simon Brew and the first woman to coach men's baseball in the US - trailblazer Justine Siegal. And Mark focuses on football in film and TV, speaking to Ted Lasso co-creator and star Brendan Hunt about the inspirations for the sitcom about an American football manager hired to manage a fictional Premier League team. He also talks to critic and programmer Ashley Clark about his favourite screen depictions of the beautiful game, from Escape to Victory to Sunderland 'Til I Die. Pioneering BBC Sport broadcaster and journalist Eleanor Oldroyd shares her Viewing Notes. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

With its outrageous audience, pioneering programme, all night film marathons and a particularly vicious house cat, The Scala cinema in London’s King’s Cross blazed a flamboyant trail across the repertory cinema scene of the 70s, 80s and 90s. As Jane Giles recounts in her book on The Scala, director John Waters describes it as “a country club for criminals and lunatics and people that were high... which is a good way to see movies..." Among that membership were the burgeoning creative filmmakers of the 21st century - Christopher Nolan, Peter Strickland, Joanna Hogg and Ben Wheatley to name a few. Ellen E Jones separates truth from legend with the man who started it all - film producer and director Stephen Woolley. They discuss the infamous screenings, the intersection of music, politics and film, and the ‘collective of lost souls’ who came together over a shared love of film. Mark Kermode discusses the age of cinema before video and streaming with film writer and curator Anne Bilson. They remember trekking across London by bus to hunt down one-off screenings, and staying up all night for kung fu specials. Mark then talks to film programmer Andrew Woodyatt about invoking the spirit of The Scala for today’s audiences at his weekly Queer Cinema club, the Pink Palace at the Rio Cinema. And in this week’s Viewing Note, filmmaker Carol Morley remembers a Scala moment which has haunted her dreams ever since. Producer: Freya Hellier A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

As Judy Blume’s classic YA novel Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is adapted for the big screen, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore how a recent wave of coming of age films have looked at the subject from a teenage girl’s perspective. Ellen speaks to critic Hannah Strong about the coming of age films that made her feel seen as a teen, from The Virgin Suicides to Welcome To The Dollhouse. She also talks to director Domee Shi about the inspiration for her 2022 Pixar film Turning Red. And Mark talks to filmmaker and actor Marielle Heller about her directorial debut The Diary of a Teenage Girl, and why making a coming of age film can be a coming of age experience in itself. Plus Nida Manzoor, director of teen comedy-drama Polite Society, shares her favourite teen girls on screen in Viewing Notes. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

In May 1983, Sony released the first camcorder for domestic consumers, the Betamovie. This milestone in amateur filmmaking, 40 years on, prompts Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode to explore how home movies are depicted and used in feature film. Ellen meets academic Liz Czach to find out about the history of home movies, amateur filmmaking and and how its role has shifted in today's world of the internet and Tik Tok. John Wilson, creator of the hit docufiction show How To... With John Wilson, also joins Ellen to discuss how his early experiences with found footage, and the documentaries of Bruce Brown, impacted his approach to film. Mark talks to Canadian auteur, Atom Egoyan, about how the advent of the digital camcorder and our changing relationship to video technology influenced his early films. This week's viewing note is from the director of Skate Kitchen and The Wolfpack, Crystal Moselle, who recommends a film that utilises home movie footage. Producer: Mae-Li Evans A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ahead of International Workers' Day, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore how the struggle for workers' rights and other movements for change have been depicted on screen. Ellen speaks to artist Jeremy Deller, who in 2001 restaged and filmed perhaps the most pivotal and violent event of the 1984/85 miners' strike - the confrontation between police and picketing miners in South Yorkshire, which has come to be known as the Battle of Orgreave. She also talks to cultural historian Christopher Frayling about some of the most interesting films about the labour movement to emerge in the UK, from The Proud Valley to It's All Right, Jack. And Mark investigates how activism is depicted on screen in the present day, speaking to How To Blow Up A Pipeline director Daniel Goldhaber, and activist Megan Kapler, whose work with advocacy group Prescription Addiction Intervention Now was recently portrayed in documentary All The Beauty And The Bloodshed. This week's Viewing Note comes from film director Lizzie Borden, who shares her favourite recent activist documentaries. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode discuss how restaurants are portrayed throughout cinema and the small screen, from Big Night to Ratatouille. Mark is joined by film and TV journalist Roxana Hadadi to discuss an overview of the best depictions of restaurants on the silver screen and to define which ingredients make for a good restaurant movie. And Ellen talks to Philip Barantini, the director of one-take restaurant film Boiling Point, about how his experience as a head chef has made him the director he is today. Ellen also speaks to restaurant critic Jimi Famurewa about how and why restaurants are the perfect setting for TV and film. This week’s viewing note is courtesy of food critic and broadcaster Jay Rayner. Producer: Hester Cant A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones take the scenic route through slow cinema - a genre of film that might challenge your attention span, but is almost guaranteed to change the way you watch. There is one particular film that’s inspired this week’s show, Chantal Akerman’s 3-and-a-half hour, slow moving masterpiece from 1975 - Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080, Brussels In December 2022, Jeanne Dielman topped Sight and Sound magazine’s Greatest Film of All Time poll. That caused quite a fuss because, for the last few decades, the poll has been dominated by Citizen Kane and Vertigo. Ellen speaks with critic Wendy Ide and film academic Dr Tiago de Luca to get deeper into the genre of slow cinema and explore this sea change in critics' tastes. One reason for Jeanne Dielman’s new found popularity is down to access. A film that was once almost impossible to see is now enjoying sell out runs in art house cinemas. In an extended interview, Mark talks with writer and filmmaker Adam Roberts who, along with director Joanna Hogg, has long been at the centre of the quest to take Chantal Akerman’s filmography from the underground into the spotlight. They discuss Akerman’s life, work and her unique creative vision. And in this week’s Viewing Note, friend of the show and director of the Cornish folk horror Enys Men, Mark Jenkin, shares his slow cinema recommendations. Producer: Freya Hellier A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

The Long Good Friday elevated the British gangster film to a level not seen for a decade since Get Carter, and sees London gangster Harold Shand (Bob Hoskins) and his girlfriend Victoria (Helen Mirren) embroiled in a scheme to redevelop parts of London’s Docklands with finance from a New York mafia boss. The film features some prophetic scenes in which Harold espouses a new future for London, a London at the centre of Europe, with opportunity to create incredible wealth - a wealth he would most likely have made had the IRA not started interfering in his affairs. In this episode of Screenshot, Mark Kermode speaks to Dame Helen Mirren about the changes she made to the script and to her character's role, and also about how her uncle’s connections to the London underworld helped her in the part. Mark also talks to tour guide Rob Smith, who leads a tour of the film’s locations around London’s Docklands. Exploring the world of the British gangster film further, Ellen E Jones meets author Kim Newman who talks us through the changing nature of these films from the 1930s to the present day, and Louis Mellis who, alongside David Scinto, wrote a triptych of British gangster films including 2000’s Sexy Beast. Lynda La Plante, creator of the seminal British gangster crime drama Widows, drops in with a Viewing Note in which she makes an offer you can’t refuse. Producer: Tom Whalley A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the dark arts of the film trailer, 110 years on from the first ever trailer, for Broadway musical The Pleasure Seekers. Ellen talks to writer and trailer aficionado Matt Schimkowitz about the origins of the trailer, its development since the early days of cinema, and the Christopher Nolan film that totally changed the landscape. And Mark speaks to director Edgar Wright about the film trailers that left the biggest impression on him growing up, as well as about his experience making a parody trailer - Don’t - for Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s Grindhouse project. Mark also speaks to actor-turned-director Elizabeth Banks about the trailer for her forthcoming film Cocaine Bear, which has proved a huge viral hit. This week's Viewing Note is from Oscar-winning director Guillermo Del Toro. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Brendan Fraser has been garnering standing ovations and awards nominations for his moving performance as a reclusive, morbidly obese teacher in Darren Aronofsky’s film The Whale. His physical transformation into the 600lb Charlie, who is fighting for his life and his relationship with his daughter, required Fraser to gain weight and wear gruelling, high tech prosthetics. But in the 21st century, is it still ok to wear a fat suit? In this week’s Screenshot, Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones explore the history, ethics and changing landscape of fat representation on screen. Mark talks with writers Kayleigh Donaldson and Guy Lodge about the use of fat suits from Orson Welles to Friends, and The Whale. And they discuss why Hollywood rewards actors who undergo extreme physical transformations for their roles. And Ellen discusses fat icons, the roles available to fat actors and the politics of the F word with podcaster Annie Rose Malamet, and comedian, actor and star of Strictly, Jayde Adams. Also, writer, artist and broadcaster, Scottee picks his favourite viewing moments, in Viewing Notes Producer: Freya Hellier A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

As director Damien Chazelle's sprawling period epic Babylon hits UK cinemas, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode travel back to the Wild West of Hollywood's early years.  Mark tries to sort fact from fiction with author Shawn Levy and critic Christina Newland, as they discuss Kenneth Anger's notorious gossip bible Hollywood Babylon, and explore some of the most progressive and scandalous movies being made in the 1920s and 30s. And Ellen talks to critic Pamela Hutchinson and historian Shirley Jennifer Lim about the trailblazing career of Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong. Also, director Todd Field tells us about the Hollywood history TV series he's been rewatching, in Viewing Notes. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

As new film Tar hits UK cinemas, starring Cate Blanchett as a brilliant, highly-celebrated and highly-problematic conductor, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore how genius is portrayed on-screen - and celebrated off-screen. Mark speaks to director Nick Moran about his 2008 film Telstar: The Joe Meek Story, which focused on another problematic musical genius, and to journalist Jon Ronson about 2014's Frank, co-written by Jon and inspired by his time working with comic musician Chris Sievey, aka Frank Sidebottom. And Ellen looks at EGOTs - the extraordinary performers who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony - speaking to film star, TV host and EGOT Whoopi Goldberg. Actor Sanjeev Bhaskar shares his favourite genius on screen in Viewing Notes. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore folk horror on screen. The genre is commonly associated with British film from the 70s, but Ellen and Mark investigate how it resonates across the globe and its resurgence over the last decade. Ellen speaks to the author and director of the folk horror documentary, Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched, Kier-La Janisse about the first folk horror films, the hallmarks of the genre and folk horror's depiction of pastoral and urban settings. Ellen then talks to director Nikyatu Jusu about her recent film Nanny which won the Grand Jury prize at Sundance last year. They discuss how she uses West African folklore in the film and why she thinks folk horror is culturally specific. Mark talks to director Mark Jenkin about his upcoming film, Enys Men. They consider the film's relationship to Cornish identity and the landscape as well as why he prefers to call Enys Men a folk film rather than a folk horror film. And the director of some modern takes on folk horror such as The Witch and The Northman, Robert Eggers, recommends a couple of underseen folk horror gems. Producer: Freya Hellier A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the legacy of Rashomon, directed by Japanese cinematic master Akira Kurosawa. Mark examines Kurosawa's enduring screen legacy and why he is one of the most influential directors in film history. He talks to director Asif Kapadia, who is co-programmer of the BFI's upcoming Kurosawa retrospective. They discuss Kurosawa's filmography and what makes him one of the greatest directors of all time as well as Kurosawa's influence on his own work. Mark then speaks to author Kazuo Ishiguro, screenwriter of the recent film, Living, a remake of Kurosawa's 1952 film, Ikiru. They discuss how Rashomon became one of Kurosawa's and Japan's most iconic films as well as debating how successful cinema is at depicting memory. Ellen investigates the longlasting impact of Kurosawa's 1950 film on the small screen. The film inspired the term 'the Rashomon effect' which is used to describe a narrative technique where different characters offer differing opinions and perspectives on the same event. Ellen talks to TV and film critic Roxana Hadadi about how this has become a staple of television storytelling. She then speaks to Chris Lang, creator of the TV series Unforgotten, who explains how Rashomon has influenced his work and why exactly it's so well suited to the crime genre. And director and Kurosawa super fan Alex Cox tells us his favourite Kurosawa film. Producer: Tom Whalley A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore how a couple of Christmas TV traditions have developed over the years - the made-for-TV Christmas romcom and the festive ghost story. Inspired by The Hallmark Channel's first ever gay Christmas film, Ellen speaks to made-for-TV film aficionado Linda Holmes. They discuss what The Hallmark Channel is and why it has taken until 2022 for the channel to feature a gay lead in one of its films. Ellen also speaks to critic Caspar Salmon about what the recent increase in queer Christmas romcoms might mean for LGBT+ audiences. And Mark explores how the ghost story became a British TV Christmas staple, talking to writer and director Mark Gatiss about the 1968 film Whistle and I'll Come to You, which inspired the A Ghost Story for Christmas series, continued by Gatiss to this day. Mark then speaks to composer Rachel Portman about her score for the chilling 1989 ITV adaptation of Dame Susan Hill's The Women in Black. And Tangerine and Red Rocket director Sean Baker shares what he'll be watching this festive season. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode investigate whodunnits and murder mysteries on screen, ahead of the streaming release of new Knives Out mystery Glass Onion. Mark talks to Glass Onion director Rian Johnson about why whodunnits are so enduring, who left him star-struck on set, and the classic films and books that inspired his new mystery. And Ellen takes a deep dive into the camp 1973 cult whodunnit The Last of Sheila, written by actor Anthony Perkins and composer Stephen Sondheim following their own outlandish murder mystery parties. Ellen talks to writer Kyle Turner about Sondheim’s love of mysteries and the real life stories behind the film. She also speaks to the legendary Dyan Cannon about the larger-than-life Hollywood agent Sue Mengers who inspired her role in The Last of Sheila, and about the film's legacy as a cult classic. This week's Viewing Note is courtesy of actor and director Richard Benjamin. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode revisit Titanic in its 25th anniversary year, looking at James Cameron's epic blockbuster as both a disaster film and a story of immigration. Ellen explores the forgotten tales of immigration onboard the Titanic, talking to journalist Ray Hanania about the Syrian refugee stories only hinted at in the 1997 film. She also speaks to Sally El-Hosaini, director of new Netflix film The Swimmers. They discuss how immigration is depicted on screen and how Sally wanted to portray immigration in her own work. Inspired by the grand spectacle and ground breaking special effects of Titanic, Mark talks about disaster films with theme park ride designer Peter Alexander and legendary sound designer Randy Thom from Skywalker Sound. They discuss the 1974 film Earthquake, the theme park ride it inspired and the innovative Sensurround sound system created for the movie. This week’s Viewing Note is courtesy of Joanna Hogg, director of The Souvenir and the new A24 film, The Eternal Daughter, and disaster movie fan. Producer: Freya Hellier A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

From the melodramatic gestures of silent movies to the immersive, intricate performances made possible by 21st century technology, acting styles have gone in and out of fashion. But no acting technique is more mythologised or misunderstood than The Method. Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones are getting under the skin of method acting to find out what it is, how it changed the face of American cinema, and why it’s not to blame for some truly weird on set behaviour. Ellen talks to writer and historian Isaac Butler to trace The Method’s roots back to the Russian actor, director and theorist Konstantin Stanislavski. They discuss The Method’s founding father in America Lee Strasberg, some key Method performances, and how acting is changing today. To learn what it’s like to study The Method, Ellen talks to British actor and writer Louise Brealey about her time at the Lee Strasberg institute, learning to laugh at yourself, and never giving in to bad behaviour. Mark talks to British actor Adeel Akhtar about how an opportunity to study method acting changed the course of his life, and not taking your character home at the end of the day. And in a moving discussion, Mark realises a long held ambition to interview Ellen Burstyn, who played - in a long and glittering career - Chris MacNeil in his favourite film, The Exorcist. Ellen studied The Method with Lee Strasberg himself and now, at the age of 89, she is co-President of the institution he led, The Actors Studio. Ellen shares her memories of Lee and brings his creative exercises back to life. In this week’s Viewing Notes, actor Jason Isaacs shares his favourite method performance. Produced by Freya Hellier A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Inspired by the record-breaking success of huge action epic RRR, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the global popularity of contemporary Indian cinema, with the help of some of its key players. Ellen takes a closer look at the box office smash that is RRR. She talks to the film's director SS Rajamouli, who is responsible for three of the top five highest-grossing Indian films of all time. They discuss Rajamouli's role in the Pan-Indian Cinema movement and why he thinks RRR has become such a hit across the world. And Mark, with the help of British-Tamil film critic Ashanti Omkar and superstar composer AR Rahman, investigates how Indian cinema has gone global over the last two decades and asks whether it might be time to retire the term 'Bollywood'. Also, actor Nikesh Patel, star of hit romcom Starstruck, shares what he's been watching recently. Producer: Jane Long Editorial Consultant: Ashanti Omkar A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen and Mark take a turn into the exclusive gated community of housewives in cinema and television, ahead of the release of new film Don't Worry Darling. Ellen investigates why we're so drawn to housewives on screen, from original housewife satire The Stepford Wives to global reality TV phenomenon The Real Housewives, with the help of critic Anna Bogutskaya and Real Housewives exec producer Andy Cohen. And Mark celebrates director Todd Haynes' cult 1995 film Safe, starring Julianne Moore in her first lead role, as a housewife suffering from a mysterious ailment. He speaks to pioneering independent film producer and long-time Haynes collaborator Christine Vachon about the making of Safe, and hears from composer Gazelle Twin and director Desiree Akhavan about the personal and emotional responses both had to the film. This week's Viewing Note is courtesy of Olivier-nominated Home, I'm Darling star Katherine Parkinson. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen and Mark examine the legacy of the quintessential blonde bombshell ahead of the release of Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde. Mark speaks to Blonde’s director Andrew Dominik and US pop culture critic Angelica Jade Bastien about the very different personal connections both feel to Monroe and the reasons for her enduring star power. Meanwhile, Ellen explores some of the bombshells compared to Monroe on this side of the Atlantic. She speaks to Diana Dors biographer Anna Cale about how the label of 'the British Marilyn' affected Dors' varied and colourful time in the spotlight. And she learns about the elusive and often tragic careers of British starlets including Belinda Lee and Sabrina, with the help of Professor of British Cinema Steve Chibnall. Also, musician Warren Ellis talks about what he was watching while composing the score for Blonde with Nick Cave. Producer: Jane Long
 A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode celebrate 40 years of Film4 with a quartet of famous film-makers who have been part of its rich history and legacy. Founded in 1982, Film4 soon became an iconic and vital voice in British film. It has fostered a reputation for producing gritty, diverse stories from unheard voices as well as championing the more leftfield and experimental side of British cinema. Ellen looks at Film4's origins in conversation with Stephen Frears who directed the very first Film4 film, Walter. Walter stars Sir Ian McKellen as a young man with learning difficulties and the film documents his struggles in Margaret Thatcher's Britain. Frears continued to explore life in 80's Britain in the now iconic and still ground-breaking My Beautiful Laundrette. Stephen and Ellen discuss what the film meant at the time and why it remains relevant. Mark talks to Gurinder Chadha. In 1993 her Film4 produced debut, Bhaji on the Beach, became the first full-length feature film made by a British Asian Woman. Gurinder and Mark discuss the importance of Film4 in championing minorities and what the British film industry was like before and after Film4's emergence. Ellen chats with Ben Wheatley about Film4's response to his irreverent 2011 folk horror film Kill List as well as the multi-platform release of 2013's A Field in England. They talk about how Film4 has always made space for the more uncommercial and experimental side of British cinema. Finally, Mark talks to Clio Barnard about her 2013 Film4 debut, The Selfish Giant. A social realist adaptation of an Oscar Wilde story, Clio discusses how Film4 supported her as an artist and allowed her to share her unique and touching tale. This week's Viewing Note is courtesy of former Film4 head and veteran producer, Paul Webster. Producer: Hester Cant A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

To mark the 80th birthday of one of cinema’s most enigmatic and polarising characters, Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones explore the work, myth and legacy of Werner Herzog. An encounter with Herzog is always compelling, and sometimes risky. When Mark interviewed him in the Hollywood Hills in 2006, the director was shot - an incident he dismissed as ‘not significant’. From the safe distance of a few thousand miles away, Mark and Werner reconnect (over Zoom) to address the conspiracy theory that the shooting was staged. Herzog also looks back at the enduring appeal of Fitzcarraldo, how his world view informs his work, and why there’s a lesson to be learned in keeping up with the Kardashians. To separate fact from fiction, Ellen E Jones talks to volcanologist and co-director of two Herzog documentaries, Professor Clive Oppenheimer. They discuss Herzog’s scientific mind and why Clive kept quiet about a near miss with a lava bomb as they filmed Into the Inferno. Writer and director Zak Penn used the Herzog legend as the inspiration for his mockumentary Incident at Loch Ness, which starred Herr Herzog as himself. Ellen and Zak discuss the tricks he played on his leading man, how he’s easy to surprise but impossible to shock, and why Werner Herzog is such a beloved and supportive collaborator. And DJ and broadcaster Edith Bowman gives her Viewing Notes. Producer: Freya Hellier A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

From the Old Testament to Captain Underpants, via Jane Austen and pulp fiction, the relationship between the page and the screen is unbreakable. But the journey from book to screenplay can be a long and winding road that is sometimes paved with gold, and often filled with detours and potholes. To get under the skin of literary adaptations, Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones decamped to the Hay literary festival where the book world’s biggest names gather to enjoy discussion and sharing ideas. Cressida Cowell, author of the popular How To Train Your Dragon series, talks about the joyful process of seeing her characters come alive in a huge franchise comprising animated movies, TV series and a video game. When her first novel Brick Lane was turned into a film in 2007, Monica Ali was not involved in the adaptation. Now, 15 years later, Monica is writing the screenplay of her latest novel Love Marriage and she talks to Mark and Ellen about the new skills she has learned along the way. After many close calls with producers, Jennifer Egan (A Visit from the Goon Squad, The Candy House) knows about the mercurial nature of having work ‘optioned’. She discusses her favourite literary adaptations and shares a cinematic piece of writing by Arthur Conan Doyle. Also, broadcaster and writer Jeffrey Boakye takes a spin with an 80s classic movie to reveal the deeper issues at play in Dirty Dancing. Producer: Freya Hellier A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Fifty years ago a break-in at the Watergate complex in Washington DC caused a cover-up that ultimately cost Richard Nixon the presidency. From the moment the hearings into the scandal were televised, there has been a massive audience for all things Watergate. There have been feature films, plays, podcasts, online comedy series, documentaries and TV dramas. Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode investigate the lasting legacy of Watergate on screen. Actor and comedian Harry Shearer has been playing Tricky Dicky since the very start of his career. He tells Mark about turning the president's tape recordings into verbatim comedy-drama Nixon's The One. Over a series of TV interviews the late Sir David Frost got President Nixon to admit that he had acted illegally and let the American people down. Mark talks to Michael Sheen who played the British broadcaster on both stage and screen in Frost/Nixon. Meanwhile, Ellen explores politically focused TV and film with the creator of The Thick of It and Veep, Armando Iannucci and screenwriter Liz Hannah, whose films The Post and Long Shot focus on journalism and politics. And journalist and broadcaster Martha Kearney gives her Viewing Notes. Producer: Marilyn Rust A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ahead of Jamaican Independence Day, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode immerse themselves in one of the island’s greatest exports, The Harder They Come, marking the film’s 50th anniversary. The Harder They Come was a sensation, but it took a while for its vibrations to be heard around the world. In 1972, the premiere in Kingston brought the area to a complete standstill. Outside of Jamaica, the film helped introduce reggae music to millions, thanks to its Jimmy Cliff-driven soundtrack. Exploring the film’s continuing legacy, Ellen hears from one of its stars, Carl Bradshaw, and the film’s publicist Barbara Blake-Hannah, for whom the movie was so life-changing that she left the UK and moved to Jamaica where she later became a Member of Parliament. Mark speaks to DJ, broadcaster, musician and filmmaker Don Letts, whose film Dancehall Queen is a homage to The Harder They Come. Mark also talks to music supervisor Ed Bailie who worked closely with Steve McQueen on his Small Axe films, including Lovers Rock which also owes a great debt to this cult classic. Ellen and Mark also look at what The Harder They Come did, or did not do, for the Jamaican film industry, and the films that followed it - including Rockers, Countryman, and Babylon. Producer: Tom Whalley A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen and Mark discuss the enduring screen presence of Elvis Presley, from Love Me Tender to Wild at Heart. One of the most hotly anticipated films this summer is Elvis - director Baz Luhrmann’s biopic chronicling the singer’s career and complicated relationship with manager Colonel Tom Parker. Committed Presley fan Mark discusses Elvis’ prolific acting career with a couple of fellow obsessives - the actor Sanjeev Bhaskar, and journalist and screenwriter Ray Connolly. And Ellen explores how The King has lived on via film and TV in the 45 years since his death. She’s joined by comedian and pop culture devotee Greg Proops and filmmaker Jeanie Finlay, whose 2015 documentary Orion: The Man Who Would Be King told the bizarre story of a masked Elvis soundalike. Also, movement director Polly Bennett talks about what she watched to help prepare actor Austin Butler for his starring role as Elvis in Luhrmann's film. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore big budget flops, from Ishtar to Cats. Ishtar – writer and director Elaine May's huge budget comedy starring Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman – was released in May 1987. The film, about a pair of incompetent singer-songwriters who become entangled in a CIA plot in north Africa, tanked at the box office and ultimately put paid to May's directing career. In the process the word Ishtar became a joke - that title alone symbolising Hollywood hubris at its worst. But, as May put it, "If all the people who hate Ishtar had seen it, I would be a rich woman." Thirty five years on, Mark asks culture critic Lindsay Zoladz and comedian and director Richard Ayoade whether Ishtar is ripe for reappraisal. And Ellen draws up a set of rules to help Hollywood studio bosses avoid box office bombs in 2022, running them past Film Stories founder Simon Brew and Hollywood super-producer Lynda Obst. Also, controversial director Gaspar Noe shares his Viewing Notes. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode celebrate one of the great doyennes of Hollywood in what would have been her centenary year. Cultural historian Christopher Frayling joins Mark to revisit the rare career retrospective interview he conducted with Day in 1989. And Ellen speaks to Queer cinema expert Emma Smart and singer Rufus Wainwright about the importance of both Doris Day and Judy Garland, who would also have turned 100 in 2022, to LGBTQIA+ communities. Plus actor and writer Tracy-Ann Oberman shares her favourite Doris Day film in Viewing Notes. Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide through the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years. Producer: Hester Cant A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the history of indigenous and native people on screen. In 1922, silent film Nanook of the North was released. Written, directed and filmed by a white man, the docudrama claimed to show the daily life of an Inuit hunter and his family in the Canadian Arctic - but all wasn't quite as it seemed. A century on, Screenshot explores the representation of indigenous people on screen, and who gets to tell their stories, with film critic Jesse Wente who founded the Indigenous Screen Office. Ellen also talks to director Leah Purcell about reimagining the Australian classic, The Drover's Wife, as an Indigenous, feminist Western. And Mark speaks to the producers of Waru, Kerry Warkia and Kiel McNaughton, about their quest to bring Maori and Pasifika stories to a wider audience.

 Producer: Marilyn Rust
 A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore cinema's steamiest genre - the erotic thriller - 30 years on from the release of Basic Instinct. Mark reappraises recent best director Oscar-winner Jane Campion's oft-overlooked 2003 erotic thriller In The Cut, with the help of the film's author and co-screenwriter Susanna Moore and the film critic Maria San Filippo. And Ellen speaks to film historian Karina Longworth and intimacy coordinator Ita O'Brien about the highs and lows of the erotic thriller, and how we're dealing with sex on screen in the 21st century. Also, Basic Instinct 2 star David Morrissey shares his Viewing Notes. Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide through the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the influence of David Simon and The Wire, as the Baltimore-set opus celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Beginning his career as a police reporter for the much respected Baltimore Sun, David Simon eventually became disillusioned with changes being made at the paper and spent a year embedded with the Baltimore Police Department’s Homicide Unit. That resulted in the book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, which became the basis for the TV show Homicide: Life On The Street. Simon followed that with another book, The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, which was adapted for TV as The Corner, and then created The Wire, which changed television forever. Simon has since been behind the shows Generation Kill, Treme, The Deuce and The Plot Against America. His latest project We Own This City sees him return to Baltimore, this time to tell the true story of the rise and fall of the Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Trace Task Force and the corruption surrounding it. Ellen looks at the influence of David Simon’s work with a focus on unconventional casting - Simon repeatedly casts non-actors, and people with first hand experience of the subjects he explores. She speaks with casting director Pat Moran, who has worked alongside Simon on several projects. She also talks to Ronan Bennett and Gerry Jackson. Ronan is the creator and writer of Top Boy and Gerry is the series’ story consultant. Gerry is a fitness trainer but his knowledge of Hackney and connection to the local community helped Ronan to write Top Boy, and to find local talent to feature in the show, in an echo of The Wire. And Mark goes back 20 years to speak to someone who was there when The Wire began. Actor Clarke Peters was on the show for all five seasons, playing fan favourite Detective Lester Freamon and delivering some of the show’s greatest lines. Mark also talks to Professor Liam Kennedy, editor of The Wire: Race, Class, and Genre - a series of essays exploring the show's portrayals of race, drug war policing, deindustrialisation, and the inadequacies of America’s civic, educational, and political institutions. Also, Top Boy star Ashley Walters shares what he’s been watching. Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide through the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years.   Producer: Tom Whalley A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones explore Christianity on screen, from faith films to nunsploitation. Mark speaks to priest Father Peter Malone and controversial director Paul Verhoeven about two very different cinematic depictions of the crucifixion - Pasolini's Gospel According to Matthew and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. And Ellen takes a look at nuns in the movies, from The Bells of St Mary's to The Devils, with the help of film critics Sister Rose Pacatte and Pamela Hutchinson. Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide through the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode jump on board to explore the role of trains on our screens. This week sees the release of Compartment No 6 - a strange and touching romance set on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Trains have played a recurring role in film, right from the inception of the genre. Mark is joined by silent film specialist Bryony Dixon and composer Neil Brand to talk about the appeal of the railway for the pioneers of cinema. And Ellen talks to Compartment No 6 director Juho Kuosmanen and critic Anna Smith about the cinematic opportunities for connection, contemplation and romance while riding the rails. Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide through the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years. Producer: Freya Hellier A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore hoaxes, fakes and pranks on screen for April Fool's Day. Mark is joined by documentarian Morgan Neville and Anna Bogutskaya for a deep dive into Orson Welles’ 1973 docudrama about forgers and fakery, F for Fake. And Ellen looks back at small screen hoaxes, from the 1970s sci-fi mockumentary Alternative 3 to the terrifying BBC1 Halloween drama Ghostwatch via a sprinkling of Noel's House Party, with the help of writers David Ambrose and Mark Gatiss. Also, critic and filmmaker Mark Cousins shares his Viewing Notes.   Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide through the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years.   Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street is released in the UK on 31 January. This feature length documentary provides a rare window into the first years of the ground-breaking children’s TV show.   Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode embrace the nostalgia of the television that shaped their childhoods.   Mark explores the impact of Sesame Street with Street Gang’s director, Marilyn Agrelo. He also reflects on one of the UK’s most popular children’s TV programmes, Play School, with one of its beloved presenters, Baroness Floella Benjamin.   And Ellen tests her theory concerning a unique connection between the world’s most popular children’s Youtube channels and early cinema with film historian, Pamela Hutchinson.   Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide through the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years.   Producer: Hester Cant A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

The adrenaline-inducing film Boiling Point is out in cinemas and online. Shot in a single take on a single night at a London restaurant, the movie has inspired Ellen and Mark to take a closer look at one-shot films and those that appear to be. What does the one-shot do for a movie? Is it any more than showing off? Boiling Point stars Stephen Graham as an under-pressure chef whose life is unravelling over a busy night in the restaurant. Ellen talks to director Philip Barantini, himself a former chef, about his decision to film the feature as a “oner” and the pressures that caused.  On the front page of the script for 1917 Sam Mendes had written, "This is envisioned as a single shot,". Mark speaks to legendary cinematographer Roger Deakin about how he realised the director's vision for the First World War epic. And, fresh from her victory at the British Independent Film Awards, Boiling Point star Vinette Robinson shares what she’s been watching in Viewing Notes. Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide through the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years. Producer: Marilyn Rust A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Film noir Nightmare Alley is released next week. It's director Guillermo del Toro's remake of the 1947 film - a baroque tale of carnival hucksters, psychiatrists and betrayal. Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the connections sparked by Nightmare Alley and film noir. Mark speaks to Guillermo del Toro about his five favourite classic noir films, including Fallen Angel and Born to Kill. And Ellen looks at how neo-noir movies subverted and reframed the genre from the 1970s onwards, with the help of critics Imogen Sara Smith and Amon Warmann. Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide through the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore David Bowie's impact on cinema. Musician, actor, performer and all-round icon David Bowie would have turned 75 on Saturday 8th January. To mark the occasion, the British Film Institute have launched a month-long season celebrating his work in film and television, from The Man Who Fell To Earth to Labyrinth. Ellen talks to V&A curator Victoria Broackes and BFI programmer Rhidian Davis about Bowie's love of cinema and his performances on screen. And Mark speaks to Bowie collaborator and long-time friend Tilda Swinton about her memories of working with the star and his impact on her own career. Also, Bowie's The Man Who Fell to Earth co-star Candy Clark shares what she's been watching recently. Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide to the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore New Year’s Eve on film and TV, peering into the dark and the dawn either side of the stroke of midnight. Mark looks back at director Kathryn Bigelow’s controversial 1995 film Strange Days, a dark tech-thriller set on New Year’s Eve 1999, and coursing with millennial anxieties. He revisits an interview with Bigelow recorded on the film’s release, and speaks to Strange Days star Ralph Fiennes about how it resonates over 25 years on.  And on a lighter note, Ellen investigates New Year's Eve tropes on screen, from The Poseidon Adventure to When Harry Met Sally. She’s joined by comedian Rose Matafeo, creator of hit BBC series Starstruck, and director Reggie Yates, whose recent movie Pirates is also set on Millennium Eve. Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide through the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore festive screen favourites for Christmas Eve. It’s the 75th anniversary of a beloved film that has come to dominate our screens over the holiday period - director Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life.  Like James Stewart’s George Bailey, who is shown what the world would look like without him by guardian angel Clarence, Ellen learns what subsequent screen culture would look like without It’s A Wonderful Life. Cultural historian and fellow fan Christopher Frayling - who is the same age as the film - takes the role of a cinematic Clarence, guiding her through It's A Wonderful Life’s lasting impact on movies and TV. Meanwhile, Mark talks to Olivier award-winning playwright turned filmmaker debbie tucker green about her haunting alternative nativity story, 2014’s Second Coming starring Nadine Marshall and Idris Elba. And throughout the show, Ellen and Mark are joined by guests, including Gillian Anderson and Greg Proops, who share their all-time favourite Christmas movies and TV. Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide to the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Crowd pleasers Squid Game and Bridgerton could not be further apart in subject matter, but they are currently the two most streamed programmes in Netflix’s history. We get under the bonnet and behind the mask of these phenomena by examining their precedents on both the big and small screen, tracing how previous works have covered similar themes in so many different ways. Ellen looks at the death-match films from cinema history that form the DNA of Squid Game, with the help of The Purge creator James DeMonaco, critic Anna Bogutskaya and academic Dr Jinhee Choi. And Mark is joined by screenwriter Andrew Davies and historical consultant Hannah Greig to investigate Bridgerton’s self-consciously modern style influences in historical drama, from The Draughtsman's Contract to Sofia Coppola’s derided but influential 2006 picture Marie Antoinette. Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide through the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years. Producer: Freya Hellier A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

France’s entry for this year's Oscars is the extraordinary Titane. Beginning as a Cronenbergian body horror movie, Titane constantly plays with genre, while simultaneously dealing with themes of grief, gender identity, and queerness. The film also features scenes depicting mechanophilia - a sexual attraction to machines. Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones explore the multiple cinematic connections and influences that make up Titane’s DNA. Mark speaks to the film’s director Julia Ducournau, whose previous feature was 2016’s Raw - the story of a young vegetarian who develops a taste for human flesh. And Ellen investigates the phenomenon of mechanophilia on screen, with the help of film academic Christine Cornea. Psychotherapist Professor Brett Kahr tells her about the condition and why relationships with machines or objects may develop. And she also hears from director Zoe Wittock, whose recent film Jumbo explored mechanophilia in its depiction of a female protagonist falling in love with Jumbo, a fairground ride. Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide through the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years. Producer: Tom Whalley A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story is released on 10 December - the director’s long-delayed, big-budget remake of the influential screen classic, first released 60 years ago. Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the cinematic connections sparked by this ground breaking musical film. West Side Story transplants Romeo & Juliet’s star-crossed lovers and warring tribes from Renaissance Italy to mid-20th century Manhattan. Mark looks back at a couple of other movie takes on Shakespeare’s love story with the help of their directors - Abel Ferrara on lost genre gem China Girl and Baz Luhrmann on his iconic 90s Romeo +Juliet, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. And Ellen investigates the authenticity of the gritty street musical, from West Side Story to YouTube hit Shiro's Story, with the help of actors Rita Moreno and Joivan Wade, and film historian Martha Shearer. We also hear what Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and national treasure Miriam Margolyes have been watching, as they share their Viewing Notes. Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide through the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode guide us through the expanding universe of the moving image revealing fascinating links and hidden gems from cinema and TV to streaming and beyond.