Kermode & Mayo’s Take

Latest Episodes:

Hello to Jason Isaacs! In The Salt Path May 29, 2025

Show notes

Vanguardistas have more fun—so if you don’t already subscribe to the podcast, join the Vanguard today via Apple Podcasts or extratakes.com for non-fruit-related devices. In return you’ll get a whole extra Take 2 alongside Take 1 every week, with bonus reviews, more viewing recommendations from the Good Doctors and whole bonus episodes just for you. And if you’re already a Vanguardista, we salute you.

It’s time for another of those very special episodes where we all get to say “hello” to one of our very favourite friends of the show in the actual flesh (or whatever the audio equivalent of that is...). You guessed it, our guest this week is the one and only Jason Isaacs. He drops in for a chat with both Simon and Mark about ‘The Salt Path’—a seriously inspirational film that sees him walk the South West Coast Path in a journey of massive resilience and self-discovery alongside Gillian Anderson. They play the real-life couple Moth and Raynor Winn, who walked the path after losing their home and livelihood, and wrote the bestselling memoir on which the film is based. It’s a seriously meaty chat and Jason is on top form—you don’t want to miss it.

Mark reviews it too, plus two more big releases this week. We’ve got ‘Karate Kid: Legends’, the high-kicking and wholesome latest in the Kung Fu franchise, starring Jackie Chan—and ‘The Ritual’--an exorcism horror with a demon-ousting Priest played by... Al Pacino??? This one sounds like Kermode catnip, so listen in and say your prayers for a rant or a redemption. Simon is back this week too, so expect bumper banter from the Good Doctors.

Timecodes (for Vanguardistas listening ad-free):

Karate Kid: Legends: 08:06

Jason Isaacs Interview: 30:18

The Salt Path Review: 48:20

The Ritual Review: 58:35

You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo

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Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning with Chris McQuarrie May 22, 2025

Show notes

The wait is over for the actioniest and Tom Cruiseiest of all Tom Cruise action movies – ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’. And we’ve got action director (and producer and writer) extraordinaire Chris McQuarrie—who is behind this and the last four Missions—in the guest spot for you this week. Our super sub Ben Bailey Smith chats to him about the much-anticipated new movie, its jaw-dropping stunts, and his longstanding creative partnership with Tom Cruise. Simon is on his holibobs this week and we bet he’s gutted to be missing this one! Plus we find out what Mark makes of this epic conclusion to the 29-year Mission: Impossible series.

It’s a proper blockbuster week with reviews of two more big cinema releases too. Firstly, Disney’s live action ‘Lilo and Sitch’, which sees everyone’s favourite fuzzy blue genetic experiment accompanied by a cast of IRL actors including Hannah Waddingham as an alien and Maia Kealoha as Lilo. Secondly and more achingly-arty-quirkily, it’s Wes Anderson’s latest ‘The Phoenician Scheme’, starring Benicio del Toro, Scarlett Johansson, Mia Threapleton, Bill Murray, Tom Hanks—and indeed Uncle Tom Cobley and all. Plus all the usual top bantz from Mark and Ben, and from your stellar correspondence.

Timecodes (for Vanguardistas listening ad-free):

Lilo and Stitch: 07:32

Box Office Top Ten: 12:59

Chris McQuarrie Interview: 26:10

Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning Review: 40:29

The Phoenician Scheme: 55:24

You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo

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The Last of Us with Craig Mazin May 15, 2025

Show notes

Reviews this week of French feelgood hit ‘The Marching Band’ (En Fanfare)--where a conductor in need of a bone-marrow transplant discovers a long-lost brother and undertakes an unexpected musical journey. Think Brassed Off, but more French. Also we have the edge-of-your-car-seat thriller ‘Hallow Road’ starring Rosamund Pike, and the usual run down of the Box Office Top 10 and all your erudite/hilarious/chin-strokey correspondence on those.

The Good Doctors will also be talking ‘The Last Of Us’ series 2—and that’s because our very special guest this week is its showrunner Craig Mazin. In a bumper conversation that extends into Take 2 for Vanguardistas, he and Simon talk about the groundbreaking video-game adaptation series and his journey to creating it. Covering everything from storytelling secrets to the show’s brilliant needle drops, via revenge, grief and creativity, this one really goes places—don't miss it.

Timecodes (for Vanguardistas listening ad-free):

En Fanfare (The Marching Band) Review: 08:15

Craig Mazin Interview: 26:03

The Last of Us S2 Review: 45:28

Hallow Road Review: 58:36

You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo

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Is Nic Cage still riding the comeback wave in THE SURFER? May 08, 2025

Show notes

It’s a bumper review week in Take 1, and first up is the new underwater doc from everyone’s favourite near-centenarian national treasure, ‘Ocean with David Attenborough’. Mark reviews this big-screen voyage for the naturalist, and sticking with the seaside theme we’ve also got a review of Nic Cage’s bonkers beach-set latest, ‘The Surfer’. In it, Cage plays a man who revisits the beach of his childhood to surf with his son, but finds himself locked in a conflict with the locals that escalates to surreal heights.

Plus, ‘The Wedding Banquet’—Andrew Ahn’s remake of Ang Lee’s 1993 romcom, in which two queer couples get mixed up in an unlikely marriage in pursuit of Green Cards and fertility treatment. And finally, ‘The Uninvited’—a Hollywood industry satire featuring two screen stars of the moment, Walton Goggins and Pedro Pascal—alongside Rufus Sewell, Lois Smith, Elizabeth Reaser and more. And in place of a guest this week the Good Doctors will be answering even more of your top correspondence than usual, so don’t miss it.

Timecodes (for Vanguardistas listening ad-free):

Ocean with David Attenborough review: 08:23

The Uninvited review: 37:58

Laughter Lift: 43:38

The Surfer review: 49:13

The Wedding Banquet review: 59:26

You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo

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Another Paul Feig film? Do me a Favor May 01, 2025

Show notes

The 50th anniversary re-release of ‘Slade in Flame’ is making Mark very happy this week, and he’ll be reviewing this “Citizen Kane of rock movies” at the top of the show to celebrate. Starring the real-life Black Country glam rockers as the fictional band Flame, it follows their rapid rise and fall via record company clashes that reveal the darker side of the music industry. Plus, new (and new-ish) releases ‘Thunderbolts*’, the Marvel anti-hero ensemble starring Florence Pugh, and ‘Sinners’—Ryan Coogler’s 1930s southern gothic tale of two twin brothers coming face to face with evil when they return to their Mississippi hometown in search of a new start. It came out while we were on our holibobs, so we’re catching up this week with a full review and some top takes from those of you who have seen it already.

‘Another Simple Favor’ is out this week too—and we’ve got director Paul Feig, also known for ‘Bridesmaids’, ‘Spy’ and, yes, the all-female Ghostbusters remake—on the show to talk Simon through it. A follow-up to the 2018 hit ‘A Simple Favor’, it sees Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick reprise their roles in a genre-mashing comedy-mystery-crime-thriller, this time on the isle of Capri. Feig talks power dressing, breaking his no-sequels rule, and how that Blue Origin all-female space flight could definitely be straight out of one of his movies. Mark reviews it too—and we also hear plenty from you wonderful wittertainees, including your takes on Mark’s ‘Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith’ review. Enjoy!

Timecodes (for Vanguardistas listening ad-free):

Slade in Flame review: 11:34

Sinners review: 27:49

Paul Feig Interview: 36:44

Another Simple Favor review: 50:05

Laughter Lift: 57:20

You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo

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David Oyelowo on Government Cheese + Mark’s verdict on The Studio Apr 24, 2025

Show notes

It’s time for the Take team to take stock of our first quarter, so this week we’re looking back over the first three or so months and putting our affairs in order: deciding whether to tighten our belts or loosen the purse strings, cut some salaries or dish out a few tasty bonuses. We’re bringing you a Quintessential First Quarter Recap of all the best bits from the year so far—including interviews with Ashley Walters & Erin Doherty, Jesse Eisenberg & Kieran Culkin and Brady Corbet—and a chance to hear moments from Mark’s best reviews like the previously Vanguardista-only ‘Santosh’.

And there’s still plenty of brand new stuff for you in today’s take too. Our guest is David Oyelowo, who you’ll hear in conversation with Simon about his new Apple TV+ series ‘Government Cheese’. In this surreal 60s-set California comedy-drama, David plays Hampton Chambers, a father and former burglar trying to go straight after his release from prison and make his fortune in a crazy world.

By popular demand, Mark and Simon will also be reviewing The Studio—the Hollywood film industry satire starring Seth Rogen as a spineless executive trying to make serious cinema and serious money... and possibly failing to do either. Plus we’ll be ‘treating’ you to the Laughter Lift as usual (you thought you’d managed to avoid that this week didn’t

you? Oh no, the hilarity never stops.)

Timecodes (for Vanguardistas listening ad-free):

Quarter 1 highlights: 05:46

David Oyelowo Interview: 31:07

The Studio Review: 49:10

Laughter Lift: 01:04:33

You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo

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Warfare with Alex Garland & Ray Mendoza Apr 17, 2025

Show notes

‘Warfare’ co-directors Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza join us this week to talk about the astonishing new film that aims to put modern conflict onscreen in the most authentic way possible. With an ensemble cast of soldiers featuring Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, and Joseph Quinn, the film’s events are based on the real wartime experiences of Mendoza (who is played by D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai). He’s a former Navy SEAL and Iraq veteran who has used his expertise to advise filmmakers presenting war onscreen, including Garland on ‘Civil War’. Now he’s collaborating with Garland again to tell his own story and that of his colleagues in this truly powerful film.

Plus we’ve got reviews of ‘The Penguin Lessons’—the true story of an English teacher in turbulent 1970s South America who unexpectedly befriends the waddling creature of the film’s title, after rescuing it from an oil slick—and ‘Blue Road’, the literary doc on the colourful life of Irish writer Edna O’Brien. Don’t miss an Easter treat in the Laughter Lift this week too...

Timecodes (for Vanguardistas listening ad-free):

The Penguin Lessons: 08:54

Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza Interview: 29:44

Warfare Review: 43:30

Laughter Lift Easter Special: 57:48

Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story: 1:00:39

You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo

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A Sony Music Entertainment production.

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Now and Ben: Charlie Brooker & Emma Corrin on Black Mirror Apr 16, 2025

Show notes

If you’ve managed to watch any of the excellent seventh series of Black Mirror yet, you might have spotted our super sub Ben Bailey Smith popping up there... and just for you he’s collared his fellow dystopians Charlie Brooker and Emma Corrin for a chat about the mind-bending anthology’s latest iteration.

Brooker is the writer and creator of the show, which has been sending sci-fi shivers down our spines since it first hit British TV screens in 2011, before going global with Netflix in 2016. So for over a decade, “it’s all a bit Black Mirror” has been the phrase on everyone’s lips whenever real-world technology makes another ever-so-slightly terrifying leap forward.

Emma Corrin stars in episode three of the new series, ‘Hotel Reverie’, in which a cutting-edge filmmaking technology called ReDream allows modern day actors to star in high-tech remakes of classic films. Actor Brandy (Issa Rae) steps into the world of a 1940s movie—where she meets Corrin’s golden age star Dorothy.

Charlie and Emma chat to Ben about Hotel Reverie and the rest of the brand new series. They talk golden age Hollywood, the shipping forecast, and erm... bowling? It goes places. Listen now for the whole story!

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Laurence Fishburne & James Hawes on The Amateur Apr 10, 2025

Show notes

We have a real treat for you in the guest slot this week—director of ‘The Amateur’ James Hawes, and one of its stars Laurence Fishburne—AKA actual Morpheus from The Matrix. We are not worthy. Laurence plays Colonel Henderson, the grizzled CIA man tasked with training Rami Malek’s geeky decoder Charlie for the fieldwork he insists on undertaking in order to track down his wife’s terrorist killers. Simon chats to the actor and director about this smart action thriller, and its influences from Hawes’ Brit spy series ‘Slow Horses’ to Jason Bourne. We’ll hear stories from the set plus the pair’s thoughts on the theatre, The Matrix and Adolescence. Don’t miss this one.

Mark reviews ‘The Amateur’, as well as ‘Drop’--a psycho-thriller wherein a widowed mother’s (Meghann Fahy) first date interrupted by sinister messages threatening to kill her son—unless she kills her dinner companion. Plus, we’ll get the Good Doctors’ verdict on ‘One to One: John & Yoko’, the latest from documentary maestro Kevin Macdonald charting the revolutionary couple’s post-Beatles days in New York. We’ll also be catching up with the movie-going phenomenon that is ‘A Minecraft Movie’, and deciding whether we’re going to let its legions of fans get away with all those code violations...

Another week of Top Takes from Simon & Mark and top correspondence from you. Keep it coming!

Timecodes (for Vanguardistas listening ad-free):

Drop Review: 08:15

A Minecraft Movie Review: 19:53

Laurence Fishburne & James Hawes Interview: 29:48

The Amateur Review: 44:55

Laughter Lift: 52:43

One to One: John & Yoko Review: 55:24

You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo

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A Sony Music Entertainment production.

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To advertise on this show contact: podcastadsales@sonymusic.com

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Death of a Unicorn + Toby Jones Apr 03, 2025

Show notes

Well hurrah hooray because this week it’s a Toby Jones show (not a Noby Jones show) and he joins Simon to chat about ‘Mr. Burton’. In this true story Toby plays the title character, schoolteacher Philip Burton, who spots the talent of young pupil Richie Jenkins in the Welsh mining town of his birth. Burton nurtures Jenkins’ acting flair as he becomes Richard Burton—taking his guardian’s name as the stage name by which he became internationally famous. The erudite everyman as always, Toby chats to Simon about accents, pyjamas, and the future of TV drama.

Mark reviews ‘Mr. Burton’ too, as well as ‘Restless’, a psychological thriller about nightmare-inducing noisy neighbours—or at least they would be nightmare-inducing if Nicky (Lyndsey Marshal) could get any sleep. Plus, A24’s ‘Death of a Unicorn’—the starry satire where Paul Rudd & Jenna Ortega’s father and daughter accidentally run over a unicorn on the way to visit the billionaire Leopold family (Richard E Grant, Téa Leoni and Will Poulter). Mark’s verdict on all these, plus your correspondence on everything from search engines to The Stath—and memories of the late Val Kilmer.

Timecodes (for Vanguardistas listening ad-free):

Restless Review: 09:35

Toby Jones interview: 31:28

Mr Burton review: 46:11

Laughter Lift: 56:14

Death of a Unicorn review: 01:03:11

You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo

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A Sony Music Entertainment production.

Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts

To advertise on this show contact: podcastadsales@sonymusic.com

And to find out more about Sony’s new show Origins with Cush Jumbo, click here