The Curzon Film Podcast

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Latest Episodes:

BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL PREVIEW | feat. Kate Taylor & Michael Blyth Sep 25, 2019

Show notes

As the BFI London Film Festival takes over many of our screens for the next two weeks, we decide to find out why, by asking two of the festival's programmers (Kate Taylor and Michael Blyth) about putting the festival together; along with what films to watch out for during the festival and beyond.

As well as talking to Kate and Michael, we also quickly reveal our most anticipated releases of the next few weeks, which will be arriving in cinemas soon after.

Discussing the films this week are Kelly Powell and Sam Howlett.

Follow the team on Social Media:

@jakehcunningham - Jake

@ks_powell - Kelly

Produced by Jake Cunningham

Edited by Jake Cunningham

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

THE FAREWELL + FOR SAMA | feat. Lulu Wang Sep 19, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, we talk about the film that has smashed even Avengers Endgame's box office record, Lulu Wang's The Farewell. Plus, we talk to the director all about her film.

First up though, is For Sama. When the Arab Spring came to Syria in 2012, Waad al-Kateab picked up her camera and began filming the revolution. For five years, under Assad’s brutal assault, she kept filming. For Sama captures that journey, as she marries her partner Hamza al-Kateab, and gives birth to her daughter Sama. The film becomes a justification to their daughter of why they remained in a war zone, capturing not just the daily assaults Hamza faces as a frontline doctor, but also the joys, passions and quiet moments of their friends and family.

In The Farewell, Billi (Awkwafina) is called back from New York to her native China because her beloved grandmother is facing her last days. Yet, in accordance with tradition, this news is kept from the matriarch herself. Keeping up the pretence of a family wedding while reconnecting and grieving, we follow Billi on a funny, deeply moving exploration of the meaning of home and family.

Discussing the films this week are Jake Cunningham, Kelly Powell, Steven Ryder and Sam Howlett.

Follow the team on Social Media:

@jakehcunningham - Jake

@ks_powell - Kelly

@irma_pep - Steven

@samhowlett_1- Sam

Produced by Jake Cunningham

Edited by Mark Towers

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

AD ASTRA + DOWNTON ABBEY | feat. James Gray Sep 12, 2019

Show notes

In this episode we get in to the Gray matters of space travel with James Gray, director of galactic sized interstellar therapy session Ad Astra. Plus, we roll out for a royal visit to Downton Abbey.

In Ad Astra, astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) travels to the outer edges of the solar system to find his missing father and unravel a mystery that threatens the survival of our planet. His journey will uncover secrets that challenge the nature of human existence and our place in the cosmos.

It's 1927, the jazz age is in full swing, and Downton Abbey is anticipating a visit from none other than the King and Queen. Inhabitants, relatives and servants swing into action but can the silver be polished in time? This is a lavish and cinematic version of Julian Fellowes’s country house drama but can it bring a satisfying conclusion to the much loved saga?

Discussing the film this week are Sam Howlett, Jake Cunningham and Steph Watts

Follow the team on Social Media:

@jakehcunningham - Jake

@_stephwatts - Steph

@samhowlett_1- Sam

@MarkDTowers - Mark

Produced by Jake Cunningham

Edited by Mark Towers

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

IT CHAPTER TWO + BAIT | feat. Andy Muschietti Sep 06, 2019

Show notes

This week we go from small-town Cornwall to small-town Maine, looking at the highly acclaimed British film Bait and the sequel to the biggest horror film of all time It Chapter Two, as well as speaking to the films' director Andy Muschietti.

Bait looks at the effects of gentrification in a small fishing town in Cornwall. Shot in dramatic black-and-white on a 16mm camera, this is an impressive debut from director Mark Jenkin. It Chapter Two takes place 27 years after the events of the first film. The Losers Club are now all grown up, but the resurgence of Pennywise AKA It brings them back to Derry to face the monster from their childhood.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

THE SOUVENIR | feat. Joanna Hogg and Ilona Cheshire Aug 26, 2019

Show notes

In this episode we snag a couple of souvenir guests in the form of director Joanna Hogg and music supervisor Ilona Cheshire, who give us their unique insights in to one of the most acclaimed films of 2019

The Souvenir is about Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne), a young film student struggling to find a firm direction in life when she meets the unwavering and decisive Tom Burke’s Anthony. The two take to one another and an intense romance blossoms, however, as the relationship develops it becomes clear that Anthony is not being honest about all aspects of himself...

Discussing the films this week are Jake Cunningham, Sam Howlett and Caitlin Quinlan.

Follow the team on Twitter:

@ks_powell - Kelly

@jakehcunningham - Jake

@csaquinlan - Caitlin

Produced by Jake Cunningham

Edited by Mark Towers

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

PAIN AND GLORY + HAIL SATAN? Aug 22, 2019

Show notes

In this episode we discuss the devilish double bill that is Penny Lane's satanic temple documentary Hail Satan? and Pedro Almodóvar's sumptuous, melancholic reverie Pain and Glory

Penny Lane’s film Hail Satan? May not be as demonic as the title suggests. It’s a documentary about the satanists steadfastly working to preserve the separation of church and state. In three years their members rose from just three, to over 100,000, including by the end, the film’s director.

Director Salvador Mallo (played by Antonio Banderas) is called to revisit one of his early career triumphs. But the new restoration of his film also restores his connection with estranged friends, and shakes loose old memories. The film moves back and forth between recollections of his mother (played by Penélope Cruz), his early sexual awakening and his current, heroin lined state of listlessness

Discussing the film this week are Sam Howlett, Jake Cunningham and Steph Watts

Follow the team on Social Media:

@jakehcunningham - Jake

@_stephwatts - Steph

@samhowlett_1- Sam

Produced by Jake Cunningham

Edited by Mark Towers

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN... HOLLYWOOD + TRANSIT | feat. Quentin Tarantino Aug 14, 2019

Show notes

Quentin Tarantino’s joins us on the podcast this week, day tripping back to 1969 with his new film Once Upon a Time In… Hollywood. Plus, we review Christian Petzold's new film Transit.

Quentin Tarantino's ninth feature is a kaleidoscopic tale of Hollywood backlots, rising starlets and fading stars, hippies and squares, the great and good of tinsel town, the most definitely bad of the golden state, and the ugliness of them rubbing against one another. Our guides through this culture clash are Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his affable stunt double, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), who stumble upon something far more sinister than a new kind of Hollywood star.

When fleeing Paris after the German invasion, Georg (Franz Rogowski) escapes to Marseille, assuming the identity of a dead author whose papers he possesses. With nowhere to turn, he is confined to the corridors of a small hotel, the consulates, cafés and bars that line the harbour. Everything changes when Georg falls in love with the mysterious Marie (Paula Beer) who is desperate to find her missing husband.

Discussing the films this week are Jake Cunningham, Kelly Powell, Hannah Woodhead and Sam Howlett.

Follow the team on Social Media:

@jakehcunningham - Jake

@ks_powell - Kelly

@goodjobliz - Hannah

@samhowlett_1- Sam

Produced by Jake Cunningham

Edited by Mark Towers

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BLINDED BY THE LIGHT + OPUS ZERO | feat. Gurinder Chadha Aug 08, 2019

Show notes

This week the cinema is jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive. We're talking to Gurinder Chadha (director of Bend it Like Beckham) about her Springsteen infused brit-musical Blinded By The Light, plus we ask whether new Willem Dafoe film Opus Zero is an Opus Hero, or whether it lives up to its name...

It's 1987, and it's not easy being British Pakistani in a commuter town living through the tatters of Thatcher's Britain. But salvation arrives in the unlikely shape of Bruce Springsteen, whose tales of ragged working class glory ignite a new confidence in Javed. Taking Sarfraz Manzoor’s memoir and digging deep into the cross-cultural connections between Bury Park, Luton and Asbury Park, New Jersey, Blinded By The Light is a feel good British story powered by the bulletproof music of The Boss.

Paul, a composer, arrives in a remote Mexican village where his father has passed away. As his attention shifts to the fate of a missing woman, Paul must come to terms with the memory of his father and the uncertainty of his future.

Discussing the films this week are Jake Cunningham, Ella Kemp and Sam Howlett.

Follow the team on Social Media:

@jakehcunningham - Jake

@ks_powell - Kelly

@efe_kemp - Ella

@samhowlett_1- Sam

Produced by Jake Cunningham

Edited by Mark Towers

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HOBBS AND SHAW + PHOTOGRAPH | feat. Ritesh Batra Aug 01, 2019

Show notes

In this episode we delve in to the intimate pairing setting hearts racing across the globe: Hobbs and Shaw, plus we talk to Ritesh Batra - director of The Lunchbox - about his new film Photograph.

The latest from writer-director Ritesh Batra (The Lunchbox), Photograph is a charming tale of unlikely romance set against the vibrant backdrop of contemporary Mumbai. Rafi (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is a struggling street photographer who takes tourist portraits at the Gateway of India. When he meets Miloni (Sanya Malhotra), a shy stranger from an affluent family, he convinces her to pose as his fiancée after his overbearing grandmother decides to pay him a visit.

Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham take an offramp from the juggernaut Fast & Furious convoy for this stand alone tale featuring two of the series favourite characters. Rogue outsider Shaw (Statham) and US agent Hobbs (Johnson) are forced put their deep loathing for each other aside to fight back against Idris Elba’s Brixton, a genetically enhanced super villain.

Discussing the films this week are podcast regulars Sam Howlett, Ed Frost, Kelly Powell and Jake Cunningham

Follow the team on Twitter:

@SamHowlett_1 - Sam Howlett

@jakehcunningham - Jake Cunningham

@ks_powell - Kelly Powell

Produced by Jake Cunningham

Edited by Mark Towers

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

THE BEST FILMS OF THE YEAR | So Far... Jul 26, 2019

Show notes

In the middle of the biggest heat wave the UK has seen in a long time, we discuss what we think are the hottest films of 2019. From the roundly praised Burning to the love it or hate it Under the Silver Lake, via a hulk-smashing superhero team-up and the mystical birds of Colombia, here are the best films of 2019 so far...

Discussing the films this week are podcast regulars Sam Howlett, Kelly Powell and Jake Cunningham, with special guest appearances from Curzon staff members Ed Frost, Fern Beattie, Caitlin Smith and Ulysse Kelbert.

Follow the team on Twitter:

@SamHowlett_1 - Sam Howlett

@jakehcunningham - Jake Cunningham

@ks_powell - Kelly Powell

Produced by Jake Cunningham

Edited by Mark Towers

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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