Show Notes
It's a packed line-up of directors this week on The Interviews, folks. Directorpalooza? First up, we bring you an extended excerpt from our spoiler special interview with The Mandalorian And Grogu, Jon Favreau, who tells Chris Hewitt about his intentions behind the first big-screen Star Wars film in seven years. Then Chris leaps onto Zoom to have a lovely natter with the great Joe Dante about his beloved (eventually) 1987 sci-fi comedy, InnerSpace, which is out now on 4K UHD, and English director Mike Figgis about his hard-hitting, Oscar-winning drama, Leaving Las Vegas, which has also received the 4K UHD treatment. The Figgis chat is an extended excerpt from an hour-long deep dive into the movie which, like the Favreau interview and Team Empire diving deep into The Mandalorian And Grogu, can be found over on our spoiler special feed. empirespoilerspecials.com, if you haven't already taken the plunge. Enjoy!
More from The Empire Film Podcast
Travis Knight's Wildwood is the latest film from Laika, the Portland-based stop-motion animation studio behind the likes of Coraline, The Boxtrolls, and Kubo And The Two Strings. And, with Wildwood about to hit cinemas, the Empire Podcast has teamed up with Wildwood to bring you this special podcast in which Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, and James Dyer discuss the evolution of Laika through the years, going film-by-film through their back catalogue, and track the journey along the road to their most ambitious film yet. You'll Laika it. You'll Laika it a lot. Enjoy!
This week's Empire Podcast sees Tom Hiddleston return once again as our star guest (for what we are guessing is a record — let us know if that's the case, we don't keep records!) to tell Chris Hewitt all about his new movie, Tenzing, and he brings his co-star with him, the Tibetan actor Genden Phuntsok, who plays Tenzing Norgay, the Sherpa who was there every step of the way with Edmund Hillary as they became the first people to climb Mount Everest in 1953. Either side of that, Chris is joined in the podbooth by James Dyer and Amon Warmann for a fun episode in which they celebrate the Prince Charles Cinema, discuss the worst movie posters, run their eyes over a bunch of new trailers, including Narnia: The Magician's Nephew and The Exorcist: Martyrs, review Tenzing, Whalefall, Forgotten Island, and Street Fighter, and engage in an impromptu quiz eventually called Name That Stath!, which features a guest cameo or two. Enjoy!
This week's episode of The Interviews sees two dynamic duos drop in for lovely cinema-connected chats. First, Chris Hewitt comes face-to-face with Austin Abrams and Josh Brolin, the actors who play out a fractious father-son relationship in Brian Duffield's Whalefall, in which Abrams gets trapped inside the stomach of a sperm whale, and they talk about what scares them as actors, filming inside a giant stomach, and more. Then, Alex Godfrey has a lovely chat, some of it concerning pick & mix, with Kitao Sakurai and Andrew Koji, the director and star respectively of Street Fighter, the film which adapts the classic fighting video game. Hadoukens at the ready!
"Suddenly Empire is standing beside you/talking about Frank Oz for hours on end/Suddenly Empire is here to provide you/Sweet understanding..." of Oz' classic 1986 movie musical Little Shop Of Horrors, which has been given the 40th Anniversary Collectors' Edition treatment (in stores and available online from Monday October 19, fact fans). In this special podcast, in association with Warner Home Video, Chris Hewitt is joined by James Dyer and Little Shop superfan, Helen O'Hara, to talk about the film's long road to cult classic status, its famous original ending, which can now be seen on the Director's Cut edition of the movie, the terrific performances from the likes of Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene and Steve Martin, the Alan Menken/Howard Ashman songs (earworms galore!) and, of course, that mean green mother from outer space, Audrey II. Enjoy.
VisionQuest, the latest MCU show to hit Disney+, launches tomorrow with a two-episode salvo which reintroduces us to Paul Bettany's Vision, or the latest version thereof. Last seen inhabiting a new (old) body in WandaVision, VisionQuest is partially concerned with Vision's attempts to emotionally connect with the memories of the android Avenger who once occupied that same body. Oh, and he also has to contend with a mysterious young man who may be his son, somehow, and also the return of James Spader's deliciously dapper and deadly Ultron, who's skulking around somewhere in Vision's mind palace. And for this preview interview special, Chris Hewitt sat down with both Bettany and Spader to talk about their MCU journeys, hats, an unexpected swear word, and the pronunciation of 'Edinburgh'. Enjoy.