Podcast
Screenshot
Hosted by BBC Radio 4 · EN
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.
27episodes
Episodes
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Spoofs
3w ago00:42:19Tap to summarizeThe anarchic comedian, writer and filmmaker Mel Brooks turns 100 years old this June. Across a career spanning more than seven decades, Brooks has turned cinematic satire into an art form, through razor-sharp spoofs like Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein and Spaceballs. But while these films are now acclaimed as all-time comedy classics, the broader genre of the spoof has often struggled for respectability. Not least Scary Movie - one of the most commercially successful film franchises of recent years, despite widespread critical panning. With Scary Movie 6 on the horizon, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode ask - what makes for a truly great movie spoof?Critic and Screenshot regular Anne Billson talks Ellen through a selection of spoofs, from classic Hollywood-era films from the Marx Brothers and Bob Hope, to the parody boom of the 2000s, including films like Date Movie and Epic Movie. Mark talks to David Zucker - one third of the filmmaking trio Zucker Abrahams Zucker -about the landmark disaster spoof Airplane!, and why he believes the recent attempt to revive the team’s hit The Naked Gun series missed the mark. And Ellen speaks to Keenen Ivory Wayans, the creative force behind the Wayans entertainment dynasty, and the director of a string of spoofs, including I’m Gonna Git You Sucka and Scary Movie - about why he feels his films have been misunderstood. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
Transcribe →Amélie
4w ago00:42:30Tap to summarizeScreenshot marks the 25th anniversary of the whimsical romantic comedy about a shy Parisian waitress trying very hard to improve the lives of those around her. Why does Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s film continue to enchant audiences a quarter of a century on? And how did Amélie embody the ‘Manic Pixie Dream Girl’?Mark speaks to the director himself, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, to explore the films legacy and revisit how it was received at the time.Ellen talks to comedian Susan Wokoma and film critic Hannah Strong on how the film embodied the twee era and indie film-making and whether Amélie was ever a manic pixie dream girl.Producer: Mae-Li Evans A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
Transcribe →Teachers
May 100:42:19Tap to summarizeEllen E Jones and Mark Kermode head back to class to learn how teachers have been depicted on screen, from Goodbye, Mr Chips to Adolescence. What can film and television teach us, if anything, about what it takes to be a good teacher? Mark speaks to east London-based teacher and film critic Charlotte Harrison about the enduring appeal of inspirational mentor figures in cinema, from Sidney Poitier in To Sir, with Love to Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society, and how far these stories reflect - or distort - the realities of life in the classroom. She also highlights the films and TV series that come closest to capturing the day-to-day experience of teaching.Ellen talks to Guz Khan, star of Man Like Mobeen, who first honed his crowd-control skills in a Coventry classroom before turning to stand-up comedy and acting, about how screen depictions compare with his own experience as a teacher.She also speaks to British television legend Sir Philip Redmond about Grange Hill, the groundbreaking, long-running school drama he created in 1978, whose characters - from Mr Bronson to Mrs McClusky - became as familiar to generations of British pupils as their real-life teachers.Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4.
Transcribe →Nudity
Apr 2400:42:18Tap to summarizeScreenshot lays bare the long, often controversial history of nakedness in film and TV, from shocking and titillating moments, to those that reveal deeper truths about our bodies, vulnerabilities and desires. Mark speaks to film critic Pamela Hutchinson about the history of nudity throughout film history. They discuss some of cinema's most notable and shocking films as well as how changing attitudes are effecting what we see on screen.Ellen then speaks to writer and film director Bridgett M. Davis, about her 1996 film, Naked Acts. A film ahead of its time, it explores the nuances of nudity on screen for women, and Black women in particular. Mark then talks to director Tim Mielants about his existential comedy, Patrick, which takes place in a nudist camp.Producer: Queenie Qureshi-Wales A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
Transcribe →Boxing
Apr 1700:42:25Tap to summarizeEllen and Mark step into the ring to explore cinema's most heavyweight genre, fifty years on from Sylvester Stallone's smash-hit film Rocky. What is it about the boxing movie that makes it not just a sports movie, but a genre of its very own? Critic Christina Newland gives Mark a punchy rundown of how boxing movies throughout history - from Body And Soul to Raging Bull - have tackled themes of race, class and identity.Ellen speaks to former world cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew, who moved from the ring to the big screen in 2016, acting in the Creed films. And Ellen also talks to actor Amir-El Masry, who played the Yemeni-heritage, Yorkshire-born maverick boxing champion Prince Naseem Hamid in the electrifying 2026 biopic Giant. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
Transcribe →Telephones
Apr 1000:42:13Tap to summarizeAlexander Graham Bell made the first ever telephone call 150 years ago this spring. That single moment of connection would transform communication - and provide storytellers with a rich device for drama, comedy, intimacy and tension. Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode trace the history of the phone on screen, and examine how the movies have handled the thorny problem of the smartphone. Mark speaks to author and critic Kim Newman about some of the most iconic telephone calls in cinema, from Dr Strangelove to Scream.Meanwhile, Ellen delves into how film and TV are responding to the smartphone age, with the help of critic Kayleigh Donaldson. And she speaks to American filmmaker Janicza Bravo, whose 2015 film Zola made inventive use of the cellphone. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
Transcribe →Fishing
Apr 300:42:42Tap to summarizeEllen E Jones and Mark Kermode swap film reels for fishing reels, to ponder why fishing onscreen has got us hooked. The net is cast wide to consider everything from industrial scale fleets showcased in films like The Perfect Storm and long running series, Deadliest Catch, to more leisurely endeavours like The River Runs Through It, and the BBC’s Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing. With guests, Mark Jenkin, John Lurie and Gagga Jónsdóttir.Mark speaks to Cornish film director Mark Jenkin about why fishing has continued to have such a strong presence in his films, and how the industry has often been romanticised onscreen. Jenkins 2019 feature debut Bait dramatised clashes between tourists and locals in a once flourishing fishing village, and in his newest film, Rose of Nevada, a fishing vessel lost for 30 years mysteriously reappears in a derelict harbour. The actor, painter and frequent Jim Jarmusch collaborator, John Lurie, shares with Ellen how his 90s cult TV show, Fishing With John, hauled away the conventions of late night cable fishing shows, and what it was like onboard with the actors, Dennis Hopper and Willem Defoe. Ellen also talks to the Icelandic writer-director, Gagga Jónsdóttir, about her documentary, Strengur, and some of her unexpected cinematic sources of inspiration. The film follows the journey of four teenage girls challenging traditional gender roles on the River Laxá, as seventh generation angling guides. Producer: Mae-Li Evans A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
Transcribe →Yorkshire
Feb 600:42:40Tap to summarizeAs a new adaptation of Emily Bronte's Yorkshire-set novel Wuthering Heights hits cinemas, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode look at how the area known as God's Own Country has been depicted in film and television.Mark speaks to Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker about his love for the 1969 Ken Loach film Kes, and about why the city of Sheffield was the perfect setting for the post-apocalyptic TV drama Threads. And Mark also speaks to Clio Barnard - the writer-director behind such acclaimed films as The Arbor, The Selfish Giant and Ali & Ava - about why she is repeatedly drawn to Yorkshire in her film-making. Meanwhile, Ellen talks to Sally Wainwright, the prolific TV writer who has made her name with a series of insightful, essential television dramas set in Yorkshire, from At Home with the Braithwaites to Riot Women. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
Transcribe →New Iranian Cinema
Jan 3000:42:21Tap to summarizeFor more than six decades, in the face of censorship and even imprisonment, Iranian filmmakers have produced some of the world’s best-loved cinema. And now, with the legendary Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s latest film It Was Just An Accident up for Oscar and BAFTA Awards, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode review this extraordinarily rich and unique cinema history.Mark speaks to the British-Iranian director Babak Anvari about his supernatural-thriller film Under the Shadow, inspired by his experiences growing up during the Iran-Iraq War, and how and why Iranian cinema has had such a huge impact on film culture. Ellen talks to Sepideh Farsi, who was forced to leave Iran for Paris as a teenager, about her 2009 documentary, Tehran Without Permission, which she made entirely independently on a Nokia cameraphone. And Ellen also meets Hassan Nazer, an Aberdeen-based Iranian director who came to the UK as a refugee and whose 2022 film Winners is a love-letter to his country’s film-making tradition. Producer: Artemis Irvine A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
Transcribe →The Older Woman
Jan 2300:42:27Tap to summarizeFrom Norma Desmond to Mrs Robinson, the older woman has long been a provocative icon of cinema. And older woman-younger man relationships are still raising eyebrows and garnering headlines, thanks to recent films like Babygirl, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy and Marty Supreme. Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode look at what happens when the woman is older in an age gap relationship, and ask - why is the older woman still such a provocative proposition? Ellen speaks to critic and cosmopolitan older woman Anne Billson about the evolution of the older woman through film history, from Sunset Boulevard to Something's Gotta Give. Mark talks to actor Anne Reid about her controversial first lead film role, in 2003's The Mother - about a sexagenarian grandmother who starts a relationship with her daughter's boyfriend, played by Daniel Craig.And Mark also talks to Matt Greenhalgh, the screenwriter behind Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool, which told the story of Hollywood star Gloria Grahame's real late-in-life romance with the 28-year-old Liverpudlian actor Peter Turner. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
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