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.
32episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Frankenstein
Oct 3100:42:29Tap to summarizeEllen and Mark explore the enduring appeal of Frankenstein.Mark speaks to director Guillermo Del Toro on his new adaptation of the classic novel and why the Frankenstein story has had such an influence on his career. Ellen then talks to critic Anne Billson about the history of Frankenstein throughout cinema history as well as speaking to director Bomani J. Story on his interpretation in his film, The Angry Black Girl and her Monster.Producer: Queenie Qureshi-Wales A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
Transcribe →The Naked Civil Servant
Oct 2400:42:41Tap to summarizeMark and Ellen celebrate 50 years of the ground breaking TV drama, The Naked Civil Servant. Mark speaks to Rob Halford of Judas Priest about how The Naked Civil Servant changed his life. Mark then talks to filmmaker and drag queen Amrou Al-Kadhi about how forward thinking the show was and its influence on their own work. Ellen talks to historian Stephen Bourne about the impact of The Naked Civil Servant on British television.Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
Transcribe →Studio Ghibli
Apr 25, 202500:42:40Tap to summarizeEllen E Jones and Mark Kermode waltz into the magical world of Studio Ghibli, as the animation giant celebrates its 40th birthday.Ellen speaks to the film, TV and video game critic, Kambole Campbell about Studio Ghibli's origin story and key aspects of visual style. Also, the animator and co-founder of Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon, Nora Twomey discusses the emotional impact of films like My Neighbour Totoro, and Grave of the Fireflies. Mark meets actor, Emily Mortimer who discusses the process of re-dubbing for the film, Howl's Moving Castle. And the animator and director, Michaël Dudok de Wit discusses the collaborative relationship forged with Studio Ghibli, while working on his feature length production, The Red Turtle.Producer: Mae-Li Evans A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
Transcribe →Hotels
Apr 18, 202500:42:41Tap to summarizeWith the latest series of the much-discussed drama The White Lotus recently wrapped up, Screenshot asks why cinema and TV make so many return visits to hotels as a setting.Whether sinister and scary like in The Shining or Psycho, fabulous but faded like The Grand Budapest Hotel, or comically chaotic like in Fawlty Towers, hotels offer a myriad of possible opportunities for drama. Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode check in to check out their rich history on screen. Ellen talks to film critic Hannah Strong about the timeless appeal of screen stays from the 1932 classic Grand Hotel to The White Lotus - and about how directors Wes Anderson and Sofia Coppola have made hotels the focus of some of their most famous films. Ellen also speaks to Sean MacPherson, hotelier, cinephile and co-owner of the storied Hotel Chelsea in New York City, about the glamorous allure of historic hotels - and the impact of the movies on hotel design. Mark speaks to writer and critic Anne Billson about the seedier - and scarier - side of hotels on screen, from the Coen Brothers' 1991 cult classic Barton Fink, to the 1990 Roald Dahl fantasy The Witches. And Mark also talks to director Rodney Ascher, whose 2012 documentary Room 237 explored Stanley Kubrick's The Shining from the unusual points of view of a number of theorists - all of whom seem to have checked into the film's Overlook hotel and never been able to leave.Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
Transcribe →Doppelgangers
Apr 11, 202500:42:25Tap to summarizeWith the Robert Pattinson starring film Mickey 17 fresh out in the cinema, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the world of doppelgangers and doubles on screen.Ellen speaks to academic and doppelganger scholar Adam Golub about the difference between clones and doppelgangers and what the doppelganger tells us about life in 2025. Ellen then talks to an actress about what its like playing a clone.Mark speaks to director Richard Ayoade about his 2013 film The Double. It stars Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska and is an adaptation of the classic Fyodor Dostoevsky novel from 1866. Mark and Richard discuss adapting such a classic novel, the distinct look of the film and the idea of Jung's 'shadow self' and its influence on doubles on screen.Produced by Freya Hellier A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
Transcribe →Weddings
Feb 14, 202500:42:38Tap to summarizeEllen E Jones and Mark Kermode celebrate weddings in film and TV, from Muriel's Wedding to Married at First Sight. Mark speaks to Richard Curtis about the inspiration behind the classic British wedding film, Four Weddings and a Funeral, and about Curtis' own recent wedding to long-term partner Emma Freud. And he gets critic Manuela Lazic's rundown of some of the most memorable cinematic weddings, from The Godfather to The Graduate. Meanwhile, Ellen talks to actor Susan Wokoma about her favourite wedding romcoms - including the Julia Roberts-starring My Best Friend's Wedding. And she attempts to get to grips with the world of wedding reality TV with comedian Ashley Ray. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
Transcribe →Video Shops
Feb 7, 202500:42:45Tap to summarizeWith physical media sales on the rise and streaming fatigue setting in, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the life, death and rebirth of the video shop. Ellen takes a trip to one of the UK's few remaining stores, 20th Century Flicks in Bristol, which has a strong claim to being the longest-running video shop in the world, first opening in 1982. She speaks to manager Dave Taylor about the evolution of the shop over the last 43 years, and finds out how he feels about how video shop clerks have been depicted on screen. Mark talks to American filmmaker Alex Ross Perry about his new essay film Videoheaven, which explores the history of videotape as a medium and video stores as physical locations, told entirely through their depiction in film and TV shows. And Mark also speaks to writer and producer Kate Hagen about her search for the world's last great video stores.Produced by Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
Transcribe →Hitmen
Jan 31, 202500:42:32Tap to summarizeThe last few years have seen a number of new entries on the cinematic hit list, from David Fincher’s The Killer to Richard Linklater’s Hit Man. TV has also seen its fair share of hitmen in the last year; the reboot of the 2005 Brad and Angelina film Mr and Mrs Smith; Eddie Redmayne donning various elaborate disguises in a Day of the Jackal update, as well as Black Doves. It seems these days hitmen are among TV and film’s most wanted. Mark talks to critic Christina Newland about the history of crime cinema's enigmatic icon, exploring everything from cult oddities such as Branded to Kill to the female assassin of the 90's such as Nikita and The Long Kiss Goodnight.Ellen goes deep on cult classic Le Samouraï with Kill List and A Field in England director Ben Wheatley and academic Ginette Vincendeau; they discuss the relationship between hitmen and samurai in cinema.Produced by Queenie Qureshi-Wales A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
Transcribe →Mike Leigh
Jan 24, 202500:42:32Tap to summarizeEllen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the visionary world of veteran British filmmaker Mike Leigh, as he returns with Hard Truths - his first film in six years. Born in 1943 and raised in Salford, Leigh started his career in the theatre, before moving to TV in the 1970s, making a string of plays and films for the BBC. Since his very first film Bleak Moments in 1971, Mike Leigh has been at the cutting edge of British screen culture, creating a diverse body of work which ranges from the exquisitely excruciating 1970s comedy of manners Abigail’s Party, to his epic biopic of the 19th century painter Mr Turner. Ellen attempts to get to grips with Leigh’s singular creative process - which involves assembling a group of actors and getting them to research and develop their characters in detail. She speaks to Mike Leigh himself about how he approaches each of his films, and about the unmade big budget project he’d still like to see realised.Mark learns about an actor’s role on a Mike Leigh project - speaking to Hard Truths lead actor Marianne Jean Baptiste, who was Oscar-nominated for her role in Leigh’s 1996 film Secrets & Lies. And Mark also speaks to American independent filmmaker Sean Baker - whose latest film Anora is shaping up as a major Oscar contender - about the profound impact Leigh's 1993 film Naked had on his career. Produced by Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
Transcribe →Time Travel
Jan 17, 202500:42:33Tap to summarizeHow does film and TV make time travel real? Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode take a quantum leap into the world of time travel and time loops on screen, from Back To The Future to Groundhog Day. Mark speaks to theoretical physicist Sean Carroll about how movies like Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Interstellar have handled the science of time travel - and whether it really is just the stuff of fantasy. And he talks to Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Knives Out director Rian Johnson about the dramatic allure of playing with time, and about Rian's 2012 film Looper, which starred Bruce Willis as a criminal sent back to the past to be eliminated by his younger self. Meanwhile, Ellen explores a sub-genre less concerned with mechanics and physics, and more with emotion and moral dilemmas - the time loop story. She speaks to Black Doves screenwriter Joe Barton about his time loop TV series The Lazarus Project. And film critic Anne Billson runs her through some examples of the genre she finds most - and least - captivating, from Palm Springs to About Time.Produced by Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
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