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 str...
In the year that Jacques Demy’s beloved Umbrellas of Cherbourg turns 60, Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones reflect on their favourite aspects of the screen musical.According to some, we’re currently in the midst of a movie musicals revival, with Jon M Chu’s Wicked hot on the heels of Emila Perez and Joker: Folie à Deux, but will any of them match what Ellen considers to be the pinnacle of the form, the 1950s Hollywood musical? Her love of the classic MGM musicals primed Ellen to be a huge fan of the TV show Crazy Ex Girlfriend when it came along. This is the musical sitcom that took all of these essential elements of the 1950s Hollywood musical, then recombined them with a very 21st Century approach to relationships and mental health. Ellen speaks with Crazy Ex Girlfriend creator and star Rachel Bloom about Disney, writing jokes for the screen, and spontaneous singing. But it’s essential to pay proper tribute to the classics, and in particular the work of American lyricist and producer Arthur Freed. Ellen sat down with writer, filmmaker and actor Manuela Lazic to talk about Freed’s masterpiece, 1952’s Singin’ in the Rain which stars Gene Kelly, who also co-directed with Stanley Donen. And Mark meets Janis Pugh, director of Chuck Chuck Baby, a low budget, British indie charmer set in a chicken processing factory that is deeply influenced by Jacques Demy’s 1964 French hit The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Janis Pugh is not alone in her love of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. It follows the story of two young lovers whose future together is interrupted by the Algerian war, with the French dialogue entirely sung and set perfectly to the music of Michel Le Grand. Writer and editor of Little White Lies, David Jenkins, is a huge fan of Jacques Demy, and he speaks with Mark about the film’s influences and legacy.Produced by Freya Hellier.
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
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42:36
Las Vegas
Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winner Anora is the latest in a long line of movies to use Las Vegas as a setting. So why is the desert gambling city such catnip for filmmakers? Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore Vegas on screen.Ellen speaks to author Shawn Levy about the unparalleled showbiz glamour of midcentury Las Vegas and the quintessential Rat Pack Vegas movie - Ocean’s 11. And she talks to DJ and producer David Holmes about his work on the soundtrack for director Steven Soderbergh’s 2001 Ocean’s Eleven remake, starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts. Meanwhile, Mark looks at how the dark underbelly of the gambling city has been captured on screen by filmmakers from Martin Scorsese to Paul Verhoeven, with critic Christina Newland. And he talks to Mike Figgis about directing Nicolas Cage to Oscar glory in 1995’s Leaving Las Vegas - the tale of an alcoholic who goes to the city to drink himself to death.Producer: Jane Long
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
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42:32
Powell and Pressburger
As November marks the TV premiere on BBC 2 of Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, as well as a season of films on the BBC and iPlayer, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the films of these two titans of British Cinema.Film and culture writer, Lilian Crawford shares with Mark why the works of Powell and Pressburger are a matter of life and death, and how the duo's technicolour films took their cue from the worlds of ballet and opera. Mark also speaks to British filmmaker Jeanie Finlay, for whom Powell and Pressburger’s films hold a strong personal allure. She discusses the technical wizardry and in-camera magic found across their productions, and how that has inspired her own image-making. Meanwhile, Kevin Macdonald, the Academy Award-winning filmmaker and grandson of Emeric Pressburger, shares with Ellen how some Powell and Pressburger films are nuanced examples of wartime propaganda, and why some still resonate and remain relevant to Britain today. Producer: Mae-Li Evans
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
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42:12
Vampires
With Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu - a remake of the 1922 adaptation of Dracula - hitting UK cinemas in the new year, Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones take a look at one of cinema's most enduring monsters, the vampire. Mark talks to friend of the show and vampire expert, Kim Newman, about the evolution of vampires over the last century. They discuss everything from Bela Lugosi’s career defining performance as Count Dracula to the Twilight series.Meanwhile, Ellen meets host and producer of The Evolution of Horror podcast, Mike Muncer. They go deep on teen vampire films and the everlasting appeal of cult classic The Lost Boys.Ellen also speaks to Jane Schoenbrun, director of the new film, I Saw the TV Glow. They discuss their shared love of TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its influence on Jane’s film about outsider teens who are obsessed with a fantasy TV show.Producer: Queenie Qureshi-Wales
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
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42:33
Archaeology
To mark the tenth anniversary of BBC sitcom Detectorists, Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones dig into archaeologists and treasure hunters on screen. Mark speaks first to stand-up comedian and actor Alexei Sayle about his small, but pivotal, role in the third Indiana Jones film The Last Crusade. Mark then talks to Italian director Alice Rohrwacher, whose recent film La Chimera is the story of a down-at-heel tomb raider, played by Josh O’Connor, looting Etruscan artefacts in 1980s Italy. Meanwhile, Ellen speaks to French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop about her new film Dahomey - a docudrama that follows 26 looted treasures from the 19th century Kingdom of Dahomey, as they make their return trip from Paris to present-day Benin. And she talks to Mackenzie Crook, creator and star of Detectorists, about how an episode of Time Team inspired the series - about a pair of Essex metal detectorists hunting for long-buried treasures from the past.Producer: Jane Long
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
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.
New Zealand