The Empire Film Podcast

Three big hitters are out this weekend: Edge Of Tomorrow, Maleficent and A Million Ways To Die In the West. From the first, we've got director Doug Liman, here to talk about taking over Trafalgar Square and shooting his friend's wedding videos, while from the second, we've got Sam Riley, whose gravelly voice will make your brain rumble. As for the third, well... Seth MacFarlane's a busy man. Outside of the interview department, the team talk about Edgar Wright's Ant-Man anticlimax, Quentin Tarantino getting back on the horse for The Hateful Eight and what to expect from Jurassic World. Then there's your usual dose of movie chat and reviews from the guys who like to occasionally do Sam Riley impressions (but never when he's actually on the podcast).

This week, Empire Podcast veteran Hugh Jackman stops by to talk about London's second best fish and chip shop, Wolverine's love of Rick Astley and his top drawer pirate voice, with newcomer Ian McKellen instead using his interview to pitch for a job as a film reviewer. Both were in town to talk X-Men: Days OF Future Past, which the team also do, on top of some general cinematic chit chat and this week's news.

In the first Godzilla movies, The King Of The Monsters was actually just a guy in a suit, but now with the advent of modern SFX, men stomping on miniature cities are no longer required. But if they were, Gareth Edwards would be the man shouting "Punch the water tower!" and "Drop kick that battleship!", as he's the director of the new reboot of Toho's beloved scaley scoundrel. He's joined in the Empire Podcast this week by Two Faces Of January's Viggo Mortensen (actor) and Hossein Amini (director), who talk about everything from The Parthenon to Montesquieu.

Sensibly deciding to take his papier-mache head off for his Empire Podcast interview, Michael Fassbender was on fine form as he talked about his latest, Frank, as well as his stoat impersonation, his deleted dance sequence at the end of Prometheus and his love of Buck Rogers. Also under the interview lamplight were Mike Brett and Steve Jamison, directors of the inspirational American Samoa football documentary Next Goal Wins, who talk about how they made the beautiful game feel beautiful again.

Game Of Thrones' very own Arya Stark, Maisie Williams, dropped by the Empire Podcast studio this week to talk about 'The Cinnamon Challenge', that Vine she made for The Red Wedding and how Charles Dance introduces himself. Then there's Dohmnall Gleeson, here in honour of Frank (out next week), who happily chats about... well, you're best off finding out for yourself.

You might know him as Bilbo Baggins, or John Watson, or Tim From The Office (his character's full name), but this week Martin Freeman is actually Lester Nygaard from the new TV version of Fargo. He talks to us about everything from the joys of swearing to Billy Bob Thorton's pathological fear of antiquities. Elsewhere, David Cross drops by to talk about the new film he wrote and directed, Hits, and we resist the temptation to grill him about Arrested Development, Mr. Show and The Increasingly Poor Decisions Of Todd Margaret.

This week there's Amazing Spider-Man 2 director Marc Webb, as well as Amazing Spider-Man 2 producers Matt Tolmach and Avi Arad, not forgetting Sweden's very own Lukas Moodysson, here to talk about his latest, We Are The Best, on top of your usual dose of movie news and nonsense.

The Film programme. That theme tune. This 48-minute podcast. And why not? The legendary movie journalist that is Barry Norman stopped by the Empire Podcast booth to talk about his new book, his extraordinary career and just how close he came to punching Robert De Niro.

With The Raid 2 coming out, it made sense to invite its director round for a chat about it, which explains why Gareth Evans appears on this week's podcast. Likewise, as Hammer's latest horror, The Quiet Ones, has Sam Claflin as one of its leads, it seemed like the right thing to ask him over for a cup of tea and a good scream. In other news, there's some new movie news, and the question-and-answer portion of proceedings, Carry On comes up. "Oo matron" and so on.

Four big films are coming out this weekend, namely Noah, The Double, Divergent and Rio 2, which may or may not have something to do with half term arriving. (Hint: it definitely does). In honour of two of said films, there are two interviewees this week, starting with the most beautiful Spix's Macaw parrot in cinema, Anne Hathaway, and ending with the fascinating filmmaker Darren Aronosfky. Expect stories about punching people in the face.

In this super-sized, extra-large, seriously bloody bumper edition of the Empire Podcast, there are six interviewees. Count 'em, six: Muppets Most Wanted's Kermit and Miss Piggy, Captain America: The Winter Soldier's Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan, plus Inside No. 9's Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton. All of this, for free. We're too good to you, we know.

In this week's Empire Podcast, mind-blowingly masculine Labor Day star Josh Brolin is joined by a similarly manly British counterpart in the form of Jack O'Connell (of Starred Up, This Is England and 300: Rise Of An Empire fame). Elsewhere, the team spoil the concept of spoilers for everyone, and decide which unassuming English actor should get their own Taken action franchise.

Do you feel the need, the need to, um, listen to the Empire Podcast? Good, because here's this week's edition, featuring the exceptionally delightful Imogen Poots (of A Long Way Down fame) and Jonathan Glazer (of Under The Skin, Sexy Beast and that Guinness advert fame). Look forward to in-depth discussions of both Steven Seagal and Chuck Norris's oeuvres.

Terry Gilliam. American. Cartoonist. Artist. Python. Film maker. Former Python. Film maker quite a few more times. Opera buff. Screenwriter. Beard owner. Former American. Python once more and director of The Zero Theorem, his latest film, and star of his very own Empire Podcast inteview special. Look forward to hearing his excellent laugh on many occasions (and several excellent anecdotes, to boot).

For their 101st podcast proper, the team celebrate by interviewing The Grand Budapest Hotel's Wes Anderson and The Stag's Andrew Scott, not forgetting to take the mick out of John Travolta's Oscar flub and make several off-colour jokes about Iggy Pop. It's what you do on special occasions like this.

Jennifer Lawrence fell over, presenters flubbed their lines and talented folk were played off by the orchestra for talking too much - it can only be the Oscars. In this special Empire Podcast, four sleep-deprived film journalists talk about the glitzy bash held in Hollywood's Dolby Theatre last night, where our sources tell us an award ceremony of some sort was being held. Find out more by clicking play now...

To celebrate its centenary, the Empire Podcast was recorded LIVE in front of an audience of lucky, lucky fans in Leicester Square's very own Prince Charles Cinema. Surprise guests included Ride Along's Ice Cube, who finally decided who'd win in a fight between George Clooney and David O. Russell, and We're The Millers' Will Poulter, who tried to explain how awkward it is to spend days at a time kissing Jennifer Aniston and Emma Roberts.

It's another heck of an Empire Podcast this week, with A New York Winter's Tale's Akiva Goldsman and Full Metal Jacket's Matthew Modine in the interviewee's chair, and Lars von Trier's Nymphomaniac on the reviewing chopping block - steady now - joined by Stranger By The Lake and Only Lovers Left Alive. Look forward to Marvel characters getting their equivalents from the world of music - David Bowie for Tony Stark! - and a bit of post-match analysis for the BAFTAs. Also, you may want to prepare yourself for a little bit of rapping from the de Semlyen boys, as Dragnet comes up, and you know what happens when Dragnet comes up. (Hint: it's rapping).

With so many films out this Valentine's Day - The Lego Movie, Her, Cuban Fury, The Monuments Men - it's a bumper-sized Empire Podcast this week, featuring interviews with Bob Balaban and Nick Frost, as well as in-depth discussions on movie love songs, Taylor Lautner's BBC 3 absolution and, um, Wario.

On this week's podcast, Matthew McConaughey talks about his Oscar-nominated turn in Dallas Buyers Club, Spike Jonze explains Her and Gary Oldman discusses hanging out with Bowie and working for sandwiches...

On this week's Empire Podcast, Peter Berg desperately tries to avoid giving away any spoilers about his latest, Lone Survivor, while documentary director Alex Gibney is more than happy to talk about Lance Armstrong, what with his new film being called The Armstrong Lie and all.

The fourth Jack Ryan, Chris Pine, drops by the Empire Podcast booth to talk about Leeds nightclubs, hating computer games and singing 'Agony' in the upcoming Into The Woods. The first (and probably only) Llewyn Davis, Oscar Isaac, also drops by the Empire Podcast booth, instead talking about "cat agitators", "ass agitators" and having sex with robots.

With Chris Hemsworth announcing the Oscar nominations on behalf of the Academy yesterday, this week's Empire Podcast is chock-full of awards-based chit-chat. So if you want to be in the know about who's (probably) going to win, listen no further. Elsewhere, the team talks to James Purefoy about Noel Edmunds, Mr. Blobby and Season 2 of The Following, while Juliette Lewis talks the time to talk August: Osage County and, um, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

After a couple of weeks away for Christmas, the Empire Podcast is back. Featuring 12 Years A Slave's director (Steve McQueen) and star (Chiwetel Ejiofor), there's also - surprise, surprise - a review of said film, as well as conversations about Sam Rockwell, Ron Swanson and Gerald Butler as Bodhi in the Point Break remake.

2013 was the year that was, and this is the Empire Podcast Review Of The Year (that is). So for a slightly anarchic meander around the past 12 months of moviedom - and some spoilers that you'd expect with that - then press play on this here podcast.

In this week's super-sized bumper edition, the Empire Podcast team talk good Christmas movies, bad Christmas movies and movies that aren't really Christmas movies but you still watch at Christmas. Then there are four directors - count 'em! - in the interviewee's chair, namely Anchorman 2's Judd Apatow and Adam McKay, All Is Lost's J.C. Chandor and American Hustle's David O. Russell.

If you want to hear Richard Armitage swear in Dwarfish (and turn his head around 360 degrees), this is the podcast to listen to. Also here to talk The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug was Luke Evans, who was charm personified as he lulled several members of the team into starting a fan club. And as if that weren't enough, the sonorous Matt Berry dropped by in honour of his fantastic sitcom, Toast Of London, and just say words in a beautiful way.

The Boy Who Lived is The Boy Who Talked About American Football On The Empire Podcast this week, while Alexander Payne doesn't mention sport of any kind, instead sticking to his latest, Nebraska. Elsewhere, movie AIs get the once over, and the team wonders about Wonder Woman in the Batman Vs. Superman project.

Two of the best talkers in the business, Colin Farrell and Joe Eszterhas, feature in the Empire Podcast this week. The former dropped by to talk Saving Mr. Banks, bad hair bleaching and Anthony Hopkins' anecdotes, while the latter took the time to talk Showgirls, Basic Instinct and much much more.

Shaun Of The Dead came out in 2004. Hot Fuzz came out in 2007. The World's End came out 2013. Now... it's all over. With The World's End out on Blu-ray and DVD, Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright enjoyed a weekend of Q&As and signing sessions, but somehow still found the time to talk to the Empire Podcast for 75 minutes for the definitive Cornetto Trilogy discussion.

Though you can read her wise words here and watch her talk "super snoods" here, Jennifer Lawrence isn't on this week's Empire Podcast, but her good friend and favourite music video director, Francis Lawrence (who just so happened to have helmed The Hunger Games: Catching Fire), is, joined as he is by Stanley Tucci and Elizabeth Banks.

The living legend that is George A. Romero was in London recently for the BFI's Gothic season, and inbetween giving talks and introducing special screenings of his films, GAR - as nobody calls him - popped into the Empire Podcast booth talk to us about zombies, Knightriders and the projects that almost came to be...

Forest Whitaker is the Oscar-winning actor who's played pool sharks, samurai warriors and dictators in his time, but this week you can see him as a butler in The White House in, um, The Butler. Allen Leech, meanwhile, is the star of Downton Abbey who's not scaring you witless in In Fear, also out today.

It's Alfonso Cuarón appreciation week on the Empire Podcast, and what makes this so perfect is that Alfonso Cuarón is on this week's Empire Podcast. It's all in honour of Gravity - out now - and, of course, Hermione's right hook to Draco's face in The Prisoner Of Azkaban. Then there's Jude Law, in the podbooth for Dom Hemingway - out next week - who talks about Breaking Bad, Sherlock Holmes 3 and "cock socks".

It's a great weekend to be a cinemagoer in the UK. Two five-star films and a certain Thor: The Dark World are showing at your local multiplex - with any luck, anyway - and this is just the podcast to celebrate that fact. Look forward to trailer tantrums, London falling down and spaceships crashing to earth (in a manner of speaking, anyway).

There's a killer triple-bill of interviewees on this week's Empire Podcast, with Harrison Ford, Stephen Merchant and Shane Meadows all stopping by, one for Ender's Game, one for Hello Ladies and the other for Made Of Stone's DVD release (we'll let you work out which matches up with which). Elsewhere, the team talk witches, almost perfect film endings and what Sir Ben Kingsley is keeping under his hat...

Three directors drop by the Empire Podcast booth this week, one for Captain Phillips (Paul Greengrass), another for Prince Avalance (David Gordon Green) and the last for The Curse Of Chucky (Don Mancini). Elsewhere, the team use the words "Tactical Chunder" when talking about Pacific Rim 2, and somehow Enough Said involves Stan Lee hiding under someone's bed.

Tony Gilroy is an Oscar-nominated screenwriter, the pen wielder behind the Bourne movies and his own directorial work, such as Michael Clayton (which got him his Oscar nod), Duplicity and, most recently, Bourne Legacy. In town for a special BFI screenwriters' speech, we asked Gilroy to drop round the Empire Podcast booth afterwards to talk about how he battles writers' block and brings his ideas to the big screen. Look forward to details on the future of the Bourne franchise, his take on the current state of play in Hollywood, and why movies like Michael Clayton wouldn't get made today.

A triple-bill of interviews for you this week, from Agent Carter herself, Hayley Atwell, to your latest Romeo, Douglas Booth. In the middle is the director of The Raid - and, as you'd expect, The Raid 2 - Gareth Evans, who was in town to talk about his contribution to V/H/S/2.

It's an Atonement reunion on this week's Empire Podcast, with James McAvoy here for Filth and Saoirse Ronan dropping by in honour of How I Live Now. Look forward to the former talking about his "hairy mutant you-know-whats" and the latter explaining how to swing a lightsaber. Elsewhere, the Podcast Team tackle TV finales, tie-in theme park rides and the return of Narnia...

Dexter Fletcher is on fine form during this week's Empire Podcast, talking about his latest, Sunshine On Leith, as well as Doom, The Long Good Friday and his Nando's Black Card. Matthew Fox, meanwhile, is on hand to talk about his time on Party Of Five, his love of Batman, and why he decided to shoot Emperor with Tommy Lee Jones (and not appear in a rom-com, say).

What movie unexpectedly made you cry? Which film quotes do you use on a regular basis without even realise you're quoting anything? How much did Grand Theft Auto V earn in its first day on sale again? The Empire Podcast team answer all these questions and more, also finding the time to interview Luke Treadaway and Matthew Lewis for their British indie, The Rise, and Cillian Murphy, in honour of his BBC series Peaky Blinders.

Two A-list directors on the Empire Podcast this week, namely Rush's Ron Howard and White House Down's Roland Emmerich, and four Empire journalists, namely... well, you'll find out soon enough. Elsewhere, the team review both aforementioned films (as well as Insidious Chapter 2) and discuss Disney songs, film directors' best adverts and Jurassic World.

Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl share stories from their days on soap sets during their interview on this week's Empire Podcast, also touching on runaway killer tyres, Mario Kart and Scalextric in honour of Rush, out next week. Elsewhere, Ain't Them Bodies Saints director David Lowery reveals his neverending love of Star Wars, Malick and moustaches, and the team discuss the 50 Shades Of Grey casting news, Tranformers 4's Dinobots - whatever they are - and the best composers that ever composers.

You may know him as Community's Dean Pelton, but in real life he's Jim Rash, the man who co-wrote The Descendants with Nat Faxon and won an Oscar in the process. The award-winning pair were in the Empire Podcast booth this week to talk about their directorial debut, The Way, Way Back, but also managed to talk about the final episode of Friends - no, really - and how it feels to dress up as Lady Gaga. Elsewhere, super-indie melon-twister extraordinaire Shane Carruth, who previously brought us time-travelling brain-melter Primer, came in to explain (or not explain) his latest puzzler, Upstream Colour. Top tip: the film has something to do with pigs (though it's not abundantly clear what that something is).

It's a hard-to-spell-and-hard-to-say American actors double-bill this week with both We're The Millers' Jason Sudeikis and Lovelace's Amanda Seyfried joining Team Empire for chats about moustaches, dry heaving as a workout regime, stuffed animals and corpses (amongst other things). Find out what Amanda Seyfried's favourite cloud is! Win Seasons 1-5A of Breaking Bad on Blu-ray thanks to Squarespace.com! Listen to Jason Sudeikis singing TLC's Waterfalls! Hear our thoughts on the Ben Affleck Batman casting news! Potentially libellous nonsense! It's all here, and it's all free, you lucky people.

District 9's Sharlto Copley and Neill Blomkamp reunite for another sci-fi action film in the form of Elysium, only this time there are fewer prawns and far more Matt Damons - that is to say, just one. Joining us for a relaxed chat about everything from Neill's aborted Halo movie to Hot Toys Joker figurines (as well as the movie itself, of course), the actor-director pair are on top form, so you won't want to miss out on this one.

As well as chatting with the comedy hero that is John Cleese, this bumper-sized edition boasts a lot more to look forward to. Get ready to hear the team talk comedy sketches that deserve a chance on the big screen, the further casting announcements from the Expendables 3 camp, Twitter users to follow, Elysium, Kick-Ass 2 - which explains our interview with the director, Jeff Wadlow - not forgetting 2 Guns, Planes itself and the greatest character introductions in cinema's history. Also: random trivia - and lots of it.

Now busier than central Norwich on market day, Armando Iannucci is the man who brought us On The Hour, The Day Today, The Thick Of It, In The Loop, Time Trumpet, Veep and now Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, but despite his hectic schedule, he still found time to drop by the Empire Podcast booth for a natter about Hitler, sneaking into US government buildings and perfecting the Alan whine. Elsewhere, the silver-tongued Anthony Stewart Head is grilled by our own Buffy buffs about his latest, Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters, touching on everything from 'squirrel pants' to putting ice cubes in your mouth before you kiss someone. On top of all that, there's a whole load of very important movie news this week - Inbetweeners 2! Expendables 3! Things that aren't sequels! - for you to catch up on, as well as a look forward to Toronto and Venice, plus our review of the critically-contentious blockbuster The Lone Ranger.

Mitch Hurwitz is the worryingly funny writer-cum-director-cum-showrunner behind Arrested Development, the cult classic sitcom that enjoyed just two and a half seasons between 2003-2006, only to come back from the dead this year thanks to Netflix and its legions of fans. In this very special Empire Podcast, the comedy genius behind Pop Pop, Franklin The Puppet, the banana stand and much more talks all about Season 4, as well as what we can expect from the Arrested Development movie...