The Empire Film Podcast

Alan Partridge finally arrives on the ruddy bloody big screen next Wednesday, so this week's Empire Podcast features an extensive interview with the man behind the cardigan, Steve Coogan, where he reveals the origins of both Lynn and Michael, as well as what to expect from (the beginning of) the sequel...

The delightful black-and-white Noah Baumbach movie Frances Ha goes head-to-head with James Mangold's summer blockbuster The Wolverine this weekend, and so the two directors duke it for supremacy in his week's Empire Podcast. Mangold does have one clear advantage, though: Hugh Jackman's in his corner. Gulp.

It's been one hell of a Comic-Con this year, with Avengers 2 getting a subtitle, the whole of the X-Men: Days Of Future Past crew turning up and some intriguing idea about Superman teaming up with Batman in a film getting the green light from Warners HQ. There to cover it all was Team Empire, and here is the podcast special to prove it, complete with interviews with The Amazing Spider-Man 2 director Marc Webb and the one and only Agent Carter, Hayley Atwell.

The World's End is out this weekend, which probably explains why Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright were kind enough to drop in the podcast booth to talk all about it, on top of pitching a new movie set in Twickenham (in all makes sense in context). Also out this weekend is serial killer thriller The Frozen Ground, which starts John Cusack and Nic Cage, with the latter also stopping by to talk about everything from Daffy Duck to Mike Myers, not forgetting Expendables 3, mimes and hitting snakes with sticks (in self-defence, of course). Then there are the news, views and reviews you'd expect from the Empire Podcast team, including everything you could possibly want to know about Sharknado. Enough said, indeed.

There's one hell of a monster mash in this week's Empire Podcast, with Pixar's Monsters University going head to head with Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim. Will Sulley smash a jaeger in its robo-noggin, or shall Mike and co. be left trembling before the mighty power of Del Toro's metal mountain men? Only time will tell. Elsewhere in the podcast, you can expect our usual mix of general film chit chat - what's your favourite visual gag in films, by the way? - and movie news and reviews. Listen out for an imdb page's worth of Pixar trivia, as well as an exclusive titbit of Indy info...

If you've ever wanted to hear magic tricks on a podcast - come on, you know you want to - then look no further, as Now You See Me's Isla Fisher and Jesse Eisenberg are more than happy to oblige in this week's Empire Podcast. As well as dove impersonations and expert card shuffling, there's A Field In England's Reece Shearsmith on crashing the Empire Awards, pretending to take magic mushrooms and delivering that line in Spaced. Which line, you wonder? Best get listening then...

Two of the nicest guys in show business, Steve Carell and Seth Rogen, dropped into the Empire Podcast studio this week, the former to talk about Despicable Me 2, the latter in honour of his latest, This Is The End. Along the way, Carell enjoys using his Gru voice for no particular reason, and Rogen explains how he battled with Edgar Wright and his team over apocalytic movie titles. Elsewhere, the fine art of watching films in foreign climes is dicussed, and the concept of 'tracking' in cinema is actually explained. Also, the team realises that someone needs to make a movie called 'Hobocop', and sharpish.

Neil Gaiman is the award-winning author (and graphic novelist) who's brought us The Sandman, American Gods and The Graveyard Book, as well as Stardust and Coraline, which film fans may recognise from the movies they inspired. And as Mr. Gaiman has a new book out - The Ocean At The End Of The Lane - we took the time to speak to him at length about his career, his good pal Hayao Miyazaki and the Gaiman movies that might have been...

The one and only acting man mountain that is Jason Statham drops by the Empire Podcast studio this week, as does the man who has scared millions to tears after writing the World War Z - the book, not the film - Max Brooks. As if hearing from those two fascinating fellows wasn't enough, there's also our tribute to the late great James Gandolfini, as well as a discussion of the upcoming Fifty Shades Of Grey adaptation and which tagline is the very best ever written.

Joss Whedon is director of the Serenity, Avengers and now... a black and white Shakespeare adaptation that he shot in just 12 days with a group of friends and a very small film crew. In this very special podcast, you can hear him (and the stars of the film, Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker) talk about the project, as well as details on Avengers 2, Quicksilver and, as they say, much, much more...

We don't need to tell you a new Superman movie's out this weekend - after all, the theme's been stuck in your head for months now - but here we go anyway: Man Of Steel is out out out now now now, and we've got an interview with Zod's right-hand woman (Faora, played by Antje Traue) to prove it. We've also got Zack Snyder and David S. Goyer, but that's for next Monday's spoiler special...

Matt Smith will be Doctor Who no longer. Karen Gillan will play a baddie in Guardians Of The Galaxy. The world stands in awe of the astonishing twist in Game Of Thrones. Oh, and Michael Shannon drops by to talk about The Iceman, Man Of Steel and QPR/Chelsea derbies, joining Homeland's Damian Lewis in the interviewee's chair this week. It's all going on in this week's Empire Podcast, and no mistake.

Gillian Anderson has been appearing on our TV screens rather a lot of late, turning up in NBC's Hannibal and another serial killer series, The Fall, over in the UK. In the Empire Podcast studio to talk about both those shows - as well as a little phenomenon some like to call "The X-Files" - Anderson is frank, funny and slightly forgetful as she talks about her pub quiz adventures with Simon Pegg, an upcoming project known as 'The Curse Of The Buxom Strumpet' and what X-memorabilia she stole back in the day...

It's a difficult-to-spell interviewee double bill this week, with M. Night Shyamalan and Saoirse Ronan both in the podcast studio, the former to talk After Earth (out next week) and the latter to talk Byzantium (out this week). Elsewhere, the team sound the NEW ISSUE horn and discuss the thorny issue of spoilers.

The Cannes Film Festival is almost over. To celebrate that fact, here's our final Cannes 2013 podcast, which sees a very special guest in the form of newcomer Stevie Wong coming into the Empire fold to talk about the hits (and the misses) of Cannes V.66. Over in London, we review The Hangover Part III, Epic and My Neighbour Totoro, and in the interviews department, Alec Baldwin and James Toback talk about their documentary Seduced And Abandoned and Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn shares a few details about his latest, Only God Forgives, with his leading lady, Kristen Scott Thomas.

The Great Gatsby goes head to head with Fast and Furious 6 in this week's special Cannes-based Empire Podcast, with FF6 narrowly overtaking TGG at The Valley Of The Ashes to win three stars to Jay-G's two. Discover more about the world's biggest film festival by listening to one of the world's top five Damos - that's Damo Wise, by the way - talking about it (at length), then be sure to check out Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire and Joel Edgerton chatting about that Gatsby chap and Pop Pop himself, Jeffrey Tambor, as he ruminates upon the return of Arrested Development. It's all here, and it's all very much downloadable.

In an Empire podcast first, readers posed their Twitter questions, queries and grievances on movie ratings direct to the man who oversees classifications on a daily basis, BBFC executive director David Austin. Why was Gremlins rated 15? Why did What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? go from an 18 to 12? What’s a 12A for, anyway? What happened with A Good Day To Die Hard? We made Austin a cup of tea, showed him to the hot seat and fired your questions at him for 55 fascinating minutes.

Star Trek Into Darkness is out, so it's time to talk Kirk-y. And who better to do so than the writers and producers of the film, namely Bryan Burk, Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof? Also in the interviewee's chair is the director of Mud, Jeff Nichols, who explains how he made a movie where Matthew McConaughey keep his top on. Sort of.

The Blade trilogy, the Dark Knight trilogy, Man Of Steel, Godzilla... what's David S. Goyer going to do next? Well, aside from create a TV show called Da Vinci's Demons, appear on this week's Empire Podcast. Joining him is Looper and Brothers Bloom and Brick's Rian Johnson, who was kind enough to drop by just because he was in the area. Elsewhere, the podcast team talk musical gems in the movies and whether Kelsey Grammer has ever actually tossed any eggs. You'll see.

Don Cheadle threatens to vaporise a member of the Empire Podcast team this week, while Steve Coogan does a pitch-perfect Roger Moore impersonation, just because he can. Sample discussion question: who has the best chin in cinema? Sample news story: Zach Braff is on the Kickstarter gravy train. Sample reviews: Iron Man 3, The Look Of Love and Bernie - and in a special teaser insert, a spoiler-free preview of our thoughts on Star Trek Into Darkness.

The star and director of Evil Dead, Jane Levy and Fede Alvarez, stop by the Empire Podcast studio to talk blood, body parts and chainsaws this week, with only two of us fainting during the process. Elsewhere, La Haine director and Amelie star Mathieu Kassovitz drops in in honour of his latest, Rebellion, and the podcast team talk embarrassing interview questions, yearly Star Wars outings and funerals in the movies (for some reason...).

When he was a kid, Aaron Eckhart lived in the UK. When he lived in darkest Surrey, he picked up the acting bug, attempted to become a singer/songwriter and played a bit of rugby. Since then, he's gone onto appear in The Dark Knight, Thank You For Smoking and now Olympus Has Fallen, and in this week's Empire Podcast you can find out all about how it happened. Then there's Radagast The Brown himself, the one and only Sylvester McCoy, who is charm personified as he talks about his days as The Doctor and how tricky it is to act with hedgehogs. In the non-interview potion of the podcast, we discuss rocket deaths - don't ask - as well as Tom Cruise's latest, Oblivion, The Place Beyond The Pines and much, much more.

John Boorman is the legendary British film director behind Point Blank, Deliverance, Zardoz, Excalibur, The Emerald Forest, Hope and Glory, The General, The Tailor of Panama and many more. As he has been recently awarded a BFI fellowship - which is currenly showing a selection of his films in a special John Boorman season - we asked him into the podcast studio for an in-depth interview, and here, ladies and gentlemen, is the fascinating result.

Rufus Sewell refers to himself as "that twat on a horse" in his interview on this week's Empire Podcast, whereas Harmony Korine does no such thing, instead talking about James Franco phallating a gun in honour of his latest, Spring Breakers. Elsewhere, a very important discussion is blown wide open: which film director has the best voice? Also, we say goodbye to the one and only Roger Ebert...

The long Easter weekend may have finally arrived, but that's not going to stop us from unleashing a new Empire Podcast on your generic MP3 devices, no sir/madam. Boasting interviews from Danny Boyle (Trance), Jonathan Pryce (G.I. Joe: Retaliation) and David Holmes (Good Vibrations) as well as reviews of Trance, G.I. Joe: Retaliation and Good Vibrations, it's chock-full of cinematic goodness, as well as an in-depth discussion of Star Trek's tribbles. Of course.

Danny Boyle is the man behind Trainspotting, Sunshine, 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire, The 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony and now Trance, a twisty-turny hypno-thriller that sees James McAvoy's art auctioneer taking part in a heist with professional criminal Franck (Vincent Cassel) - only he forgets where he put the loot, which is where Rosario Dawson's hypnotist comes in to try and salvage a solution from the back of his noggin. Here, then is an extended interview with the great man, touching on everything from Alien Resurrection to where in the world A Life Less Ordinary was a massive smash...

In this week's Empire Podcast, Ryan Reynolds talks about the proposed Justice League movie (as well as that infamous Deadpool spin-off script of his), and Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman tell the world the current state(s) of play for Bridesmaids 2 and the upcoming Arrested Development series on Netflix. Then there are reviews for this week's releases - including The Croods, Identity Thief and Jack The Giant Slayer - as well as your questions answered and more than a few news stories...

Harry Potter, Star Wars, Leprechaun, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, Life's Too Short... Warwick Davis has appeared in many, many things, but nothing quite like his very own Empire Podcast special. Celebrating the 25th anniversary of his starring role alongside Val Kilmer in Willow, there's plenty on incantations, morphing and magical acorns, as well as some top baking tips, just because.

The Empire Podcast celebrates its first birthday in this very special (and extra silly) 52nd episode. Joining the usual gang of film-loving misfits are The Last Exorcism Part II's Eli Roth and Welcome To The Punch duo Eran Creevy and Mark Strong (yep, him again), making this an interview-packed spectacular. So get your downloading fingers at the ready and join us for bad jokes, movie birthday chat and reviews of The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, The Paperboy, Red Dawn and more...

This week's episode boasts three special guests, namely Tim Roth, Sam Raimi and Zach Braff. Mr. Roth was here to talk Broken, lunchbox movies and working with Bette Davis, whereas Messrs. Raimi and Braff rocked up to the Empire Podcast studio to tell us all about that Oz chap everyone's banging on about. Elsewhere, the team tackle such tricky quandaries as how you solve a problem like Fassavoy - it'll make sense in context, promise - and which books should be adapted into films as soon as possible.

In a week where his '70s-influenced thriller hits cinemas, the one and only Mark Wahlberg comes to the Empire Podcast studio to talk Broken City, Ted 2 and what to expect from his role in Transformers 4. Elsewhere, a whole heap of movies get reviewed - including Broken City, Stoker and Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters - and the director of Song For Marion, Paul Andrew Williams, gets quizzed about Terence Stamp's fitness regime.

The 2013 Academy Awards happened - and in the middle of the night on a premium channel, to boot. To help you make sense of what happened on Sunday night, three of Empire's Oscars reporting team stayed up through the night to record this special round-up edition of the show, just for you. So with this in mind, expect a distinct lack of coherence... even more so than normal.

Two Bond girls made their way to the Empire Podcast this week: two whole, real-life Bond girls. It might seem like we planned this, but that's just not true - it turns out Terrence Malick's To The Wonder, which happens to star Quantum Of Solace's Olga Kurylenko, is out in cinemas this week, and Skyfall is coming out on DVD and Blu-ray to boot. Elsewhere, the team review Song For Marion, Cloud Atlas and Mama, with the news section full of stories about apes.

The guests: Jai Courtney, David Morrissey, David Oyelowo, Alden Ehrenreich, Alice Englert. The films: A Good Day To Die Hard, Beautiful Creatures, This Is 40. The news: Robert Downey Jr., Quentin Tarantino, The BAFTAs. The questions: a bit weird. All this and more in this bumperiest of bumper-sized Empire Podcasts...

This week's Empire podcast is somewhat video game-flavoured this week, with J.J. Abrams' plans for a Portal and/or Half-Life movie in the news section and Wreck-It Ralph in the reviews department. In the readers' questions category, expect an in-depth discussion of those Star Wars spin-off movies everyone's talking about - Porkins: The Movie! - as well as some ruminating upon that tricky conundrum of whether certain deleted scenes should have actually remained in the movie. Then there are our interviews with John C. Reilly and Warm Bodies' Nicholas Hoult, making this a particularly jam-packed podcast this week.

With regular host Chris Hewitt away on a top secret mission to Los Angeles, Helen O'Hara takes his place in the podcast hosting chair, overseeing a show where reviews editor Ian Freer explains just how star ratings work, The Muppets sequel gets analysed and the week's releases - including Flight and Bullet To The Head - are reviewed. Plus, look forward to a snippet of the longer Denzel Washington and Robert Zemeckis interview and a fresh 15 minutes with I Give It A Year star Rafe Spall and I Give It A Year writer/director Dan Mazer. Just wait until you find out who (or what) a 'Rapscallion' is...

Flight unites Denzel Washington with Robert Zemeckis, and this Empire Podcast special does likewise, with the Oscar-winning actor and Oscar-winning director spending over 40 minutes talking about their new drama as well as their careers in general, Nelson Mandela's house and their favourite Beatles albums.

In a week where two five star movies hit cinemas - namely Zero Dark Thirty and Lincoln - the Empire podcast is bumper-sized, boasting lengthy reviews of both films, as well as a discussion of the JJ Abrams / Star Wars: Episode VII rumours, your questions answered and news of Steven Spielberg's return to TV with Masters Of The Air. Oh, and The Governator drops by for a chat, as does the one and only Mark Strong.

This week, the Empire Podcast team mourn the (potential) loss of HMV on the high street, interview Zero Dark Thirty director Kathryn Bigelow and The Following star James Purefoy, review Django Unchained, The Sessions and Monsters, Inc. 3D and answer listeners' ever-so-slightly bonkers questions. Listen out for a passionate discussion of movie pet hates, and be sure to let us know your own over the next few weeks...

What are the curveballs thrown out by this week's Oscars nominations? Who's likely to trade blows (not literally) with Lincoln on the night itself? Empire kicks off the new year with an avalanche of analysis, chatter and Sebastian the Hedgehog references. (Yes, we're still doing that.) That isn't all this week, though. If you have a trip to Les Misérables planned then catch a fascinating chat with director Tom Hooper and Toby Jones talking about his portrayal of Hitchcock in The Girl.

2012 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 (see the 32 minute onwards for the likes of 'Death Of The Year' and so on) - then press play on this here podcast.

The final Empire Podcast of the year brings three directors into the studio, namely Christopher McQuarrie (Jack Reacher), Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) and Juan Antonio Bayona (The Impossible). For more podcast fun, be sure to download the second Hobbit Spoiler special, as well as the Review Of The Year special, which is due up on 31st December.

Pretty much all other big name releases are running scared this week, hiding in their metaphorical trolls' caves as The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey stomps into cinemas. So with that in mind, this particular Empire Podcast boasts three interviews with stars from said film, namely Andy Serkis (Gollum), Martin Freeman (BIlbo) and Richard Armitage (Thorin), as well as your regular dose of film-related fun and general movie blather.

Eric Idle, then. Member of Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Rutles and The Unseen University, he's been making people chuckle for years and years, be it on stage, TV screen, cinema, record player or in this instance, podcast recording booth. Here you can find out more about his ongoing Spamalot musical (and the court case it's currently embroiled in), his downloadable stage show What About Dick?, what it was like to shoot The Holy Grail and even his involvement in this year's Olympic Closing Ceremony. So for 40 odd minutes of Idle banter - sorry - click play immediately.

In the latest Empire Podcast, Seven Psychopaths' Sam Rockwell and Martin McDonagh talk about the latter's follow-up to In Bruges and the former's love of dancing on screen. Elsewhere, Warp Films' 10th anniversary is celebrated and Sightseers writers and stars Alice Lowe and Steve Oram stop by for a chat. Plus, the team try to work out exactly what it is about The Wolf from Pulp Fiction that makes him worthy of such a reputation...

A interview triple bill for you this week with actor Jake Gyllenhaal (End Of Watch), director Ben Wheatley (Sightseers) and producer Stephen Woolley (Great Expectations) all dropping by to talk a whole load of waffle with the Empire Podcast team. Elsewhere, the Star Wars Episode VII news round-up continues apace, Star Trek Into Darkness gets a synopsis and Susan Boyle biopic casting suggestions are made.

End Of Watch and Silver Linings Playbook are two movies well worth watching this weekend. Want more details than just that? Listen to this very podcast, and details are what you shall have - as well as more Star Wars Episode VII titbits, a discussion of journalism on film and an obligatory mention of Nick's very good friend, The Rock.

Graciously accepting our repeated offers to come round for a cup of tea, Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan (and the man behind The IT Crowd) popped in for a chat in front of some Empire Podcast microphones, and you can listen to the resulting interview in this very podcast. As well as some wise words from the man who came up with a character as bonkers as Father Jack, the Empire Podcast team review a pair of five star releases - namely Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master and Michael Haneke's Amour - as well as a million star one in the form of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2. Why a million stars? Well, you'll have to listen to the podcast to find out..

Appearing on this week's Empire Podcast are Kick-Ass and Wanted creator Mark Millar - and now head honcho of Fox's Marvel properties - and Skyfall writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. As well as those two interviews, there are discussions of actors that will put you off watching a movie entirely and the recent arrival of the trailer for World War Z. For all that and a whole lot more, click play or download or just subscribe to our RSS feed...

A huge piece of movie news arrived this week in the form of Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm for $4 billion and the announcement of Star Wars: Episode VII's release in 2015. Naturally, the first chunk of this week's Empire Podcast discusses this in depth, with the rest filled out by your usual dose of reviews, interviews (including Doctor Who's Matt Smith and Grass Roots' and American Pie's Jason Biggs) and other highly entertain cinematic bits and bobs.