Film Podcasts

pixelburp · 06-01-2021 4:50pm #1

Bit of a selfish thread here, as while feeding a newborn I've had a lot of time during the night, filled with podcasts to while away the time; have quickly run out of options but haven't really had many film-oriented ones in my stable.

Any suggestions from the community for good film podcasts - and why?

johnny_ultimate · 06-01-2021 4:54pm

Blank Check with Griffin and David is my comfort podcast. Don’t expect the most thorough or serious discussions, but just film fans shooting the **** about specific directors for 2.5 hours a week

homerun_homer · 06-01-2021 5:08pm

Films to be Buried With - with Brett Goldstein. Different guests each week, typically actors or comedians and they talk through 10 film picks, and more. He is often a bit too agreeable, and seems to love every movie mentioned by his guests but it is a really enjoyable listen

Kermode on Film.

The Rewatchables. Film fans round table talks about "the films they can't seem to stop watching.".

Script Apart. A Podcast about first drafts of movies with their writers.

The Movies That Made Me.

km991148 · 06-01-2021 5:08pm

Is Kermode and Mayo too mainstream for these parts as a review podcast?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lvdrj/episodes/downloads

Kingp35 · 06-01-2021 5:10pm

km991148 wrote: »

Is Kermode and Mayo too mainstream for these parts as a review podcast?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lvdrj/episodes/downloads

It's the only one I listen to bar the odd 'How did this get made' episode.

km991148 · 06-01-2021 5:14pm

Kingp35 wrote: »

It's the only one I listen to bar the odd 'How did this get made' episode.

I actually haven't listened to it for a cpl years.. not sure why it fell out my list.. maybe Mark was being too Mark like

Need to check it out again, maybe get the best of 2020..

pixelburp · 06-01-2021 5:58pm

km991148 wrote: »

Is Kermode and Mayo too mainstream for these parts as a review podcast?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lvdrj/episodes/downloads

I wouldn't have said as much; actually, my OP was a little bit of a lie as that's the one podcast I DO listen to, but mostly because I knew of their show via BBC Radio 5 (showing my age there lol)

Dades · 06-01-2021 6:50pm

I listen to the Now Playing Presents podcasts.
Mainly just a bunch of guys dissecting movies, new and old.
Some are behind a paywall, most are free.

The Film Stories podcasts are short, fun and interesting as well.
Simon Brew just tells the stories of how each movie got to the screen, production stories, etc.

Full_Circle_81 · 07-01-2021 2:36am

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Blank Check with Griffin and David is my comfort podcast. Don’t expect the most thorough or serious discussions, but just film fans shooting the **** about specific directors for 2.5 hours a week

This is definitely my favourite film podcast as well. The great thing about their approach is you can skim through their sizable back catalogue and just dive into to the directors you are a fan of.

While they are quite funny and never take things too seriously, they are extremely knowledgeable when it comes to movie production and the industry in general (one guy is an actor who grew up in the biz and the other a film critic), so I find their insider perspective quite insightful and interesting.

Just a word of warning, I'd give their early Star Wars podcasts a wide berth. They began as purely a Star Wars podcast show and their initial episodes dived into the movies in a painful amount of detail!

Sad Professor · 07-01-2021 11:28am

I haven't listened to a film podcast in ages. Most of them are of the aforementioned "two guys shooting the sh*t" variety, which I find too long and lacking in substance.

p to the e · 08-01-2021 3:24pm

David Tennant has a podcast where he interviews various film folk. And the "Kermode on film", as someone mentioned, is decent. Funny enough I only discovered today that Dot Cotton from Line of Duty has a long running podcast called "The Two Shot Podcast" if that's any use.

pixelburp · 08-01-2021 3:33pm

Thanks for all the suggestions; should mention as the OP that I've already tried a couple: The Rewatchables, which has had some interesting chatters about older movies; and Blank Check, which is kinda funny but yikes those podcasts run to 2.5 hours, that's longer than many of the movies they're chatting about lol

S.M.B. · 08-01-2021 5:10pm

I am probably guilty of spending more time listening to podcasts about movies than watching movies these days. I just simply have more time available to listen than watch at the moment.

I've always leaned towards US centric podcasts, not 100% sure why, I guess most pop culture I consume originates from there.

Film Podcasts I listen to in order of preference

/Filmcast - probably falls into the "film fans shooting the ****" category but that's not an issue if you like spending time listening to them and you feel that their tastes somewhat align with yours. Probably the podcast of any genre I've been listening to the longest.

Next Picture Show - a spiritual successor to the quality The Dissolve podcast. Usually involves looking at pairs of films and contrasting/comparing the two (eg Citizen Kane / Mank, The Dark Knight / Joker).

Unspooled - Paul Scheer and critic Amy Nicholson going through classic movies.

Blank Check - already explained in detail above.

Slate Spoiler Special - I listen to a lot of Slate podcasts and this usually deep dives into a movie scene by scene.

johnny_ultimate · 08-01-2021 5:27pm

pixelburp wrote: »

Blank Check, which is kinda funny but yikes those podcasts run to 2.5 hours, that's longer than many of the movies they're chatting about lol

I’d have been the same when it comes to podcasts for a long time: just couldn’t get into longer ones. But then they just became the thing I’d do while out walking (that’s usually at least 60-90 mins a day for me) or doing something around the house. I’m now at the point when anything under an hour seems short :eek: I do listen to a lot of punchier news and current affairs podcasts, but I’d say lockdown really just locked me in to the longer form ones.

As for: Blank Check for me is less that it’s funny (although producer Ben is an incredibly funny individual) or even that it’s thorough film analysis (I’ll turn to Sight & Sound for that). It’s more just that it’s good company with fun, passionate people. Although it does take a dozen episodes to be fully attuned to the various ‘bits’ :pac:

[Deleted User] · 05-02-2021 9:02pm

Sad Professor wrote: »

I haven't listened to a film podcast in ages. Most of them are of the aforementioned "two guys shooting the sh*t" variety, which I find too long and lacking in substance.

would agree.

most are very lazy affairs in terms of execution.

expectationlost · 09-02-2021 12:09am

Unspooled - Paul Scheer and critic Amy Nicholson going through AFI 100 classic movies is very good. Scheers voice is bit shouty and Nicholsan can be bit contrary for contrary sake but they both good funny people.

pm1977x · 09-02-2021 12:18am

FilmJunk, 3 Canadian guys (1 of whom is a director) shoot the s**t, but with one main topical review per week, recently entered the Guinness book of records for longest running film podcast, currently heading towards 800 episodes so quite a lot of in jokes by now and annoying/funny ironic use of a soundboard. They also do a great video games podcast GameJunk as 2 of them worked in the industry and a sports one BallJunk mostly American sports so not for me.

FunLover18 · 09-02-2021 9:14pm

I will second The /Filmcast; three guys shooting ****, they spend the first 40 minutes or so discussing news and what they've been watching and then will dedicate the rest of the podcast discussing one particular film, usually a new release.

F This Movie follows a similar format except the featured film is a lot more random, they do a lot of horror movies and occasionally they'll cover one of the bigger new releases.

Black Men Can't Jump (In Hollywood) is three black comedians/actors discussing the representation and roles of black people in Hollywood they cover one film per episode and I find it really interesting. Their episodes on Black Panther and Hidden Figures stand out as particular highlights.

Josey Wales · 09-02-2021 11:45pm

pm1977x wrote: »

FilmJunk, 3 Canadian guys (1 of whom is a director) shoot the s**t, but with one main topical review per week, recently entered the Guinness book of records for longest running film podcast, currently heading towards 800 episodes so quite a lot of in jokes by now and annoying/funny ironic use of a soundboard. They also do a great video games podcast GameJunk as 2 of them worked in the industry and a sports one BallJunk mostly American sports so not for me.

Great suggestion. I've been listening weekly since 2007.

jasonb · 10-02-2021 12:03am

Also try 'I Was There Too', don't think it's being made anymore but there are about 100 episodes you can listen to where the host interviews someone who was in a big movie or famous scene as an extra or background actor. Over time he gets some good character actors too, so it's not just unknowns, and it gives an interesting take or angle on well known scenes or movies.

Arghus · 10-02-2021 3:02am

A few that I listen too:

Filmspotting: the best pure review type one out there in my opinion. Great mix between high brow and accessibility

Unspooled: Quality can vary depending on what film they are discussing, but generally quite good.

Blank Check: Sometimes their humour grates on me, other times I find it hilarious. Often great insight into the behind the scenes production of the films being discussed and despite their "wackiness" they're often very perceptive about what they have to say in their reviews - but they can wear thin occasionally.

You Must Remember This: At it's best, this is one of the best podcasts of any type. Karina Longworth goes deep into different stories from movie history - often focusing on the private lives of those on screen, but bringing in issues of culture and history of the time as well. Always interesting, sometimes truly amazing.

The Projection Booth: Exhaustive - some of the episodes are over five hours long - discussions about a wide variety of films. Life is literally too short to listen to every episode, but if you want to listen to a discussion covering a favourite of yours from every angle, look no further. Usually have great guests to add to the discussion, often with first hand experience of a particular films production.

The Next Picture Show: Three critics take a film from the past and compare and contrast it to a similar film from the past. Haven't listened in a while, but I remember it always being pretty solid.

I used to listen to Kermode and Mayo. I still like Kermode as a reviewer, but just got sick of the banter and smugness of the show around those reviews, so I just gave up.

Didn't think much of The Film cast really. It was fine, but a bit run of the mill I thought - maybe that's changed, I haven't listened to an episode in a good long while. Filmspotting is also a podcast of a couple of guys sitting down shooting the sht, but I feel like I learn something out of it, the Filmcast...not so much.

Used to be a religious listener to How Did This Get Made, but it got a bit formulaic after a while. Having said that some of its early episodes - The Room, Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles and Punisher Warzone in particular - are absolute classics.

Davey Devil · 10-02-2021 3:20am

pm1977x wrote: »

FilmJunk, 3 Canadian guys (1 of whom is a director) shoot the s**t, but with one main topical review per week, recently entered the Guinness book of records for longest running film podcast, currently heading towards 800 episodes so quite a lot of in jokes by now and annoying/funny ironic use of a soundboard. They also do a great video games podcast GameJunk as 2 of them worked in the industry and a sports one BallJunk mostly American sports so not for me.

FilmJunk is also my favourite, the 3 lads have great chemistry. All different personalities. They also have a few friends on the odd time, my favourite being Reed Farrington who cracks me up!

S.M.B. · 10-02-2021 9:08am

Arghus wrote: »

Didn't think much of The Film cast really. It was fine, but a bit run of the mill I thought - maybe that's changed, I haven't listened to an episode in a good long while. Filmspotting is also a podcast of a couple of guys sitting down shooting the sht, but I feel like I learn something out of it, the Filmcast...not so much.

I used to listen to both on a weekly basis but for me it was filmspotting that I rarely listen to these days. Can understand why someone would prefer the more formal filmspotting compared to the more casual discussion of /Filmcast though.

speedboatchase · 10-02-2021 2:17pm

Dreamgun Film Reads - Irish comedy group rewrites scripts to famous movies and acts them out on stage. Very, very funny.

pm1977x · 10-02-2021 8:13pm

Davey Devil wrote: »

FilmJunk is also my favourite, the 3 lads have great chemistry. All different personalities. They also have a few friends on the odd time, my favourite being Reed Farrington who cracks me up!

Great to find a couple of Junkers on here!

Reed is gas, I used to think he was putting it on but no-one can be that consistently weird as an act!

fluke · 10-02-2021 8:47pm

FilmJunk all the way. F This Movie is top tier also.

I'd recommend Mad About Movies as well.

Josey Wales · 11-02-2021 10:59pm

Davey Devil wrote: »

They also have a few friends on the odd time, my favourite being Reed Farrington who cracks me up!

I can't stand Reed. Really struggle with the episodes he is on. I really like Dax. I actually commissioned Dax to do a family portrait for me. Turned out excellent.

pm1977x · 12-02-2021 7:55pm

Josey Wales wrote: »

I can't stand Reed. Really struggle with the episodes he is on. I really like Dax. I actually commissioned Dax to do a family portrait for me. Turned out excellent.

He was on again this week, I find it very funny how patient the others are with him (except Jay).

fluke · 13-02-2021 6:37pm

pm1977x wrote: »

He was on again this week, I find it very funny how patient the others are with him (except Jay).

Reed used to be far far more divisive.

Film Podcasts

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