Simon meets director Todd Haynes to discuss his thorny, new offering ‘May December’, which stars the powerhouse duo of Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman, and tells the story of a seemingly perfect married couple’s marriage buckling under the pressure when an actress arrives to do research for a film about their notorious tabloid romance twenty years prior. Mark also weighs in on the film, along with giving his thoughts on ‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’, the latest...

Simon sits down with actor-writer-director Emerald Fennell to discuss her new, star-studded, class-skewering, psychological thriller ‘Saltburn’, which sees an Oxford scholarship student drawn into the world of a charming aristocrat when he invites him to his family’s sprawling country estate.   Mark reviews ‘The Automat’, a Mel Brooks-fronted documentary centered on the vending machine popularised in the 20th Century that offered fresh cooked meals in a commissary-style eatery; ‘Anatomy of a...

This week, Simon sits down with the brilliant and always-interesting Gabriel Byrne for a philosophical chat about his turn as the legendary Irish playwright Samuel Beckett in ‘Dance First’, James Marsh’s experimental biographical drama. Their conversation is so good, there’s more of it in Take 2! Mark also gives his thoughts on the film, as well as reviewing ‘How To Have Sex’, cinematographer-turned director Molly Manning Walker's Cannes-winning feature debut about  a group of teen girls’...

This week, certified film royalty is in the studio! Mark and Simon sit down with Martin Scorsese’s legendary film editor, Thelma Schoonmaker, who is here to discuss restoring her late husband director Michael Powell’s equally legendary body of work as part of the iconic filmmaking duo Powell and Pressburger. She also talks about her own work with Scorsese. A must listen! Mark reviews the restoration of the Powell and Pressburger classic ‘Peeping Tom’, a psychological horror about a filmmaker...

Tristan Redman is a journalist who doesn’t believe in ghosts. But weird things happened in his teenage bedroom – weirder than normal. When, years later, he discovers subsequent occupants of his family home were haunted by the ghost of a faceless woman, he’s curious. Because by a strange coincidence, it just so happens that the house Tristan grew up in is right next door to a murder scene - where his wife’s great grandmother was killed by two gunshots to the face. Could there be a connection?...

Simon may be back in the studio, but this week Mark steps into the interviewer’s chair. He sits down with legendary documentarian Errol Morris to discuss his new film about the storied life and career of the equally legendary spy novelist, John le Carré. Mark also gives his take on ‘Foe’, a psychological sci-fi starring Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal as a married couple conscripted into an off-planet settlement program; and ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’, Martin Scorsese’s epic Western crime...

This week, Mark hosts the show alongside Take fave Ben Bailey-Smith. Ben sits down with one of Hollywood’s finest actresses Laura Linney to discuss her sentimental comedy-drama ‘The Miracle Club’, which follows a group of Dublin women in 1960’s Ireland as they embark on a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to Lourdes. Mark offers his own thoughts on the film, while also giving his take on ‘Blackberry’, a Glenn Howerton-starring biographical drama about the rise and fall of the world’s first...

This week, Simon sits down with director Gareth Edwards to talk about his new AI-centred sci-fi action thriller epic, ‘The Creator’. Mark reviewed this last week. Other films Mark gives his takes on include ‘The Exorcist: Believer’, the sixth instalment of the horror franchise, which sees Hollywood icon Ellen Burstyn reprise her role from the original film; ‘The Burial’, a Jamie Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones-helmed legal drama about a lawyer who helps a funeral home-owner save his family business...

This week’s episode sees Simon interview director Craig Gillespie, to discuss his film 'Dumb Money’, which is based on the true story of everyday people who flipped the script on Wall Street and got rich by turning GameStop(!) into the world's hottest company. Mark reviewed this in full last week. Other films Mark reviews include ‘The Creator’ - set against the backdrop of a war between humans and robots with AI, a former soldier finds a secret weapon, which turns out to be a robot in the...

The smash-hit interview podcast Out To Lunch is out now, with a sparkly new host on dining duty: the much loved British actor, comedian and writer Ade Edmondson. Ade takes guests such as Chrissie Hynde, Reece Shearsmith, Tony Visconti, Daisy Haggard and Ed Byrne to a top restaurant whilst you get to hear the witty and wonderous conversation. It’s like you’re sat at the table next to us. After breaking into the comedy circuit in the 1980s, Edmondson starred in countless British films and TV...

More Mark, more Simon, more mindless natter – and some movie reviews for good measure! This week’s episode sees Simon sit down with director and Take diehard Alice Troughton, who’s in the studio to discuss her film debut ‘The Lesson’, a mystery-thriller about an aspiring young writer who accepts a tutoring position at the estate of his literary idol only to become ensnared in a web of family secrets. Mark also offers his thoughts on the film, along with reviewing ‘Dumb Money’, Craig...

Don’t worry, Mark and Simon are back for good! This week’s episode sees Simon sit down with the humble and delightful Timothy Spall, who is in the studio to discuss his new film ‘Bolan’s Shoes’, a melodrama about the enduring legacy of childhood trauma and the deep bonds of sibling love set to the music of the film’s namesake, T-Rex's Mark Bolan. Our own iconic Mark also offers his thoughts on the film, along with reviewing ‘A Haunting in Venice’, Kenneth Brannagh’s stab at a Poirot...

Mark and Simon are finally back on land, having abandoned their canalboat somewhere near Slough, and, more importantly, Celine Song is in the studio to discuss her soulful debut feature ‘Past Lives’. The film is her directorial debut, and sees two deeply connected childhood friends reunited for one fateful week as they confront destiny, love and the choices that make a life. Plus, Mark reviews two new sequels, ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3’, the Portokalos gang’s latest outing directed by lead...

With Mark and Simon still having the time of their lives at sea, Anna Bogutskaya and Rhianna Dhillon are back to warm their seats with some sizzling, cinematic takes. Say a prayer to the cinematic powers that be because this week is a bumper week for interviews. Rhianna sits down with not one but two - yes two! - brilliant directors, Antoine Fuqua and Ira Sachs, to talk about their respective new films, ‘The Equalizer 3’, the final outing for Denzel Washington’s violent vigilante Robert...

With Mark deciding he simply hasn’t had enough of the UK’s waterways and heading back out to join Simon, Robbie Collin and James King are stepping in to co-captain The Take podcasting vessel.   James sits down with the funny and philosophical French writer, director and actor, Louis Garrel, to discuss his latest film ‘The Innocent’, a comedy-heist-come-family-farce that’s far more personal than you’d first think.    Robbie reviews ‘Scrapper’, a sunny, imaginative kitchen-sink drama starring...

This week sees Mark holding down the fort with fellow professional film watcher Robbie Collin.   In a special twist, both Mark and Robbie sit down for a brilliant conversation with British-acting-legend-in-the-making Harris Dickinson to discuss his sunny, new, kitchen-sink drama, ‘Scrapper’.  They also debate the merits of ‘Strays’, an R-rated comedy featuring the voices of Jamie Foxx, Isla Fisher and Will Ferrell, who play a motley crew of stray dogs, who team up to get revenge on one...

On his podcast, Dinner’s on Me, Jesse Tyler Ferguson is joined every Tuesday with big-name friends—like Julie Bowen, Sarah Hyland, Jim Parsons, Tracee Ellis Ross, Kristen Bell, Sara Bareilles and more—for a delicious meal and candid conversation that can only happen over a glass of wine. In this episode preview with “The Big Bang Theory” star and longtime friend, Jim Parsons, they discuss being openly gay in Hollywood, why “Spoiler Alert” is such a special film, and how he channeled his...

With Simon still chugging along on the UK’s glorious waterways, beloved actor and Take fave Sanjeev Bhaskar steps in to chat nonsense – ahem, review films - with Mark. Sanjeev speaks with director Neill Blomkamp about his new stranger-than-fiction biographical sports drama ‘Gran Turismo’, covering everything from Blomkamp’s motivations for making the film to the challenges of shooting in a moving race car - or as the directors puts it, a “motion sickness, nausea machine”. Mark offers his...

With Mark and Simon on their rip-roaring canal cruise, this week’s episode sees favorites Rhianna Dhillon and Anna Bogutskaya take the helm of the good Take ship. Rhianna speaks to writer and director Nicole Holofcener about her new film ‘You Hurt My Feelings’ - her view on drafting the script and how she takes feedback... Rhianna and Anna also review ‘Heartstopper’ Season 2, a Netflix series about two teens Charlie (Joe Locke) and Nick (Kit Connor) who are in the midst of navigating school...

With Mark and Simon setting off on their rip-roaring canal cruise, this week’s episode sees favourites Rhianna Dhillon and Anna Bogutskaya take the helm of the good ship Take. Rhianna chats to SAG Executive Vice President Ben Whitehair to find out more about the strikes, including what actors are fighting for and the wider implications for the industry. Anna reviews ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem’, the star-studded, Seth Rogen co-penned, computer-animated superhero outing,...

The humanity in growing old. Mattel's uncomfortable history. The undeniability of Ryan Gosling. This week’s episode sees Simon discuss all things ‘Barbie’, already one of the hottest – and pinkest – films of the year, with its wonderfully thoughtful co-writer and director Greta Gerwig. And if that’s not enough, Mark reviews the other big-hitter of the summer, ‘Oppenheimer’, Christopher Nolan’s epic biographical thriller about the scientist who developed the atomic bomb; and the second season...

The terror of wondering whether Tom Cruise has died. Writing the rulebook for shooting in a pandemic. The artistic mediocrity of AI. Even more Tom Cruise! This week’s episode sees Simon sit down for a chat with another iconic Simon, the brilliant Simon Pegg, who has once again strapped on his harness to join the Mission Impossible crew for its seventh stunt-filled, death-defying outing. Mark reviews ‘Medusa’, a drama about a young woman who leads a vigilante girl gang enforcing Christian...

An emotional interview with Pixar director and voice over, Peter Sohn, about his latest film ‘Elemental’. During the interview Peter opens up to Simon about why this film is particularly close to his heart. Mark reviews the seventh film in the Mission Impossible franchise, ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ starring Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell and Rebecca Ferguson, plus a new heartfelt documentary ‘Name Me Lawand’, which shows us the world from the point of view of a migrant whose...

‘Phoebe Waller-Bridge is a modern creative force’ who keeps Harrison Ford on his toes, according to director James Mangold, who has just directed the fifth film in the Indiana Jones franchise, ‘Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny’. Simon is remote from Denmark, so Mark takes the reins on this week’s interview, in which they discuss the genius of Phoebe Waller-Bridge and agree Toby Jones can do no wrong whilst talking about working with Harrison Ford... Mark reviews ‘Indiana Jones and The...

Work experience with Kenneth Branagh. A guardian angel dance troupe. The Simon Mayo cameo that could have been. This week’s episode features an interview with Aisling Bea and Lara McDonnell, who star as the younger and older iterations of the lead character in ‘Greatest Days’, a jukebox musical featuring the hits of Take That. Mark reviews ‘No Hard Feelings’, Jennifer Lawrence’s new, R-rated, coming-of-age sex comedy; ‘Nimona’, a computer-animated fantasy featuring the voices of Riz Ahmed...