Pop Culture Confidential

Christina is joined by prosthetics and makeup effects designer Pierre Olivier Persin to talk about his work on Coralie Fargeat’s body horror hit The Substance, a dark satire about beauty standards, aging, and the entertainment industry. His sensational work is already receiving awards buzz.

The Substance stars Demi Moore & Margaret Qualley.

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Bill Skarsgård joins Christina for a conversation about his role as Count Orlok in 'Nosferatu', one of 2024's most anticipated movies! Bill talks about first being introduced to the classic 'Nosferatu' (1922) by his father actor Stellan Skarsgård, his immense preparation for 'Nosferatu', working with director Robert Eggers, creating the voice, why he's attracted to playing villains and much more.

Photo: Shane Anthony Sinclair for Universal Pictures

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Ryan McQuade, Executive Editor of AwardsWatch.com, joins Christina to discuss the Golden Globe nominations, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association & NY Film Critic Circle winners, the AFI list and more. What these jam packed awards season weeks tell us about the Oscars!

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Christina is joined by actor and advocate Sean 'Dino' Johnson. Mr. Johnson stars in 'Sing Sing' (also starring Colman Domingo and Paul Raci) which follows a theater production at the maximum security prison Sing Sing. A moving film about the power of art.

The film is based on Mr. Johnson's actual RTA participation (Rehabilitation Through The Arts Program). He discovered the theater program while incarcerated at Sing Sing serving a 15 year prison sentence. Mr. Johnson talks to Christina about his personal experiences, the emotional journey making the film, his work as an advocate for at risk youth and much more.

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Christina is thrilled to have writer/director Sean Baker ('Tangerine'. 'The Florida Project') on Pop Culture Confidential! His wonderful new movie 'Anora' won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and is receiving major awards buzz.

In this wide ranging conversation Christina talks to Baker about 'Anora', Mikey Madison's career making performance, exploring the lives of sex workers in several of his films, how his own addiction and recovery factors into his stories, his writing process and much more.

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We are thrilled to have Ryan McQuade (executive editor, AwardsWatch.com) back for a jam packed episode! After an emotional week we thought it would be fitting to discuss what has made us emotional at the movies. We pick our most emotional scenes in 2024, so far. Plus our reactions to this week's big premiere Gladiator II. And from Ridley to Francis to Clint, we talk about octogenarian (and nonagenarian!) directors who are everywhere right now.

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Karla Sofía Gascón, groundbreaking star of ‘Emilia Pérez’! Catch my subtitled interview on YouTube or listen on Pop Culture Confidential.

The trans actress is making history this awards season! She talks to me about the incredible reactions from audiences to ‘Emilia Pérez’, her own difficult and inspiring journey, how she’d love to star in an action film next and much more. (This interview first aired in May 2024)

WATCH subtitled on YouTube. Exclusive interview with 'Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J8yQVQ5OT8&t=4s

‘Emilia Pérez’ premieres on US Netflix Nov 13th

Christina ha tenido el honor de hablar con una de las estrellas del festival de Cannes 2024, ¡Karla Sofía Gascón! Gascón nos habla de 'Emilia Peréz', la película dirigida por Jacques Audiard que ha sido la sensación de Cannes. Nos habla de la importancia que tiene esta película para ella como persona trans, su historia y mucho mas!

'Emilia Perez' narra la historia de la abogada Rita (Zoe Saldaña). Un día recibe una llamada telefónica de un poderoso extraño que resulta ser un capo del cártel. Manitas tiene una petición secreta: ayudarlo a desaparecer de su vida, incluidos sus hijos y su esposa Jessi (Selena Gomez), y someterse a una cirugía de confirmación de género para convertirse en la mujer que siempre quiso ser. Karla Sofía Gascón interpreta ambas papeles de Manitas y Emilia!

Christina had the honor of speaking to one of the stars of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, Karla Sofía Gascón! Gascón talks to us about 'Emilia Perez', the film directed by Jacques Audiard, which was a sensation at Cannes. She talks about how this film & role is important for her as a trans person, her story and much more!

'Emilia Perez' is about Rita (Zoe Saldaña), a lawyer, who one day receives a phone call from a powerful stranger who turns out to be a cartel boss named Manitas. Manitas has a secret request to help him disappear from his life, including from his children and his wife Jessi (Selena Gomez), and undergo gender confirmation surgery to become the woman she's always wanted to be. Karla Sofía Gascón plays both roles of Manitas and Emilia.

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With less than 2 weeks until the US election Christina is joined by journalist Chris Smith, contributing editor at Vanity Fair and best-selling author ofThe Daily Show (the Book), to discuss Harris and Trump's media strategies. They talk about the candidates many podcast interviews, media appearances and their messaging. If celebrity endorsements move the needle, Elon Musk, SNL, the political power of popular culture this election and much more.

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This is an encore episode (previously aired in Feb 2024)

When Robert and Trude Steen's son Mats passed away at age 25 from a degenerative muscular disease they grieved over what they thought had been an isolated and lonely life but what they found out would change everything. Mats, a gamer known as 'Ibelin' in World of Warcraft, had despite his physical disabilities formed strong friendships, fallen in love and was a beloved and vibrant member of his digital community.

Christina was honored to talk to Mat's father Robert Steen about Mats, his story and how it can give us deeper perspectives on gaming, on life and everything in between.

The documentary 'The Remarkable Life Of Ibelin' (dir Benjamin Ree) premieres on Netflix Oct 25th, 2024

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It's time for Pop Culture Confidential's first Oscar predictions episode of the season!

Ryan McQuade, (Executive Editor @ AwardsWatch) joins Christina for a huge Academy Awards predictions show. With the Venice, Telluride & Toronto film festivals behind us what is the state of the race? What films are dominating the awards conversation? Ryan & Christina dive into an exciting awards season!

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Christina had the honor of interviewing the brilliant Ken Leung! This bonus episode includes their previously unaired talk about the season finale of 'Industry' now that the episode has aired.

Christina is joined by actor Ken Leung for this wide ranging conversation! Ken Leung is electrifying in his role as Eric on Industry (HBO Max) which takes place in the cutthroat world of finance and is now on it's critically acclaimed third season.

Ken Leung's career includes roles on TV shows like Lost and The Sopranos and in the films Rush Hour, Spielberg's A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the upcoming Joker 2.

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Ryan McQuade (AwardsWatch) joins Christina to talk about the big film & movie news of the week! They talk about Saturday Night Live season 50's election cast (which includes Maya Rudolph as Kamala Harris and Dana Carvey as Joe Biden), Coppola's 'Megalopolis' and 'The Brutalist' written & directed by Brady Corbet.

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Ryan McQuade (Executive Editor AwardsWatch) joins Christina to review and discuss the new body horror film 'The Substance' from writer/director Coralie Fargeat. The film stars Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley & Dennis Quaid. Spoilers!

Plus 'Musical-fishing'! Why are studios hiding the fact that their movies are musicals in their marketing campaigns and trailers?

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It's a huge fall season for SNL! Saturday Night Live will be back for its 50th season on September 23rd and Jason Reitman's movie 'Saturday Night', (about the first ever SNL episode in 1975) premieres in October. Christina is honored to have Alan Zweibel on the show. Alan is an original SNL writer and a 5 time Emmy awards winner. (Josh Brener plays Zweibel in 'Saturday Night) Alan talks about seeing a movie about his first episode of SNL and takes us behind the scenes of the American institution that is Saturday Night Live.

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Christina joins The AwardsWatch Podcast to discuss their reactions to the films at the 51st Telluride Film Festival!

On episode 250 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson, Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello, and special guest Christina Birro of Pop Culture Confidential come together

The 2024 film festival season has begun and many of the biggest titles of the fall film slate, Oscar season are being released over the last week with both the Venice Film Festival and Telluride Film Festival. Based on our past episode, the Telluride Film Festival announced their line-up with the world premieres of Conclave, Nickel Boys, Saturday Night, The Piano Lesson, The End alongside with several other films, as well as movie that have premiered at other festivals like Anora, The Outrun, Maria, A Real Pain, September 5, Emilia Perez, and more. It made for a great lineup over the Labor Day weekend, and the group break down their time at the festival, talk about all the movies they saw above and more.

You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.

This podcast runs 2h01m. We will be back next week to discuss Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and talk about our favorite “legacy sequels.” Till then, let’s get into it.

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In a new Telluride Film Festival 2024 mini dispatch Christina talks to Erik Anderson of AwardsWatch.com about 'Nickel Boys', RaMell Ross narrative directorial debut.

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Our first dispatch from the 51st Telluride Film Festival! Christina is in the mountains of Colorado covering the legendary film festival. Christina talks about the exciting 2024 movie line up that was just announced yesterday. And talks to AwardsWatch Ryan McQuade about why Netflix buying Pablo Larraín's 'Maria', starring Angelina Jolie, sent shock waves through the film community. Stay tuned for more!

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Christina is honored to be joined by actor Ken Leung for this wide ranging conversation! Ken Leung is electrifying in his role as Eric on Industry (HBO Max) which takes place in the cutthroat world of finance and is now on it's critically acclaimed third season.

Ken Leung's career includes roles on TV shows like Lost and The Sopranos and in the films Rush Hour, Spielberg's A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the upcoming Joker 2.

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Nosferatu & Maria Callas. Guadagnino & Almodovar. Popes & Gladiators.

Ryan McQuade (AwardsWatch.com) joins Christina for a discussion about (a mostly:) thrilling season of movies ahead!

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A fantastic new season of 'Industry'! 'Squid Game' returns! New shows starring Cate Blanchett and Jeff Goldblum are on the schedule!

It looks like it's going to be an exciting TV season coming up this fall.

Tyler Doster (TV editor @ AwardsWatch.com) joins Christina for a rundown of 2024 fall/winter TV season

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Ryan McQuade (AwardsWatch) joins Christina to countdown their favorite movies of 2024 so far. A great mix! From Challengers to Hit Man and so many more. Plus the latest movie news, Horizon Part 2 heading to the Venice Film Festival, who will host the Oscars after Kimmel and Mulaney pass up the offer, Chalamet as Bob Dylan and much more!

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Paul Raci, Oscar nominated for his role in 2019's 'Sound Of Metal', is back on Pop Culture Confidential to talk about his phenomenal new film 'Sing Sing'!

The film centers on a group of inmates putting up a play at the maximum security prison Sing Sing through (the real) Rehabilitation Through the Arts Program. Mr. Raci, who plays theater director & group leader Brent Buell, stars alongside recent Oscar nominee Colman Domingo. The film also stars many formerly incarcerated men who were themselves real alumni of the program during their years in prison. The film is directed by Greg Kwedar who co-wrote the screenplay with Clint Bentley.

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It's June all summer! Christina talks to acting legend June Squibb. The 95 year old actor stars as Nostalgia in the summer's biggest hit 'Inside Out 2' and as Thelma in Josh Margolin's wonderful directorial debut. 'Thelma', about a grandmother determined to get justice after she's scammed out of ten thousand dollars, is a generational story and an action comedy. And Ms. Squibb does her own stunts!

June Squibb's career spans seven decades on the stage and screen. She starred in Woody Allen's 'Alice' and Martin Scorsese's 'The Age of Innocence'. She has played Jack Nicholson's wife, Adam Sandler's mother, & Lena Dunham's grandmother.

June Squibb was Oscar nominated for her role in Alexander Payne's Nebraska.

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From their studios at The Ringer/Spotify in downtown Los Angeles Christina visits with the brilliant TV critics and co-hosts of 'The Watch' Chris Ryan & Andy Greenwald! They talk, among other things, about their longtime friendship and collaboration. The latest seasons of TV and discuss: are we in a particularly good moment for multifaceted female characters. Talk about shows like The Bear, Shōgun & Presumed Innocent. TV this election cycle & mixed feeling about Clooney's op-ed. How criticism has changed through the decades and so much more

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Ryan McQuade (of AwardsWatch.com) joins Christina for a wide ranging discussion about Kevin Costner's four part, mega film project 'Horizon: An American Saga' and it's aftermath. Their thoughts on the first film. How will the lackluster reviews for part one and the slow box office affect the coming movies? They talk about filmmakers and their passion projects. What is Kevin Costner's legacy going forward and much more.

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Ryan McQaude joins Christina to discuss the new documentary 'I Am: Celine Dion'. Plus they countdown their 10 favorite celebrity docs, from Hearts of Darkness to Get Back to O.J.: Made in America and many more.

Plus a fantastic announcement! Ryan will be joining us on a more regular basis. Once a month we'll have Fridays with Ryan with more great deep-dives, reviews, rants & raves!

X @ryanmcquade77

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2024 Emmy voting is open! Christina is joined by NPR TV critic & media analyst Eric Deggans to discuss the 2024 Emmy year, nomination predictions, possible surprises and much more. Will it be a big year for the critically acclaimed shows Shōgun and Baby Reindeer? Will The Bear dominate again for its terrific second season?

Voting closes on June 24 and the 2024 Emmy nominations will be announced on July 17. The 76th Primetime Emmy Awards will air on ABC on Sunday, Sept. 15.

Eric Deggans is NPRs TV critic/media analyst and the author of "Race-Baiter: How Media Wield Dangerous Words to Divide a Nation"

x @Deggans

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Erik Anderson, Editor-in-Chief at AwardsWatch.com, joins Christina for some early Oscar predictions! What is the Oscar buzz post-Cannes and the spring festivals? What do we have coming up this summer and at the fall festivals?

Looks like it will be an incredible awards season! Particularly in the actress category; Amy Adams in 'Nightbitch' (will she get her seventh nomination?), Demi Moore, Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas, Karla Sofía Gascón who made a splash at Cannes & many more. So much to look forward to!

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Guest writer/director Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel talks to Christina about his fascinating first feature 'Armand', winner of the Cannes' Camera d'Or 2024. They talk about his ambitious and risky drama that revolves around a meeting between parents and school staff regarding an incident between two kids. On how he built the tension in the script, being inspired by '12 Angry Men' & Spielberg, what movies his grandfather Ingmar Bergman showed him, the brilliant Renate Reinsve and the 7 minute scene that required she take a 5 day break after filming.

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Ryan McQuade (Executive Editor, AwardsWatch.com) joins Christina to discuss the reasons behind the low box office numbers this Memorial Day weekend (Furiosa and Garfield), the state of cinema & streaming, and looking forward to even more fantastic, original, risk-talking cinema ahead!

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Christina ha tenido el honor de hablar con una de las estrellas del festival de Cannes 2024, ¡Karla Sofía Gascón! Gascón nos habla de 'Emilia Peréz', la película dirigida por Jacques Audiard que ha sido la sensación de Cannes. Nos habla de la importancia que tiene esta película para ella como persona trans, su historia y mucho mas!

'Emilia Perez' narra la historia de la abogada Rita (Zoe Saldaña). Un día recibe una llamada telefónica de un poderoso extraño que resulta ser un capo del cártel. Manitas tiene una petición secreta: ayudarlo a desaparecer de su vida, incluidos sus hijos y su esposa Jessi (Selena Gomez), y someterse a una cirugía de confirmación de género para convertirse en la mujer que siempre quiso ser. Karla Sofía Gascón interpreta ambas papeles de Manitas y Emilia!

Christina had the honor of speaking to one of the stars of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, Karla Sofía Gascón! Gascón talks to us about 'Emilia Perez', the film directed by Jacques Audiard, which was a sensation at Cannes. She talks about how this film & role is important for her as a trans person, her story and much more!

'Emilia Perez' is about Rita (Zoe Saldaña), a lawyer, who one day receives a phone call from a powerful stranger who turns out to be a cartel boss named Manitas. Manitas has a secret request to help him disappear from his life, including from his children and his wife Jessi (Selena Gomez), and undergo gender confirmation surgery to become the woman she's always wanted to be. Karla Sofía Gascón plays both roles of Manitas and Emilia.

A translated version to English will be out shortly!

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Another dispatch from the 2024 Cannes Film Festival! Christina talks about some of the stand-out performances from the fest.

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Christina continues covering the 2024 Cannes Film Festival! Today from the FURIOSA:A MAD MAX SAGA press conference with actors Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth & director George Miller.

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A short report from Cannes 2024! Christina talks about what she is looking forward to at the festival from Coppola to Lanthimos to following the brilliant jury lead by Greta Gerwig.

Stay tuned for more dispatches!

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We are honored to have the brilliant Kathryn Hunter on the show this week. The award winning actor has played both Lear and Richard III on stage and gives an extraordinary performance as the three witches in Joel Coen's 'The Tragedy of Macbeth'.

Ms Hunter talks to Christina about working with Francis Ford Coppola in his upcoming film 'Megalopolis', the tattooed madame of Lanthimos 'Poor Things', 'Andor,' her process and the horrific car accident that left her with a broken back but also transformed her approach to her work.

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The Netflix hit series 'Baby Reindeer' is based on Scottish comedian Richard Gadd harrowing experience being stalked by an obsessed woman as well as the trauma of sexual assault. Candice Frederick (Senior Culture Reporter @ Huffpost) joins Christina to unpack the series, process their reactions to it, talk about the important and complex issues it deals with, how some viewers are reacting to it and much more.

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Ryan McQuade (Executive editor AwardsWatch.com) joins Christina for a deep dive into Luca Guadagnino's latest film 'Challengers'.

Join us as we talk about the dazzling performances by Zendaya, Mike Faist & Josh O'Connor, the score, the spectacular tennis scenes, and the electric love triangle at its center.

Ryan McQuade on X @ryanmcquade77

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We have reached the finale of one of the best TV shows of the season! We're thrilled to have director Hiromi Kamata ('Let the Right One In', 'Monarch: Legacy of Monsters') join us to talk about 'Shōgun' & her incredible episode 'Ladies of the Willow World'. Ms. Kamata and Christina talk about the power of the women of 'Shōgun', why she showed the actors Bergman's 'Persona' & Wong Kar-wai's 'In the Mood For Love', and how 'Shōgun' was a personal journey for the director who is of Japanese and Mexican heritage. And much more!

Listen now!

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Variety's Senior Artisans Editor Jazz Tangcay joins Christina to discuss the huge, buzzy Hollywood titles that are hitting theaters this summer! 'The Fall Guy', 'Challengers', 'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga', 'Kinds of Kindness', 'Bad Boys: Ride or Die, 'Inside Out 2'', 'Twisters', 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice', just to name a few. They also talk about 'Joker: Folie à Deux' as well as Coppola's Megalopolis' which premieres at The Cannes Film Festival.

Listen now!

Follow Jazz Tangcay on X: @jazzt

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Ryan McQuade (AwardsWatch.com) joins Christina to discuss one of 2024s most anticipated, and possibly divisive, films Alex Garland's 'Civil War'. The first trailer left us with a lot of questions and certain expectations but the film turned out to be something else completely. Christina and Ryan discuss the film, the discourse, Alex Garland, the incredible performances and much more.

Spoilers around the 36 minute mark!

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NPR's TV critic & media analyst Eric Deggans joins Christina to talk about how the 2024 US election cycle is reflected in our popular culture. On the return of Jon Stewart. How are the late night talk shows meeting this political moment? What issues are TV creators exploring in shows like True Detective & Fargo as well as in the documentary series space.

Follow Eric Deggans on X @deggans

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Actor, author, icon! Molly Ringwald joins Christina for a wide ranging conversation about her role as Joanne Carson in Ryan Murphy's critically acclaimed series 'Feud: Capote vs The Swans', her iconic and seminal films with John Hughes and her complicated feelings about them, her Swedish roots and so much more. Listen now!

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We are honored to welcome writer/director Sofia Coppola to the the show. In this exclusive conversation we talk about adapting and approaching Priscilla Presley's unique story. Why and how this story resonated with Coppola at this moment in her career & life. How she can see Priscilla from several perspectives, her mother's generation and from the perspective of her own teen daughters. Capturing the the essence of Elvis, approaching the complicated aspects of their relationship and much more.

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"Oppy Oppy"! After Ryan McQuade's (AwardsWatch.com) stirring appreciation speech last week we had to have him back on to talk about Oppenheimer's magic night at the Oscars. Plus the best speeches, highlights, disappointments and surprises of the 96th Oscar ceremony.

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Oscar predictions 2024! Christina is joined by the best in the business: Executive Editor Ryan McQuade and Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson of AwardsWatch!

Ahead of Sundays' Oscar telecast they predict the winners in all 23 categories, talk about their most anticipated speeches, red carpet looks and much more.

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There are so many fascinating, passionate & chilling marriages explored at the movies this year. Maestro, Killers of the Flower Moon, Priscilla, Oppenheimer, The Zone of Interest, May December, to name a few! Ryan McQuade (Executive Editor @ AwardsWatch.com) joins us to dissect one of this years' big themes and discuss the state of matrimony at the movies!

x

@ryanmcquade77

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The brilliant sound designer Johnnie Burn talks to Christina about his research & emotional process creating the sounds of Auschwitz for Jonathan Glazer's powerful holocaust drama The Zone of Interest.

They also discuss his work with Yorgos Lanthimos on 'Poor Things', creating alien sounds for Jordan Peele on 'Nope' and much more.

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Award winning composer/producer Ludwig Göransson joins Christina to break down his journey scoring 'Oppenheimer', his process, influences and close collaboration with director Christopher Nolan.

Photo credits: Courtesy of Ludwig Göransson                            

Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures

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Christina talks to Andrew Haigh about his very personal journey writing and directing his beautiful film 'All of Us Strangers'.

As well as conversations with actors Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal & Claire Foy on their characters, love, loneliness, accidental cruelty and more. Listen now!

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We made it through the night country & everyone is talking about that finale! Christina talked to breakout star Finn Bennett ('Peter Prior') about Issa López 'True Detective: Night Country', his characters' almost biblical arc, working with Jodie Foster, his thoughts on Nic Pizzolatto's remarks, the incredible finale, the best fan theories and much more. Spoiler warning if you have not seen the finale!

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When Robert and Trude Steen's son Mats passed away at age 25 from a degenerative muscular disease they grieved over what they thought had been an isolated and lonely life but what they found out would change everything. Mats, a gamer known as 'Ibelin' in World of Warcraft, had despite his physical disabilities formed strong friendships, fallen in love and was a beloved and vibrant member of his digital community.

Christina was honored to talk to Mat's father Robert Steen about Mats, his story and how it can give us deeper perspectives on gaming, on life and everything in between.

A new documentary by Benjamin Ree called 'Ibelin' just won top prizes and accolades at Sundance and several Nordic festivals & will be out soon on Netflix.

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Erik Anderson & Ryan McQuade of AwardsWatch.com join Christina to discuss the 2024 Oscar nominations! The surprises, snubs, history making nominations and so much more!

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Critics Thelma Adams (The Wrap, Variety, AARP), Candice Frederick (Senior Culture Reporter @ Huffpost) and Christina pick their 10 most anticipated movies of 2024!

Follow on X:

Candice Frederick @ReelTalker

Thelma Adams @thelmadams

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Christina and Ryan McQuade (AwardsWatch) share their reactions to 2024 Golden Globe awards ceremony. Oppenheimers big night! The celebrities! The winners! The telecast! The jokes (or lack of:) & everything else. Listen now!

X: @ryanmcquade77

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We are starting off 2024 with Emmys predictions!

Tyler Doster, AwardsWatch TV editor, joins Christina to discuss, predict, agree & disagree.

The 2023 Emmys ceremony airs January 15th 2024 (delayed from September due to the strikes). Succession! The Bear! Who will win? How have the strikes impacted the Emmys? and much more. Tune in and listen!

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Academy award winning cinematographer Linus Sandgren joins us to talk about his incredible work on Emerald Fennell's visually stunning film Saltburn. Sandgren guides us through the gothic, vampiric style of the cinematography, how ugly & beauty work in tandem, their fascinating visual decisions regarding several twists in the film, and how he used 2 bathtubs for THAT scene that everyone is talking about.

Saltburn will stream globally on Prime Video from December 22, 2023

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Succession's final season has scored 27 Emmy nominations, 9 Golden Globe & 5 Critics Choice noms this awards season!

Don't miss Pop Culture Confidential's complete collection of Succession interviews. Christina's conversations with some of the incredible talent from all 4 season. More than 6 hours of exclusive interviews. Enjoy!

#awardsseason

1.Brian Cox 00.01.55

2.Jeremy Strong 01.01.30

3.Arian Moayed Interview 1. 01.46.10

4.Composer Nicholas Britell 02.34.06

5.Producer/Writer Georgia Pritchett 03.00.06

6.Arian Moayed Interview 2. 03.48.19

7.Justine Lupe 04.39.39

8.Brian Cox Live 05.21.49

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Strikes are over, Oscar season is heating up and the gang is back to together for a massive Oscar nomination predictions show! It's such an incredible season of movies. Erik Anderson, Sophia Ciminello & Ryan McQuade of AwardsWatch.com join Christina to banter, predict and discuss the year in film!

x

Erik Anderson @awards_watch

Sophia Ciminello @sophia_cim

Ryan McQuade @ryanmcquade77

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Singer-songwriter & four time Grammy winner Jason Isbell joins Christina for an exclusive & wide ranging conversation. They talk about his first major film role in Martin Scorsese's epic Killers of The Flower Moon, on sobriety, honesty in songwriting and in life & not staying silent about intolerance in the popular country music world or anywhere else.

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Christina was honored to moderate a Face2Face interview with iconic actor/director/author Ethan Hawke at the Stockholm International Film Festival where Mr. Hawke was presented with their Achievement Award 2023 .

The festival also screened 'Wildcat' directed by Hawke and starring Maya Hawke as American novelist Flannery O'Connor.

Maya Hawke also joined the conversation!

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Sean Fennessey, the brilliant host of 'The Big Picture' podcast & head of content at The Ringer, joins Christina for a great discussion on "writers in crisis"! This character type has been a constant in Hollywood & this year is no exception, with examples like Andrew Haigh's 'All of Us Strangers', Justine Triet's 'Anatomy of a Fall', & Cord Jefferson's 'American Fiction'.

On the show Sean & Christina discuss what makes the writer in crisis so fascinating, 2023s many interesting iterations and our 10 favorites historically, from Jack Torrance in 'The Shining', 'Barton Fink', 'Sunset Boulevard' and so many more.

Twitter @SeanFennessey

@theringer @TheBigPic

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Congrats to our super talented guest! Director & co-writer Mika Gustafson just won an award for best first feature at the London Film Festival & Best Director at the Venice Film Festival’s Orizzonti section for her directorial debut 'Paradise is Burning'.

Her film is a joyful, emotional & complex story about three sisters navigating a difficult situation with an absent mother and the threat of being separated by social services. We talk about her film, the importance of stories about teen girls, directing newcomers, influences and much more!

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Popular culture, movies, TV shows & books affect us in profound and surprising ways. Pulitzer prize winning author & data journalist Walt Hickey joins us to talk about his fascinating new book 'YOU ARE WHAT YOU WATCH.

Entertainment affects our biology, geopolitics and everything in between. Did you know that girls participation in archery doubled after 'The Hunger Games' came out or that watching a scary movie affects our bodies? Walt Hickey talks about the Pentagon's involvement in films like Top Gun, how Manga helped lift the Japanese economy and much more.

‘You Are What You Watch’ is out on October 24th, 2023.

Follow on X: @WaltHickey

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Academy Award winning filmmaker Errol Morris ('The Thin Blue Line', 'The Fog of War') joins Christina to talk about ‘The Pigeon Tunnel’ his captivating documentary & conversations with the late British intelligence officer & author David Cornwell aka John le Carré.

Christina and Mr Morris talk truth, betrayal, that history is chaos, interviews vs interrogations, Mr Morris "shut the fuck up" school of interviewing & much more

The Pigeon Tunnel premieres on AppleTV+ on October 20th

📸 courtesy AppleTV+

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Costume designer and 4 time Oscar nominee Jacqueline West (The Revenant, Dune) & lead Osage wardrobe consultant Julie O’Keefe join Christina to talk about Martin Scorsese's epic 'Killers of the Flower Moon', the incredible costumes, and art and history that went into their work.

'Killers of the Flower Moon' premieres in theaters on Oct. 20th, 2023

Pictures courtesy of Paramount

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Award-winning casting director and a real master of his craft John Papsidera joins Christina on Pop Culture Confidential!

Papsidera is one of Hollywood foremost casting directors. He has collaborated with director Christopher Nolan for many years and has cast most of his films including “Memento,” “The Dark Knight"-trilogy, “Interstellar", “Inception" and his latest "Oppenheimer"

His long list of credits also includes “Jurassic World,” &“Suicide Squad" and TV series such as “Westworld”, "The Offer", "Wednesday" and “Yellowstone.”

They talk about what went into assembling the incredible cast for 'Oppenheimer', his collabs with Chris Nolan, casting biopics, casting Heath Ledger as Joker, his thoughts on the strikes and AI and so much more.

📸 courtesy John Papsidera

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In part 2 of our coverage of the WGA strike, critic/WGA member Tom O'Brien (nextbestpicture.com) is back with us to discuss the key issues that have been settled in the tentative agreement between the Writers Guild and the studios.

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Breaking! After a 146-day long strike the Writers Guild has reached a tentative agreement with the studios & streamers. Critic/writer at nextbestpicture.com and WGA member Tom O'Brien joins us with the news!

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Congratulations Milad Alami! His film 'Opponent' has been selected as Sweden's International Feature Oscar submission. Revisit Christina's conversation with the writer/director from earlier this year.

Iranian/Swedish writer-director Milad Alami ('Opponent') joins the show. Mr Alami, who himself arrived to Sweden as a refugee at age 6, has made a powerful film about a refugees family, masculinity & freedom.

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TV editor Tyler Doster (AwardsWatch.com) joins Christina with insight and perspective on the breaking news out of the TV talk show universe this week:

16 current and former staff members of the Tonight Show spoke to Rolling Stone magazine about host Jimmy Fallons alleged erratic and toxic behaviour.

Drew Barrymore is under fire for reviving her daytime talk show amid the WGA, SAG strikes.

And what is the state of late night in general? Are people still watching in 2023? Listen now

X/Twitter: Tyler Doster @tylermdoster

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Christina joins forces with The AwardsWatch Podcast (Executive Editor Ryan McQuade, Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson and AwardsWatch contributor Sophia Ciminello) to give their reactions to the films they saw at the 50th edition of the Telluride Film Festival.

Two weeks ago on the podcast, Ryan, Erik, Sophia and Christina came together to preview the 2023 Telluride Film Festival. Flash forward to now where the gang arrived at the festival and spent five glorious days watching some of the biggest films of the year that we will be talking about throughout award season. Recorded on the last night of the festival, they breakdown some of the major world premieres that the lineup offered like The Bikeriders, Saltburn, All of Us Strangers, The Holdovers, NYAD, Rustin, as well as a couple of titles that premiered at previous film festivals like The Zone of Interest, Poor Things, and Anatomy of a Fall. The gang also discuss their experience at the festival, as this was Sophia and Christina’s first time in Telluride. They also briefly mention how the overall vibe of the festival was as the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes are still on-going during the festivities. 

You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.

This podcast runs 1h40m. We will be off next week as most of the AW podcast team will be at the Toronto International Film Festival. We will be back in two weeks to recap the show. Till then, let’s get into it. 

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Succession, one of the best shows in TV history, is coming to an end & with that we present Pop Culture Confidential's complete collection of Succession interviews! Christina's conversations with some of the incredible talent from all 4 season. More than 6 hours of exclusive interviews. Enjoy!

1.Brian Cox 00.01.55

2.Jeremy Strong 01.01.30

3.Arian Moayed Interview 1. 01.46.10

4.Composer Nicholas Britell 02.34.06

5.Producer/Writer Georgia Pritchett 03.00.06

6.Arian Moayed Interview 2. 03.48.19

7.Justine Lupe 04.39.39

8.Brian Cox Live 05.21.49

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Thanks for the invite! Christina had a great time on The AwardsWatch Podcast previewing the upcoming 50th edition of the Telluride Film Festival. We are sharing the episode here!

You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.

AwardsWatch Podcast #198: What Will Be and What We Want to See at the 50th Telluride Film Festival.

From AwardsWatch.com :

On episode 198 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson and AwardsWatch contributor Sophia Ciminello are joined by journalist and host of the Pop Culture Confidential podcast, Christina Jeurling Birro, to predict and preview the upcoming 50th edition of the Telluride Film Festival, whose official lineup will be announced on August 30.

We are less than ten days till the beginning of the fall film festivals, and thus the start of a brand new award season. While the Venice Film Festival is happening on the other side of the world, in the mountains of Colorado lies the small town of Telluride that will be the host of its 50th annual film festival that has been the launching pad for dozens of films Oscar chances. The Telluride Film Festival is known for being a director focused festival, taking titles from all around the world in it’s lineup, with plenty of world premieres of some of the biggest films of the fall. Erik and Ryan went last year, and talked about their experience at the 49thannual festival in a previous episode, and how that Labor Day weekend was the part of the award season momentum for titles like Women Talking, TÁR, Bardo, Aftersun and many more.

With this being Sophia and Christina’s first time going to the festival, the crew get together to talk about their festival expectations, how everyone is going to have to step up with festival outfit game compared to Erik, the films that won’t be at the festivals, the world premieres we expect to be there and the films from other film festivals that could and should be part of the lineup. The episode is full of laughs and insights into the start of another busy award season. Expect to hear back from the same crew in two weeks to wrap up the festival and see how many of the lineup shacked out.

You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.

This podcast runs 1h21m. We will be back next week to talk about our Top 5 Sports Movies in honor of the release of Gran Turismo. Till then, let’s get into it.

Music: “Modern Fashion” from AShamaleuvmusic (intro), “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).

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Labor strikes, box office hits & misses, Barbenheimer, superhero fatigue, the surprise and controversial hit Sound of Freedom, Hollywood's box office battle in China...it's a lot...

Ryan Faughnder, LA Times entertainment industry reporter & author of The Wide Shot newsletter, joins us to unpack a summer Hollywood won't forget!

Subscribe to The Wide Shot newsletter here:

https://www.latimes.com/newsletters/sign-up-for-wide-shot

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We dive deep into the career of actor/producer Margot Robbie! This just as her film 'Barbie' (which she produced and stars in ) is about to top one billion dollars globally at the box office.

Sophia Ciminello (co-host of the Oscar Wild podcast and writer at AwardsWatch.com) joins Christina to talk about Robbie's fearless acting in films like The Wolf of Wall Street, I, Tonya & Birds of Prey. And as producer with films and TV like Promising Young Woman, The Maid, and of course Barbie.

Follow Sophia on twitter @sophia_cim

@OscarWildPod

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On July 14th, more than 160,000 actors joined the screenwriters, on strike since May, for the first dual strike since the 1960s.

We are joined by Kevin E. West, member of the SAG-AFTRA negotiating & organizing committees, author, and founder of The Actor’s Network. Mr West is a veteran TV actor with roles on shows including CSI, Criminal Minds, Bones, Lost, The Righteous Gemstones and more

Mr West takes us behind the scenes of the negotiations and talks about what is at stake in what the actors & writers are calling "an existential battle"

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The biggest movie weekend of the summer is here and Ryan McQuade, executive editor AwardsWatch.com, joins us for a huge Barbie & Oppenheimer discussion. Spoilers!

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Editor-in-Chief Erik Anderson & TV editor Tyler Doster of AwardsWatch join Christina to talk about their reactions to the 2023 Emmy nominations.

Plus, as the writers' strike continues Hollywood is bracing for the actors to join them. We discuss the ramifications.

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Summer encore! Christina's interview with director Sam Feder who joined us to talk about his critically acclaimed documentary 'DISCLOSURE: Trans Lives on Screen', watch it on Netflix! The doc looks at transgender representations in film, television and media through interviews with trans actors, artists and activists including Laverne Cox, Lilly Wachowski, Yance Ford, Jen Richards and Chaz Bono. A history filled with with stereotypes, tropes, heartbreak, bravery, and progress. Sam Feder talks to Christina about trans representation through Hollywood history (from DW Griffith, to Ace Ventura, The Crying Game, to Pose) , working with an almost all trans crew, the paradox of visibility, his thoughts on J.K Rowlings' anti trans sentiments and how she should really see Disclosure and so much more. Listen now!

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Reporter, critic & author Maureen Ryan has been covering the TV & film industry in Hollywood for over three decades. Ms. Ryan joins Christina to talk about her NY Times bestselling book 'Burn it Down: Power, Complicity and a Call for Change in Hollywood', an investigation into patterns of misconduct, abuse and racism in Hollywood.

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Eighteen year old Grace Edwards stars in Wes Anderson's new film 'Asteroid City & joins Christina to talk about working with director Wes Anderson, on what she learned from co-stars Scarlett Johansson, Jeff Goldblum and more!

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Ahead of the much awaited premiere of season two of 'The Bear' this summer we revisit Christina's conversation with actor Ebon Moss-Bachrach! A conversation about his incredible performance, "cousin" Richie, how a frustrating character can fill you with compassion and a whole lot more from Mr Moss-Bachrach, who's career includes memorable roles in Girls, The Dropout and the Star Wars series, Andor.

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Ryan McQuade of AwardsWatch.com joins to Christina to talk about a big month at the movies, June 2023. The big titles, box office, what's going on with the Golden Globes and more. From 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' to Pixars latest. 'Elemental'. The tender 'Past Lives', Wes Anderson's 'Asteroid City'. The controversial Flash film & much more.

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Revisit! We are thrilled to welcome back creator/writer/director/exec producer Craig Mazin (The Last of Us, HBO)!

Last time Mr Mazin was on Pop Culture Confidential we talked about his masterpiece 'Chernobyl'. He's back with the TV adaptation of the beloved game 'The Last of Us' which fans & critics are already calling -the best tv/film adaptation of a game ever!

Join us for this fascinating conversation about the process behind creating 'The Last of Us'.

'The Last of Us' is airing now in HBOMax

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Erik Anderson & Ryan McQuade of Awardswatch.com join Christina to discuss Succession and the masterful series finale!

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A psychological architect of film, editor Timothy Good! On this special episode, recorded live at the Nordic Media Days Festival in Bergen Norway, we dive into editor Timothy Good's unique work with Craig Mazin's acclaimed series 'The Last of Us'. His process, the emotional depth of the editing and beautiful episode 3 'Long, Long Time' starring Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett as Bill & Frank.

Twitter;

Timothy Good, ACE @timothygood

Nordiske Mediedager @mediedager

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When educator and activist Leila Steinberg was 25 years old she met a 17-year-old named Tupac Shakur. Music, poetry and social justice united them. She became involved in his career as his manager until 1993. Christina meets Leila Steinberg for a conversation about her journey, activism, Tupac and the incredible documentary series, 'Dear Mama: The Saga of Afeni & Tupac Shakur' directed by Allen Hughes (FX) in which she is featured & interviewed.

Leila Steinberg instagram leila_steinberg

https://www.aim4theheart.org

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What actors will get you to the theater? A new major survey by the National Research Group asked consumers to name five actors that would make them most interested in seeing a movie in a theater & the results are fascinating: like that the average age of the top 20 is 58 years old!

Erik Anderson & Ryan McQuade (awardswatch.com) join Christina for an interesting, fun & occasionally heated :) conversation about the results of the study, todays movie stardom & their own top 5 actors get them into theaters!

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Hollywood writers to strike as the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) have failed to reach a an agreement.

Film critic, writer and WGA member Tom O'Brien (Next Best Picture) joins us with the latest.

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Gerwig, Scorsese, Nolan! The Flash, Napoleon & Oppenheimer. We have a massive summer & fall ahead of us at the movies. Critic Thelma Adams (Variety, The Wrap) joins us to discuss some of the biggest and buzziest releases coming up in 2023!

Twitter @thelmadams

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We are joined by the talented Kylie Rogers, starring in Ari Aster's much anticipated 'Beau is Afraid' & as young Beth on the mega TV hit 'Yellowstone'. We talk about starting her acting career at age 8, how Dennis Hopper is an inspiration for her character in 'Beau is Afraid', working with Aster & Joaquin Phoenix, her most challenging scene on 'Yellowstone and much more.

'Beau is Afraid' premieres in US theaters on April 21st, 2023

📸 Kristine Canterbury

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The critically acclaimed HBO hit 'Barry' just began airing its fourth and final season. We thought it would be fun, and a little bittersweet, to revisit Christina's conversation with TV icon Henry Winkler from season 1 of “Barry”! They talk about 'Barry', working on "Arrested Development", the influence of "Happy Days", living with dyslexia, jumping the shark, and much more.

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Candice Frederick, Senior Culture Reporter at HuffPost, joins Christina to talk about April's interesting TV shows & themes. Netflix Beef , Tiny Beautiful Things, Dead Ringers, Fatal Attraction, the return of Yellowjackets and much more!

Twitter Candice Frederick @ReelTalker

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Iranian/Swedish writer-director Milad Alami ('Opponent') joins the show. Mr Alami, who himself arrived to Sweden as a refugee at age 6, has made a powerful film about a refugees family, masculinity & freedom.

'Opponent' was featured in the Panorama Section of the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year and premiered in Sweden in March. The Paris-based sales company Indie Sales has boarded the film.

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The brilliant and talented Justine Lupe joins us. We talk about 'Willa' and the fascinating journey her character has taken with the Roy family. The women of Succession. Willa & Connor's engagement and where they stand as we begin the final season of Succession. On Lupe's career, working with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeremy Strong, the writers & cast of Succession and saying goodbye to one of TVs best shows!

📸 Emily Knecht.

HBO

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Ryan McQuade (AwardsWatch, InSession Film) joins Christina to discuss Ben Affleck's 'Air', 'Tetris', & movies about the entrepreneurial spirit! From the Social Network to Moneyball.

The good, the bad and... the Beanie Babies?!

Twitter: @ryanmcquade77

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A special episode of Pop Culture Confidential! Christina in conversation with the great Brian Cox, celebrating the premiere of the last season of Succession.

Recorded at the premiere event in Stockholm, Sweden. Thanks to HBO Max Nordic and HBO Max!

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As writers and studios negotiate, Hollywood prepares for a possible strike. We break down what's at stake.

We are joined by Tom O'Brien, writer Next Best Picture. Contributing writer for GoldDerby. Member of WGA West

Recorded Thursday March 23rd 2023

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Christina & Ryan McQuade of Awardswatch.com break down and recap Oscars95!

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Thrilled to have Michael Barone of the podcast 'Mike, Mike, and Oscar' join us to analyze everything we need to know about this years' exciting Oscar season & how it has led up to Academy Awards 2023. The narratives, the festivals, what films made it all the way through and which lost steam, the surprises, the scandals, the Vegas odds, the beautiful EEAAO journey and much more. All leading to how we are predicting the big night on Sunday!

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Michelle or Cate? Brendan or Austin??!! It's finally here! It's our 2023 Oscar predictions special and we are thrilled to have editor-in-chief of AwardsWatch.com Erik Anderson with us again to predict the Oscar winners in a year that could be filled with historic wins and surprising upsets.

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Producer/Screenwriter Lesley Paterson is a powerhouse... yes, she is also a world champion triathlete. Paterson talks to Christina about her 16 year fight to make 'All Quiet on the Western Front', now nominated for 9 Oscars. How she used prize money from her sporting events to fund the book option year after year. Even competing & swimming with a broken arm to keep the dream of the film alive.

The Bafta winner talks about her journey as well as the research, writing and developing All Quiet on the Western front, the 1929 German novel by Erich Maria Remarque about the horrors of WWI and the young men lost in the trenches.

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We did the thing! Executive Editor at AwardsWatch.com Ryan McQuade joins Christina to recap the Baftas 2023. We discuss the winners the shockers, All Quiet on the Western Front taking the night and what it all means as the Oscars approach!

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In a new dispatch from the fest Christina talks to some really incredible women on creating and shaping their characters and their films! Filmmaker and juror Angie Wang talks about her film MDMA (2017) inspired by her own history dealing Ecstasy, on underrepresented voices in the industry and more. And actors Nina Hoss (TÁR), Danielle Deadwyler (Till), Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin) on creating their characters

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Director Alison Millar talks to Christina from The Santa Barbara International Film Festival about her brilliant doc 'Lyra'. The film is about the life, work and tragic death of her friend, Northern Ireland’s fearless young reporter Lyra McKee. It's executive produced by Hillary & Chelsea Clinton.

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In our first dispatch from The Santa Barbara International Film Festival Christina talks to Oscar nominated artisans and filmmakers ahead of their panels and tributes at the festival!

Composer Ryan Lott of the band Son Lux ' 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' 

Prosthetics Makeup designer Adrien Morot 'The Whale'

Writer, Director, Producer Todd Field 'TÁR'

Sound designer Markus Stemler 'All Quiet on the Western Front'

Production Designer Florencia Martin 'Babylon'

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Actor Jeremy Strong (Succession, Armageddon Time) is receiving the prestigious Virtuosos Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2023 later this week. As Christina is visiting the festival we thought we'd revisit our conversation with Jeremy Strong. This conversation was recorded ahead of season 2 of Succession!

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Our conversation with Craig Mazin continues. This is the full episode including our conversation on episode 3 starring Nick Offerman & Murray Bartlett.

We are thrilled to welcome back creator/writer/director/exec producer Craig Mazin (The Last of Us, HBO)!

Last time Mr Mazin was on Pop Culture Confidential we talked about his masterpiece 'Chernobyl'. He's back with the TV adaptation of the beloved game 'The Last of Us' which fans & critics are already calling -the best tv/film adaptation of a game ever!

Join us for this fascinating conversation about the process behind creating 'The Last of Us'.

'The Last of Us' is airing now in HBOMax

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As Christina is travelling a few days this week we are revisiting some popular episodes 😃.

Emmy, Golden Globe & Critics Choice nominated for her role on the ABC hit sitcom 'Abbott Elementary', actor Janelle James on Pop Culture Confidential!

Ms. James talks to Christina about her incredible performance as Principal Ava, her stand-up career (she's opened for Chris Rock & Amy Schumer) and much more!

Photo: ABC

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As Christina is travelling a few days this week we are revisiting some popular episodes 😃. First up:

Writers Will Tracy (Succession) & Seth Reiss (The Onion) join Christina to talk about their excellent, dark satire 'The Menu', starring Ralph Fiennes & Anya Taylor-Joy.

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Ryan McQuade of AwardsWatch and InSession Film joins Christina to talk about what they saw at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Their favorite films, trends and filmmaker discoveries of the year!

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Erik Anderson & Ryan McQuade (AwardsWatch.com) join Christina to talk about their reactions to the 2023 Oscar nominations!

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A podcast special! In Dec 2022 Christina moderated a live event: 'A Man Called Otto' Masterclass with Tom Hanks & Rolf Lassgård ('Ove' of the Swedish original 'En Man Som Heter Ove') as well as with producers Rita Wilson & Fredrik Wikstrom Nicastro.

Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60gIfau_S6A

'A Man Called Otto' is produced by SF Studios and Playtone & distributed globally by Sony. The movie is now in theatres.

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We are thrilled to welcome back creator/writer/director/exec producer Craig Mazin (The Last of Us, HBO)!

Last time Mr Mazin was on Pop Culture Confidential we talked about his masterpiece 'Chernobyl'. He's back with the TV adaptation of the beloved game 'The Last of Us' which fans & critics are already calling -the best tv/film adaptation of a game ever!

Join us for this fascinating conversation about the process behind creating T'he Last of Us'.

This is part 1 of our conversation. In part 2 we talk, in depth, about the fantastic third episode of The Last of Us. We will release that part of the conversation after HBO has aired epi 3 on Jan 29th.

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Emmy, Golden Globe & Critics Choice nominated for her role on the ABC hit sitcom 'Abbott Elementary', actor Janelle James on Pop Culture Confidential!

Ms. James talks to Christina about her incredible performance as Principal Ava, her stand-up career (she's opened for Chris Rock & Amy Schumer) and much more!

Photo: ABC

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HAPPY NEW YEAR. Cocaine Bear, Oppenheimer, Barbie! The Last of Us & Succession! Christina and Matt Neglia (Editor-in-Chief @ NextBestPicture.com) talk about some of their most anticipated films & shows releasing the first half of 2023!

Twitter: Matt Neglia @NextBestPicture

#meg3n #cocainebear #chevalier #knockatthecabin #infinitypool #barbie #johnwick4 #supermario #flash #guardiansofthegalaxy3 #themarvels #renfield #indianajonesandthedialofdestiny #MissionImpossibleDeadReckoning #scream #astroidcity #mafiamamma #oppenheimer #thelastofus #shrinking #succession #daisyjonesandthesix #pokerface #barry #truedetectivenightcountry 

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Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch Erik Anderson joins us for our end of the year best, and worst, film experiences 2022! Happy Holidays!

Twitter: @awards_watch

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We revisit our episode with icon Dee Wallace & celebrate E.T. 40 years!

Ms Wallace talks about her iconic roles, from Cujo to E.T., the Spielberg classic celebrating 40 years this year! Her role as Mary, the kids' mom in E.T., is one of the most heartfelt portrayals of a single mom on screen. The role, and the film, has meant so much to many generations of film lovers!

We also talk about her latest book Born, & how to ask for what you want and need from life.

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Actor Shelia McCarthy (Greta) joins us to talk about the upcoming 'Women Talking', a powerful new film written/directed by Sarah Polley and based on the novel by Mariam Toews. We talk about McCarthys' emotional and compelling performance, unpacking the difficult conversations, the need for humor and love and much more!

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A while ago, on episode 304, we dove deep into Steven Spielberg's most personal movies and how his family has so often been a part of his storytelling. Now Ryan McQuade (AwardsWatch, InSession Film) joins Christina again to discuss The Fabelmans, Spielberg's autobiographical new film, starring Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Gabriel LaBelle and Seth Rogan

Twitter @ryanmcquade77

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Writers Will Tracy (Succession) & Seth Reiss (The Onion) join us to talk about their excellent, dark satire 'The Menu', starring Ralph Fiennes & Anya Taylor-Joy.

In theatres Nov 18th!

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Film critic Zoë Rose Bryant joins us to talk about Damien Chazelle's "Babylon", the upcoming epic about 1920's Hollywood starring Brad Pitt & Margot Robbie. Plus a deep dive into the most essential films about Hollywood, from Singin' in the Rain and Sunset Boulevard to Boogie Nights and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Twitter @ZoeRoseBryant

Awards Editor: @WeLiveEntmt Writer: @NextBestPicture @Awards_Watch

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Academy Award winning director Laura Poitras joins us to talk about her urgent and powerful documentary 'All The Beauty And The Bloodshed' that portrays the life of groundbreaking photographer & activist Nan Goldin.

Godin survived an overdose to fight the opioid epidemic. Her main focus, to take down the billionaire Sackler family and the institutions who take their money. The Sacklers, owners of Purdue Pharma, have donated millions to art institutions around the world

Laura Poitras won the 2022 Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for her film

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‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’ , a parody of “based on true story biopics,” has premiered on The Roku Channel and we thought this is was perfect time to revisit our fun conversation with ”Weird Al”!

We are thrilled to be joined this week by an icon of American pop culture, the parody king and the coolest man with an accordion, ”Weird Al” Yankovic. He’s sold over 12 million albums, spoofed the biggest artists from Michael Jackson, to Nirvana, to Coolio, to Miley Cyrus. A career that spans four decades. Join us for a conversation about his musical process, capturing the zeitgeist, asking Kurt Cobain and Sir Paul McCartney for permission to parody their music, the pure magic of the accordion, and much more.

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So feckin' good! Ryan McQuade (Executive Editor Awardswatch.com, Editor/Co-Host InSessionFilm) joins us for a deep-dive into Martin McDonagh's critically acclaimed new feature The Banshees of Inisherin. We talk about the powerful & razor sharp themes of regret and existential crisis, the humor, the tears and the shocking twists. Don't miss!

and fyi, SPOILERS!

Follow Ryan McQuade on twitter: @ryanmcquade77

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The wait is finally over! The second season of The White Lotus, Mike White's Emmy winning,  genius satire about wealth, privilege and class premieres soon.

We talk to actor Tom Hollander (Pirates of the Caribbean, In the Loop, Pride & Prejudice) who plays Quentin, an English expat vacationing with his friends, and Leo Woodall (Cherry, One Day) who plays his nephew Jack.

The White Lotus on HBO Max

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Had a fantastic time talking about the horror genre with film critic & podcast host William Bibbiani (The Wrap, The Critically Acclaimed Network)!

We talk about how and why 2022 horror is making a killing at the box office, from 'Smile' to 'Barbarian' to 'Halloween Ends’. How the horror genre can help us process terrifying realities, from misogyny to living through a pandemic. How a studio like A24 and directors like Jordan Peele & Robert Eggers are doing groundbreaking work. Plus William Bibbiani's all time favorite jump scare and so much more!

Happy Halloween!!

Follow William Bibbiani :

on twitter @WilliamBibbiani

Critically Acclaimed Network patreon: www.patreon.com/criticallyacclaimednetwork

SaltCatSoap (handmade fancy soaps!): www.patreon.com/saltcatsoap

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Editor-in-chief Erik Anderson of AwardsWatch.com joins us again to cover the exciting race towards the Oscars 2023! What are this years Oscar-race narratives? We talk Brendan Fraser, Blanchett, Spielberg, love us some Banshees, disagree on a few screenplay predictions, talk about Will Smith and his possible come-back post slap, and the return of the Golden Globes, how will the industry & the stars handle that?! Tune in!

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17 year old Lane Factor is a rising star! He was only 14 when he auditioned and got the part in the groundbreaking, hit show "Reservation Dogs". We talk about his role as 'Cheese', his Native American background, working with Sterlin Harjo & Taika Waititi, the emotional scenes that were really personal to him, working with Steven Spielberg in his upcoming film 'The Fabelmans' and much more!

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Candice Frederick, Senior Culture Reporter @huffpost joins Christina for a discussion on the film 'Blonde', based on a novel by Joyce Carol Oates, directed by Andrew Dominik and starring Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe

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Actor Daisy Edgar-Jones ('Normal People', 'Fresh', 'Under the Banner of Heaven') joins us to talk about her film 'Where the Crawdads Sing', based on the global best seller. Also, on working with producer Reese Witherspoon, playing survivors, wanting to play the villan, and much more!

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Revisit our interview with actor Ebon Moss-Bachrach! He joins Christina for an exclusive deep-dive into this summers' TV hit, 'The Bear'! A conversation about his incredible performance, "cousin" Richie, how a frustrating character can fill you with compassion and a whole lot more from Mr Moss-Bachrach, who's career includes memorable roles in Girls, The Dropout and the Star Wars series, Andor.

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This was fascinating, fun.... and personal! Ryan McQuade joins me for this deep dive into Steven Spielberg's most personal stories, ahead of his semi-autobiographical new film The Fabelmans. Spielberg has so many times processed his childhood, his parents, their divorce, his traumas, through his stories. From Close Encounters to Indiana Jones to Catch Me if you Can and beyond you can find Spielberg working out his own life in his films. Ryan McQuade and Christina take a journey though these powerful themes in Spielberg's career!

Twitter: @ryanmcquade77

.

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A wonderful conversation with writer/director Kogonada about his film ‘After Yang’, memory, feeling displaced, being in the present, the love of movies, ‘Pachinko’ and much more

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Writer/director Rebecca Zlotowski joins Christina at the Venice Film Festival 2022 to talk about 'Other People’s Children', her critically acclaimed new film!

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Venice Film Festival dispatch! Writer, critic & film student Connor Lightbody joins Christina in Venice to review and discuss 'Don't Worry Darling', 'The Whale' and 'The Eternal Daughter' 

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Actor Jared Harris and director Adrian Sibley join me, at the Venice Film Festival, to talk about their powerful documentary "‘The Ghost of Richard Harris’.

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Venice Film Festival dispatch nr 3! Financial Times editor, film critic/writer Raphael Abraham joins Christina in Venice to review and discuss 'Bones and All', ''All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, 'Monica', 'Master Gardner'

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Venice Film Festival dispatch nr 2! Critic and writer Tom O'Brien (NextBestPicture.com) joins Christina in Venice to review and discuss their first reactions to 'Tár' and 'Bardo'!

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Venice Film Festival dispatch. Critic and author John Bleasdale joins Christina to review and discuss their first reactions to Noah Baumbachs 'White Noise'... hint... they both LOVE it!

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Critic & awards expert Thelma Adams joins Christina to predict the exciting 2022 Emmy awards!

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Sara Dosa, director Sundance-winning documentary 'Fire of Love, joins us to talk about her incredible film following French volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft. A love story like no othe!. We talk about the Kraffts unique and powerful footage, their passionate relationship and their untimely death at the foot of Japans' Mount Unzen.

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Actor Ebon Moss-Bachrach joins Christina for an exclusive deep-dive into this summers TV hit, 'The Bear'! A conversation about his incredible performance, "cousin" Richie, how a frustrating character can fill you with compassion and a whole lot more from Mr Moss-Bachrach, who's career includes memorable roles in Girls, The Dropout and the upcoming Star Wars series, Andor.

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Actor Daisy Edgar-Jones ('Normal People', 'Fresh', 'Under the Banner of Heaven') joins us to talk about her new film 'Where the Crawdads Sing', based on the global best seller. Also, on working with producer Reese Witherspoon, playing survivors, wanting to play the villan, and much more!

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The multi-talented actor Keke Palmer joins us! We talk about her critically acclaimed performance in Jordan Peele's horror-sci fi 'NOPE', how her 20 year career & experiences growing up as a child star informed her role in Nope, the films' themes of the scary side of fame and Hollywood and so much more.

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Matt Neglia, editor-in-chief of NextBestPicture.com joins us for an in-depth examination of ' The Bear' the excellent, surprise hit of the summer! The powerful themes, the cast, the filmmaking, we cover it all.

Christina will doing deep dive, review episodes more regularly on Pop Culture Confidential. Send us your suggestions on the films & shows you'd like to hear about!

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This week we are joined by the cast & creators of the new series 'A League of Their Own': co-creator and star Abbi Jacobson, co-creator Will Graham, D’Arcy Carden, Chanté Adams, Roberta Colindrez, Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Priscilla Delgado, Molly Ephraim, Melanie Field & exec producer Desta Tedros Reff!

The series, which premieres on Amazon Prime on Aug 12th, is an adaptation of the 1992 film with all new characters and story lines, about the formation of the WWII era women's professional baseball team. 

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Ahead of the premiere of Ron Howards major motion picture ‘Thirteen Lives’ we revisit our interview with Rick Stanton (in the movie played by Viggo Mortensen) one of the lead divers & key players in the 2018 dramatic rescue of the 12 boys and their soccer coach from an underwater cave in Thailand. Mr Stanton 's memoir is 'Aquanaut'.

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In part 1 of our Venice Film Festival special we are joined by writer, critic & host of the podcast 'Writers of Film' John Bleasdale. We talk about the incredible line-up this year at Venice & what we are most looking forward to!

In part 2 Christina & John will meet up at Venice Film Festival for further discussions!

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From Hell's Kitchen to American Ninja Warrior to Floor is Lava! With more than 200 shows for over 50 networks Arthur Smith is a pioneer in non-fiction television. He and his company have created and developed some of the biggest, longest running and most influential reality and unscripted shows in TV history.

Don't miss our conversation about the evolution of reality TV, how he shaped the genre and some great behind the scenes secrets from the surprise Netflix hit Floor is Lava!

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Co-directors Tia Lessin & Emma Pildes join us to talk about their excellent, urgent and vital documentary THE JANES, HBOMax

The film is the story of the Jane Collective, a group of women who formed a clandestine network that used code names and safe houses in an underground service for women seeking safe and affordable abortions pre Roe v. Wade.

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A fabulously fun conversation with the great Hugh Bonneville! On 'Downton Abbey: A New Era', the Crawley family's new adventures, bringing back the original ensemble, how Lord Grantham has evolved this past decade and so much more!

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Always a blast when Erik Anderson (AwardsWatch.com) joins us! We talk about this summer at the movie. From Tom Cruise spectacular box office run, to "Elvis" and Lightyear'. And count down some of the movies we are looking forward to in 2022, the Monroe biopic 'Blonde', Spielberg's 'The Fablemans", Greta Gerwigs 'Barbie" and many more

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An interview with legendary costume/production designer Catherine Martin! She has four Oscars to her name (two for Moulin Rouge! in 2002 , two for The Great Gatsby in 2014)

We talk about creating 'Elvis' with her husband and collaborator of 30 years, director Baz Luhrmann, the source of Elvis style, the jumpsuits, the Napoleon collars and Elvis immense cultural impact.

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We are honored to be joined by actor and author Dee Wallace!

We talk about her iconic roles, from Cujo to E.T., the Spielberg classic celebrating 40 years this year! Her role as Mary, the kids' mom in E.T., is one of the most heartfelt portrayals of a single mom on screen. The role, and the film, has meant so much to many generations of film lovers!

We also talk about her latest book Born, & how to ask for what you want and need from life.

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Co-directors Tia Lessin & Emma Pildes join us to talk about their excellent, urgent and vital documentary THE JANES, premiering on HBOMax June 8th.

The film is the story of the Jane Collective, a group of women who formed a clandestine network that used code names and safe houses in an underground service for women seeking safe and affordable abortions pre Roe v. Wade.

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This week we are joined by Benita Alexander, the former NBC producer who’s fairytale romance with the so called ‘super surgeon’ Dr Paolo Macchiarini turned out to be all lies, a scam. Ms Alexander tells her story, how she fell for Macchiarini, the wedding that was to be officiated by the Pope himself, how she ultimately exposed Macchiarini in a stunning turn of events and how she is now working to help empower other women.

Ms Alexander is in Stockholm, Sweden covering Macchiarini’s trial. He is on trial over experimental windpipe transplants. She shares her thoughts on the trial, the accusations against him, her thoughts on Karolinska Institute’s handling of the situation and what she hopes the outcome will be.

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Erik Anderson of AwardsWatch.com is back on Pop Culture Confidential! But are movies back?

We talk about the buzz around movies like Top Gun: Maverick, Everything Everywhere All at Once and more. Plus our Cannes Film Festival preview. Erik predicts the Palme d’Or winner, we think it’s going to be a Michelle Williams year, Ethan Coen is back at Cannes without Joel & Elvis is in the building. Listen now!

And don’t miss the new AwardsWatch.com podcast and all their upcoming Cannes coverage!

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Dirty cops, scammers, Vikings, mormon detectives, complicated female characters, Netflix setbacks and the state of the TV industry. We cover it all in our spring TV special! We are so happy to welcome back critic, author & friend of the show Thelma Adams for this great discussion.

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From the widely publicized trial of silent film star Fatty Arbuckle in 1921, to Weinstein, Cosby, Britney Spears conservatorship battle and the now ongoing Johnny Depp/Amber Heard defamation trial, celebrities in court seem like a constant source of news. Associate Professor of Communication Andrea M McDonnell joins us to dive into the subject of Hollywood legal battles, how they test our perception of celebrity and fame & much more

Professor McDonnell is a media scholar examining gossip, celebrity, gender, and politics, She is currently co-editing a collection with Adam Silver called A Gossip Politic, forthcoming later this year from Palgrave. And co-author, with Susan Douglas, of Celebrity: A History of Fame, NYU Press.

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We feel the need for speed!! On the show this week actor Rick Rossovich who played Ron ‘Slider’ Kerner, wingman to Val Kilmer’s Iceman, in Top Gun (1986). Mr Rossovich talks about his career, his experiences on Top Gun, the myths and legacy of the franchise, his work in TV and more! All leading up to this spring and the release of Top Gun: Maverick, the sequel 3 decades in the making! Will we see him in the new movie?! Well, we will just have to wait and see. Grab your Ray Bans and catch this interview now!

Rick Rossovich has starred in some of the most pop culturally iconic films and TV shows ever: The Lords of Discipline, Streets of Fire, The Terminator, Steve Martin’s Roxanne  and Navy Seals . He played Dr. John 'Tag' Taglieri on ER and, and spent two years playing Lt. Anthony Palermo on Pacific Blue.

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Actor Billy Magnussen joins us to talk about his versatile career, playing the villain in the latest Bond film 'No Time to Die' and taking on the iconic role of the young Paulie Walnuts in the Sopranos prequel ‘The Many Saints of Newark”. 

Plus his two upcoming premieres. Magnussen is starring (as Dietrich Schneider) in Barry Levinsons’ powerful film ‘The Survivor’, based on the true story of holocaust survivor and boxer Harry Haft (April 27th, HBO). 

As well as the season 2 premiere of the hit, sci fi dark comedy ‘Made for Love’ (April 28th HBO)

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The great Nico Muhly, composer, joins Christina for a wonderful conversation about how the incredible score for ‘Pachinko’ came together, his early influences, what he learned working for Philip Glass, how being open about his mental health struggles has helped his work and helped others. And much more!

‘Pachinko” is now on AppleTV+.

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A conversation with Danny Strong (‘Game Change’, ‘Recount’) the creator/writer/director of ‘Dopesick’. Mr Strong talks about making the series & taking on the origins and devastation of the opioid epidemic in the U.S.

And how one company triggered the worst drug epidemic in American history.

‘Dopesick’ starring Michael Keaton, Kaitlyn Dever, Michael Stuhlbarg

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Ryan McQuade (AwardsWatch, InSession Film) joins Christina for a post-Oscar conversation. The ceremony, the winners, Will Smith/Chris Rock and more.

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Thrilled to have writer, producer, director Liz Hannah (The Post, Long Shot, Mindhunter) back on Pop Culture Confidential. Liz Hannah is currently involved in two of the most critically acclaimed, true crime series on television. She is a writer and exec producer on ‘The Dropout’, about disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes (Amanda Seyfried) and creator, exec producer & showrunner on ‘The Girl from Plainville’, based on the true story of Michelle Carter (Elle Fanning) the teen who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the notorious ‘texting-suicide’ case.

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New York Times journalist and awards season columnist Kyle Buchanan is back on Pop Culture Confidential for his yearly visit! We talk about his fantastic new book “Blood, Sweat & Chrome” on the chaotic making of George Miller's masterpiece Mad Max: Fury Road. Plus the crazy Oscar season 2022 and we predict Sundays winners!

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A wonderful conversation with writer/director Kogonada about his film ‘After Yang’, memory, feeling displaced, being in the present, the love of movies, the AppleTV+ series ‘Pachinko’ and much more

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She is never afraid of a challenge. The fearless and talented actor & producer Noomi Rapace joins us for a conversation about her new film Lamb, her most personal work yet, & much more. Noomi Rapace is also starring in the upcoming films Netflix ‘Black Crab” & the Sundance hit ‘You Won’t Be Alone’

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Erik Anderson, editor-in-chief, at Awardswatch joins us to talk about last nights 2022 SAG awards! Plus our reactions to the Academy Awards decision not to air 8 major awards during the Oscar telecast in March.

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The wonderful Jeff Hiller (‘30 Rock’ ‘Community’ ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’) stars in the hit, HBO comedy-drama ‘Somebody Somewhere’. Jeff joins us for a great conversation about the themes of the show, finding your people & community,  surviving bullying and how he, like his character Joel, found a safe space in the church and in school choir. Plus much more!

‘Somebody Somewhere’ is co-created & executive produced by Hannah Bos & Paul Thureen; starring and executive produced by Bridget Everett. Airs on HBOMax.

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Writer Esther Zuckerman joins us to talk about her new book “Beyond the Best Dressed” a cultural history of Oscar fashion!

Esther Zuckerman is an entertainment journalist whose work has been published by Thrillist, Entertainment Weekly, Vanity Fair, Refinery29, and The A.V. Club, among others.

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Writer/director Sir Kenneth Branagh joins us for a conversation about his semi-autobiographical new film “Belfast” and much more!

‘Belfast” is nominated for 7 Academy Awards including, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Picture

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A conversation with newly minted Oscar nominee Eskil Vogt!

Vogt was just nominated for Best Original Screenplay, together with director Joachim Trier, for ‘The Worst Person in The World’. The film was also nominated for Best International Feature. We talk about his long collab with Trier, ‘The Worst Person in the World’, as well as his new film, his second feature as writer/director, the supernatural horror film ‘The Innocents’.

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Erik Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of Awardswatch.com, joins us to to talk about the Oscar nominations 2022! The surprises, the snubs and state of the race.

The 94th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 27, 2022.

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This week on Pop Culture Confidential, actor Jamie Dornan, star of ‘Belfast' the critically acclaimed and semi autobiographical film by Kenneth Branagh! Dornan joins us to talk about returning to him hometown for this movie, playing Branagh’s father, his intense year, Bond rumors and much more.

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Director & co-writer Joachim Trier ( ‘Reprise’, ‘Oslo, 31 August’ ) joins us to talk about his critically acclaimed new feature “The Worst Person in the World”, life, love and rom coms!

“The Worst Person in the World” is Norways Oscar submission 2021 & actor Renate Reinsve won the award for Best Actress at Cannes this for her performance as Julie.

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This week we are at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival! We are excited to be joined by Ryan McQuade, editor at InSessionFilm, host of the Chasing The Gold podcast and covering Sundance for AwardsWatch.com! We are a little more than half way through the virtual festival, Christina & Ryan sit down to talk about some the incredibly interesting movies at this years' fest. The most about buzzed films, which films they loved and which ones they just can’t wrap their heads around!

Twitter @ryanmcquade77

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We are thrilled to be joined by EP Jessica Rhoades (Sharp Objects, The Affair) and creator, showrunner & EP Patrick Somerville (The Leftovers, Maniac) to talk about their groundbreaking series “Station Eleven”. On making a post apocalyptic show about joy and healing during an actual pandemic. On themes of grief and living in the now. And so much more.

“Station Eleven” is streaming on HBOMax.

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Thrilled to welcome NPR TV critic Eric Deggans back to the show for a new year of television! In this episode we talk about some of the most anticipated new shows coming the first half of 2022. Notorious scandals like the story of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s stolen sex tape in the upcoming Hulu series 'Pam & Tommy’, Julia Garner as con artist Anna Delvey in ‘Inventing Anna’ (Netflix) created by Shonda Rhimes, Amanda Seyfried as disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes in ‘The Dropout’  (Hulu).  Plus Jason Katims' (Friday Night Lights) new show ‘As We See It’ a comedy-drama series about living on the autism spectrum (Amazon Prime), ‘House of Dragon’ (HBOMax), ‘The Gilded Age’ (HBOMax) and much more!  Eric Deggans talks about his favorites, some disappointments and what to expect coming your way! Listen now.

Twitter: @Deggans

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Critic & author Thelma Adams joins us for an in-depth conversation on the many incredibly interesting portraits of motherhood in film & TV this season, from The Lost Daughter to Succession to Spencer and many more!

Thelma Adams recent article in Variety is “Screenplay Contenders From ‘Lost Daughter’ to ‘Spencer’ Grapple With Messy Emotions of Motherhood”

Twittter @thelmadams

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We are so happy to have Jazz Tangcay, Senior Artisans Editor at Variety, back on the show! We take a look at some of the incredible achievements behind the scenes, this tumultuous year in cinema. 2021 has been an incredible year at the movies, from giant blockbusters like Dune and Spider-Man to the haunting cinematography of The Power of the Dog, make up transformations and tragedy on set. Listen now. And Happy Holidays!

Jazz Tangcay Twitter: @jazzt

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Editor in Chief of AwardsWatch Erik Anderson is back! We analyze the controversial Hollywood Foreign Press Association and their Golden Globe nominations. We talk about the state of the Oscar awards race. Give our thoughts on West Side Story, Don’t Look Up and more. Plus we discuss this incredible season finale of Succession!

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This week we revisit our 2019 interview with the great Jeremy Strong!

Jeremy Strong talked to us while on location filming season two. We talked about researching media-moguls for the role,  the relationship between Kendall and his father Logan, Succession in the age of Trump,  filming the very powerful last scene of season 1 and how it almost made him quit acting, what's in store for Kendall in season two and so much more 

Season 3 of Succession is on HBO MAX now

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Happy Holidays to all celebrating Thanksgiving this week! As a holiday treat here is is a special episode of Pop Culture Confidential: Kirsten Dunst & Benedict Cumberbatch speak to us about their incredible performances in Jane Campions’ The Power of The Dog (Netflix)

Interviews were done by Christina on location at the Venice Film Festival for a segment originally aired on SVT, Swedish National Television.

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Thrilled to be joined by the multi-award-winning television writer and producer Georgia Pritchett (In The Thick of It, Veep, Succession) She is currently a writer and co-executive producer on HBO's Succession, now in it's third season and show runner of the new Apple TV+ miniseries The Shrink Next Door, starring Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell.

Her new memoir is “My Mess Is A Bit of A Life. Adventures In Anxiety”

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One of our favorite guests returns! Actor, writer, director Arian Moayed joins us to talk about the incredible season opener of 'Succession' S3 (HBO Max), Stewy & lots of behind the scenes talk from the show. Plus Moayeds upcoming projects: from Shonda Rhimes new limited series ‘Inventing Anna’ (Netflix) to the much awaited new MCU blockbuster 'Spider-Man: No Way Home'. The actor , who’s born in Iran, also talks about saying no to roles playing “terrorist n4” and what he tells his students about fighting stereotypes and changing the industry!

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AwardsWatch Erik Anderson is back with a report for the AFI fest & more! We talk about Will Smith, on his way to Oscar glory as KING RICHARD & Lin Manuel Mirandas excellent directorial debut TICK TICK …BOOM! Nicole Kidman is incredible in Aaron Sorkin's Lucille Ball biopic BEING THE RICARDOS. Erik was disappointed by HOUSE OF GUCCI. We talk angry fans & much more Listen now!

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A conversation with Danny Strong (‘Game Change’, ‘Recount’) the creator/writer/director of ‘Dopesick’. Mr Strong talks about making the series & taking on the origins and devastation of the opioid epidemic in the U.S.

And how one company triggered the worst drug epidemic in American history.

‘Dopesick’ starring Michael Keaton, Kaitlyn Dever, Michael Stuhlbarg premieres on Disney+ on November 12th.

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Actor Reed Birney (House of Cards, The Blacklist) joins us to talk about his Gotham Award nominated performance in the powerful film ‘Mass’. We spoke about his role (which first time director Fran Kranz wrote specifically for him), the tragedy of his character, themes of grief, forgiveness and surviving the worst. And much more.

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Erik Anderson, editor-in-chief AwardsWatch.com, is back for our regular segment covering all the most important industry & awards news! Dune and Belfast. The Golden Globes, just when we thought we were out they are dragging us back in. As well as the Dave Chapelle controversy and the tragedy on the set of Rust.

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An unwanted pregnancy, an animated fetus and Rakel, a great character at the center, Ninjababy is a hilarious film that packs some powerful punches. We talk to director Yngvild Sve Flikke about the interesting themes, how differently the film has resonated around the world and much more, The movie won 4 Amanda awards at the Norwegian International Film Festival, it is one of Norways 2021 Oscar submissions and has made a splash at festivals, from Berlin to SXSW.

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At the height of the pandemic lock-down, while waiting to finish season 3, the great Brian Cox sat down with Christina to talk about his incredible portrayal of Logan Roy on HBO’s Succession, who he jokingly calls his “evil twin”. Now just days away from the premiere of S3 we are re-airing this candid conversation!

We go deep into the making of the show, his thoughts on Logans motivations, emotional scenes with Jeremy Strong and much more. Plus Mr Cox childhood, background and prolific career in roles such as Hannibal Lecktor in Manhunter and Robert McKee in Adaptation.

Succession season 3 start on Sunday Oct 17th HBO MAX

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This week we talk about the biggest television show in the world, Squid Game! Honored to have Professor Areum Jeong with us to talk about the cultural, political & artistic impact of the Netflix megahit

Dr. Jeong, assistant professor at Sichuan University-Pittsburgh Institute in China, researches and teaches Korean film, theatre and performance including South Korea’s modern culture & K-pop. She earned a PhD in theater and performance studies from UCLA and has taught at UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, and USC.

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We are honored to talk to Rick Stanton MBE, one of the lead divers & key players in the 2018 dramatic rescue of the 12 boys and their soccer coach from an underwater cave in Thailand. An incident that, for weeks, was followed by the world. Mr. Stanton talks to Christina about his hobby, his passion for cave diving, the Thai rescue, how the boys got through it, his new book 'Aquanaut' and how he’s worked with the actor Viggo Mortensen (who’s playing Stanton in Ron Howards upcoming motion picture ‘Thirteen Lives’.)

Don’t miss the incredible documentary The Rescue (coming in October) directed by Academy Award winning producers & directors (Free Solo) E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin.

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The stars are out this festival & awards season and Erik Anderson of AwardsWatch.com is back with us! We talk Denzel, Will Smith, Kristen Stewart, Chastain. The state of the oscar race and festival hits & misses. Why musicals are struggling, the beautiful Gyllenhaals, we taste some Licorice Pizza and much more!

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Ted Lasso! The Crown! Get your ballots ready for Emmys 2021! Critic and writer Thelma Adams joins Christina as they predict this exciting year ahead of the Emmys telecast on Sunday the 19th.

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Welcome to part two of our Venice Film Festival dispatch! Critic, writer & host of the ‘Writers on Film’ podcast John Bleasdale joins Christina, in Venice, to talk about the the 2021 festival and review & discuss the films they have seen.

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In part 1 of our Venice Film Festival special writer & critic John Bleasdale (The Guardian, Sight & Sound) talks to Christina about some of the movies, directors and performances they are most looking forward to at the festival: Almodovar, Sorrentino, Campion, Ridley Scott! Pablo Larraín imagines the days leading up to Diana and Charles divorce. The premiere of the much anticipated Dune. A LOT is discussed on this episode ahead of the fest next week.

And in part 2 Christina & John will meet up at Venice Film Festival for further discussions!

Don’t miss John Bleasdale’s new podcast Writers on Film!

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Director Jonas Poher Rasmussen joins us to talk about his remarkable animated documentary 'Flee"‘.

The Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner ‘FLEE ‘tells the story of Amin, who through a series of interviews with Rasmussen, tells his dramatic journey as a child refugee from Afghanistan to Denmark in the 1980s & grappling with his traumatic past.

Riz Ahmed and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau are set to star, as lead voice actors, in the upcoming English version.

Flee (Flykt) premieres in Sweden on August 20th, Tristar. And rolls out in other territories through the fall & winter 2021.

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Culture writer Constance Grady (vox.com) joins us to talk about Britney Spears court case which she has followed closely, the #freebritney movement, how it has started major discussions on reforming conservatorships, the cultural implications and what will be happening going forward.

Grady recently written a series of articles “The Purity Chronicles” where she examines the bubblegum misogyny of pop culture and looks back at the sexual and gendered mores of the late ’90s and 2000s.

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Erik Anderson, editor-in-chief of AwardsWatch, is BACK! We have a great conversation about the Venice Film Festival line-up, the Cannes winners, early Emmy predictions and those incredible House of Gucci posters. Listen now!

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This week we revisit our interview (from March) with “Allen v. Farrow” director Amy Ziering. Congratulations on getting 7 EMMY nominations including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series and Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program.

Award winning filmmaker Amy Ziering joins us to talk about the much discussed 4 part HBO documentary series ‘Allen v. Farrow’. In ‘Allen v Farrow’ Ziering and co-director Kirby Dick examine the 1992 the sexual assault allegations made against director Woody Allen by his then 7 year old daughter Dylan Farrow,  how it was dealt with in the criminal justice system, the media narrative and more.

‘Allen v. Farrow” is streaming on HBO and HBOmax.

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CONGRATS to Nicholas Britell on his Emmy nomination! (score: The Underground Railroad)

This week we revisit my interview from a few months ago with award-winning composer Nicholas Britell (Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk, The Big Short, Succession). We talk about Mr. Britell's powerful collaborations with director Barry Jenkins & their most ambitious work together yet, the series adaptation of Colson Whiteheads' Pulitzer prize winning novel The Underground Railroad (Amazon Prime ) As well as about his work on Succession, the Kendall Roy rap and so much more.

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This week we listen back to our interview from last year with legend DANNY TREJO! And don’t miss Mr Trejos new memoir ‘Trejo’ released this week.

Mr Trejo talks to us about his story, from a life of crime to hard prison time at San Quentin and Folsom prisons. How he turned his life around and how a promise to always help others led him to his massive Hollywood career with over 350 credits to his name! His films include ‘Heat’, ‘Machete’, ‘Desperado’, ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Spy Kids’. The documentary “Inmate #1, The Rise of Danny Trejo’ is streaming now. His new cookbook is “Trejos Tacos: Recipes and Stories from LA"

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Summer revisit! Our interview with director, actor, comedian Bo Burnham! Burnham stars in one of the best and most discussed films of the season, the critically acclaimed 'Promising Young Woman', written and directed by the Oscar nominated Emerald Fennell. Burnham joins us to talk about his multi-layered role as Ryan, about the interesting and difficult conversations audiences are having about the film, his massive You Tube comedy career, “cancel culture” and much more.

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With a new season of ‘Succession” fast approaching, this week we revisit our exclusive hour with actor Brian Cox! Mr Cox joined us to talk about his incredible portrayal of Logan Roy on HBO’s Succession, who he jokingly calls his “evil twin”. We go deep into the making of the show, his thoughts on Logans motivations, emotional scenes with Jeremy Strong and much more. Plus Mr Cox childhood, background and prolific career in roles such as Hannibal Lecktor in Manhunter and Robert McKee in Adaptation.

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This week we revisit our interview with award winning host, author and executive producer Padma Lakshmi! We talk about her excellent documentary series Taste the Nation (Now shooting season 2!). Here she takes us on a journey across the US exploring the diverse food culture of various immigrant groups the shape America. Padma Lakshmi also talks to us about her own story, her mother who left India for NYC and how this has shaped her, living an honest life, Top Chef and so much more. Join us!

Taste the Nation is on Hulu

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Director Enrico Casarosa and Producer Andrea Warren join us to talk about their new, magical film ‘Luca’. Enrico Casarosa talks about directing a movie that takes place where he himself grew up, on the beautiful Italian riviera in Liguria. We talk about the themes of friendship, feeling like an outsider and coming of age in ‘Luca’, how difficult it is to animate pasta, the Pixar Cultural Trust and how they got those Italian hand gesture right. And much more!

Luca premieres on Disney + on June 18th

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Yes we can-can-can! Erik Anderson, editor-in chief at AwardsWatch joins us to discuss this years Cannes Film Festival line-up, the surprises (F9?), sexy nuns, snubs, the Netflix stand-off, are both Marilyn (‘Blonde’) and Diane (’Spencer’) going to Venice? And so much more! Listen now!

twitter @awards_watch

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Let’s celebrate! The groundbreaking documentary “Madonna: Truth or Dare” turns 30 this year, can you believe it? Join us for an exclusive conversation with Donna De Lory, singer, songwriter and legendary background singer/dancer. De Lory toured with Madonna on every concert from the Who’s That Girl Tour in 1987 up to the Confessions Tour in 2006. And worked with Madonna on albums such as Like a Prayer, Erotica, Ray of Light, Bedtime Stories and Evita. We talk about De Lory’s incredible career, her family steeped in music history, her journey with Madonna, the incredible impact of “Truth or Dare” and so much more

Donna De Lory’s new EP is “We Shine” featuring the single “Just a Dream”

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Sopranos fans rejoice! The ‘Sopranos Sessions’ is a triple feature exploring the award winning series through critics, cast and creator David Chase. We talk to actor Vincent Curatola about his iconic performance as New York underboss Johnny ‘Sack’, his audition, working with Gandolfini & Chase, dying on the Sopranos, the new prequel ‘The Many Saints of Newark’, why the series endures and much more.

Visit https://celebratethesopranos.com for more information on the film ‘Sopranos Sessions’

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Yay! Erik Anderson AwardsWatch is back with us to talk about the most anticipated movies coming up in 2021, and who already has Oscar 2022 buzz! Plus we talk about the scandals surrounding the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and the cancellation of the 2022 Golden Globes.

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Award winning music supervisor Iain Cooke (‘Amy’, ‘It’s A Sin’) joins us talk about Apple TV+’s new docuseries “1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything”, executive produced by Academy, BAFTA and Grammy Award winners Asif Kapadia (“Amy,” “Senna”) and James Gay-Rees (“Amy,” “Senna,” “Exit Through the Gift Shop”).

An exploration of the musicians and soundtracks that shaped the culture and politics of 1971, including The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, The Who, Joni Mitchell, Lou Reed and more.

Premieres on AppleTV+ on May 21st

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Actor Aaron Pierre talks to us about stepping into the daunting role of Caesar in Barry Jenkins' masterful adaptation of Colson Whiteheads novel ‘The Underground Railroad’. Jenkins discovered Aaron Pierre onstage in ‘Othello’ at the Globe theatre. Pierre also starred in the Superman prequel series ‘Krypton’ and is about to star in M. Night Shyamalan new thriller “Old” summer 2021.

The Underground Railroad premieres on Amazon Prime on May 14th.

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The reactions to writer, producer, director, Justine Batemans’ new book ‘Face : One Square Foot of Skin’ have been huge and it is already a best seller. The author joins us to talk about the book, why she wrote it and the themes of how society responds to aging faces.

Justine Bateman earned two Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe nomination for her work on the 1980’s sitcom ‘Family Ties’. Bateman’s directorial feature film debut of her own script, ‘Violet’, had its World Premiere at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival, it stars Olivia Munn, Luke Bracey, and Justin Theroux, 

Her best-selling first book ‘Fame’  was published in 2018 and her second book’ Face’ is out now.

In 2016, Justine earned her Computer Science and Digital Media Management degree from UCLA.

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This week we are joined by award-winning composer Nicholas Britell (Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk, The Big Short, Succession). We talk about Mr Britell's deep collaborations with director Barry Jenkins and their most ambitious work together yet, the series adaptation of Colson Whiteheads' Pulitzer prize winning novel The Underground Railroad. Premiering on Amazon Prime on May 14th.

And his work on Succession, the Kendall Roy rap and so much more.

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We are capping off this long awards season with our final, and complete, Oscar predictions for 2021! Joining us is the maestro of Oscar predictions Erik Anderson, Editor-in-Chief at AwardsWatch for an interesting, surprising conversation about what could be a very historic evening. Have a great Oscar night and good luck with you ballots!

twitter @awards_watch

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A yearly tradition! We are so happy to have Kyle Buchanan (NY Times pop culture reporter and the awards season columnist) with us again this year to talk Oscars 2021. Kyle fills us in on all the behind the scenes info about this Sundays show: how will telecast producer Steven Soderbergh reinvent the show, the historic nominations this year and some very interesting, and surprising, predictions!

Twitter @kylebuchanan

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We are getting ready for Oscar with a very special episode! This week we dive into the ‘red carpet industrial complex’,  the multi billion dollar world of fashion & celebrity styling with expert in the field , Mr Joe Katz. Plus we talk about some historic red carpet hits and misses and Mr Katzs gives some predictions on what the celebrities will be wearing at this years Oscars on April 25th!

Joe Katz is a personal stylist and fashion expert. For the past several decades he as been a fashion contributor and expert for outlets like Good Morning America, The Wall Street Journal, and OK and In Touch magazines. He is the host of the The Katz Walk Podcast. He has reported on Oscar red carpets for the Associated Press, CBS and CNN.

Joe Katz is also a personal stylist. He was the in house stylist at the Montage Beverly Hills Hotel and has worked with PR execs from Louis Vuitton to Prada to Ralph Lauren. 

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Always a blast to have author and critic Eric Deggans (NPR) with us to talk about the seasons most anticipated TV dramas. What to watch, what to skip! From HBO’s ‘Mare of Easttown’ starring Kate Winslet to Disney + ‘Loki’, Apple TV+ ‘Mosquito Coast’ and much more. Don’t miss!

Twitter @Deggans

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Film writer and critic John Bleasdale (The Guardian, The Independent, Sight & Sound) joins us for a conversation about some of the very interesting, upcoming biopics about iconic figures and films about Hollywood. From Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana in Pablo Larraín's ‘Spencer’ to Lady Gaga and Adam Driver in Ridley Scotts ‘House of Gucci’. We also discuss ‘Francis and The Godfather’ Barry Levinson’s film about the making of ‘The Godfather ‘ starring Oscar Isaac and Ben Affleck directing the film about the making of Chinatown. All this and more!

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Comedian, director, actor Bo Burnham stars in one of the best and most discussed films of the season, the critically acclaimed 'Promising Young Woman', written and directed by the Oscar nominated Emerald Fennell. Burnham joins us to talk about his multi-layered role as Ryan, about the interesting and difficult conversations audiences are having about the film, his massive You Tube comedy career, “cancel culture” and much more.

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Erik Anderson, editor-in-chief of AwardsWatch joins us to talk about the Oscar nominations. The surprises, snubs and analysis!

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Award winning filmmaker Amy Ziering joins us to talk about the much discussed 4 part HBO documentary series ‘Allen v. Farrow’. In ‘Allen v Farrow’ Ziering and co-director Kirby Dick examine the 1992 the sexual assault allegations made against director Woody Allen by his then 7 year old daughter Dylan Farrow,  how it was dealt with in the criminal justice system, the media narrative and more.

‘Allen v. Farrow” is streaming on HBO and HBOmax.

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