Truth & Movies: A Little White Lies Podcast

Michael Leader is joined by David Jenkins and Rogan Graham to preach the gospel according to Terrence Malick, whose rhapsodic A Hidden Life opens in cinemas Friday. Also out this week, the based-on-true-event Bombshell sees Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie tackle sexism in the newsroom, while in Film Club we revisit Malick’s transcendent period romance, Days of Heaven.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Following a special screening of Josh and Benny Safdie's first feature film, Daddy Longlegs, at London's Prince Charles Cinema, Michael Leader, David Jenkins and Hannah Woodhead took to the stage for a live edition of Truth & Movies. They chat about Daddy Longlegs, Uncut Gems and the woes of parenting practices in this special bonus episode.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

There’s a wartime feel to the first Truth & Movies of the new year, as Michael Leader, Hannah Woodhead and Adam Woodward gear up for Sam Mendes’ immersive real-time World War One drama 1917, inspired by his own grandfather’s experiences. Next up, Kiwi funnyman Taika Waititi skewers the Führer in Jojo Rabbit, starring Roman Griffin Davis, Scarlett Johansson and Sam Rockwell – but is it really an “anti-hate satire”? Staying with World War Two, we revisit Charlie Chaplin’s classic Nazi send-up from 1940, The Great Dictator, in our Film Club.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We’re signing off 2019 with an in-depth chat with the makers of one of our favourite films of the year. With their sensational fourth feature, Uncut Gems, arriving in the UK on 10 January, the New York siblings took time out of their busy schedule to discuss making the step-up from their previous work, while also namechecking a few recent movies they’ve enjoyed.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It’s a massive week for new releases, as two of the most anticipated films of 2019 are finally revealed. JJ Abrams brings the current Star Wars saga to a less-than-spectacular close with The Rise of Skywalker, while Tom Hooper orchestrates an all-star cast for his digitally-enhanced big screen version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats. Michael Leader is joined by David Jenkins and Hannah Woodhead to discuss those, as well as Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Little Women, which hits cinemas Boxing Day.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week’s Truth & Movies, Michael Leader, Steph Watts and Adam Woodward gear up for the fantasy adventure sequel Jumanji: The Nextl Level, featuring The Rock, Kevin Hart and Karen Gillan, while the nature film gets a heavy metal makeover in Viktor Kossakovsky’s water-themed eco doc Aquarela. And in Film Club, we’re slashing through the snow with the 1974 seasonal horror classic, Black Christmas.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Michael Leader is back in the T&M host’s seat this week as critics Hannah Woodhead and Pamela Hutchinson offer their thoughts on two new releases. Honey Boy sees Shia LaBeouf play his own father in a semi-autobiographical study of child stardom, while Wang Xiaoshuai surveys China’s recent social and political past in So Long, My Son. And in Film Club, Jacques Demy’s classic musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg gets a welcome theatrical re-run courtesy of the BFI.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It’s a bumper week on Truth & Movies, as stand-in host Beth Webb is joined by David Jenkins and Lou Thomas to dissect three new releases. There’s Knives Out, Rian Johnson’s starry twist on the classic whodunnit; Atlantics, Mati Diop’s beguiling Dakar-set mystery romance; and The Nightingale, Jennifer Kent’s gruelling post-colonial thriller. We also hear from rising star Aisling Franciosi about how she prepared for her demanding lead role in Kent’s film. And with Stanley Kubrick’s 1999 swansong Eyes Wide Shut back in cinemas, we revisit it in our Film Club.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week’s show our resident animation expert, Michael Leader, is joined by Kambole Campbell and Caitlin Quinlan to discuss two very different new entries into the genre. First up is Frozen II, Disney’s long-overdue sequel to its 2013 pop culture phenomenon, followed by the decidedly more melancholy I Lost My Body, from French director Jérémy Clapin. In Film Club, we queue up a blast from the past in the form of Ken Russell’s Tommy, inspired by The Who’s seminal rock opera.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week’s show Michael Leader, Manuela Lazic and Adam Woodward try to keep the motoring puns to a minimum as we gear up (sorry, sorry!) for Le Mans ’66, starring Matt Damon and a Brummie Christian Bale as American car designer Carroll Shelby and British racing driver Ken Miles respectively. And, in Film Club, Steve McQueen’s fascinating early ’70s passion project Le Mans. Before all that, we settle down for a bittersweet take on the relationship drama with Marriage Story, courtesy of Noah Baumbach.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Before it arrives on Netflix later this month, Martin Scorsese’s long-awaited mob epic The Irishman makes its way into UK cinemas this week – Michael Leader, David Jenkins and Sophie Monks Kaufman get in early on the action, assessing the de-aging job on Robert De Niro and whether the film glorifies the Mafia. Also this week, wigs and wackiness abound in the auto-themed thriller Driven, about the unmaking of famed American car designer John DeLorean, while in Film Club we revisit one of Scorsese’s lesser-seen works, 1999’s Bringing Out the Dead.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

With another UK election looming, what better time to welcome back the foremost custodian of social-realist cinema on these shores, Ken Loach. His new drama Sorry We Missed You arrives in cinemas this week, and Michael Leader, Anton Bitel and Hannah Woodhead are on hand to deliver their verdicts. Also this week, there’s a pair of belated horror sequels in the shape of Doctor Sleep, starring Ewan McGregor as an adult Danny Torrance, while in Film Club, Anthony Perkins returns for Psycho II.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on Truth & Movies, James Cameron gets the old gang back together for director Tim “Deadpool” Miller’s Terminator sequel Dark Fate, while onetime enfant terrible Harmony Korine shows his mellow side in the sun-kissed slacker comedy The Beach Bum, starring Matthew McConaughey as fun-loving stoner poet Moondog. Michael Leader, Matt Thrift and Steph Watts team up to tackle those new releases, before submerging themselves in James Cameron’s deepwater mystery adventure The Abyss.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Did 2009's Zombieland really need a sequel ten years later? Does Olivier Assayas' new film, Non-Fiction, reveal all about the world of publishing and e-books? What does the inventor of the iPod have to say about life in Silicon Valley and the future of movies? The host with the most Michael Leader is joined in the studio by Elena Lazic and David Jenkins, with film club this week is Assayas' 90s classic, Irma Vep.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Déjà vu, doppelgängers and political discourse are on the T&M agenda this week, as Michael Leader, Darren Richman and Adam Woodward team up to tackle Ang Lee’s action sci-fi Gemini Man, in which Will Smith faces off against... himself, and The Day Shall Come, Chris Morris’ long-awaited return to the political satire fold. In Film Club there’s another serving of Big Willie style in the shape of Six Degrees of Separation, one of his earliest (and arguably best) big screen roles. Rounding off the show, we offer some tips for what to watch at the 63rd BFI London Film Festival, which wraps up on Sunday.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.