Kiss Kiss Bang Bang with Shane Black

To record an episode about Hamnet, the new film from Chloe Zhao, or not to record an episode about Hamnet? That was the question – and a question I answered in a heartbeat when Chloe’s team reached out late last year about chatting with the Nomadland writer-director. The historic ...  Show more

The thing about machines is that we expect them to keep chugging on – to never break or falter. In the late 1990s, a mixed martial artist named Mark Kerr found himself struggling to shoulder the weight of that expectation. Mark was a winner – a muscular behemoth beloved by fans o ...  Show more

This time in the Film Stories podcast, the fast turnaround of the first Knives Out movie, and a Hugh Grant-headlined comedy drama, where Four Weddings Hugh Grant was absolutely not required. Writer/director Rian Johnson has admitted in the past that he's not a fast writer. Howeve ...  Show more

Ah-ha! Two of the most acclaimed British directors of the 2010s take centre stage in this episode, albeit with very, very different films. Christopher Nolan originally envisaged his dreamy heist movie Inception as a low budget feature. But just after he'd made Insomnia, he got 80 ...  Show more

Two films with very short titles in this episode, starting with a comedy favourite from the 2010s. Director Paul Feig broke out of movie jail with 2010's Bridesmaids - and he used his freshly-inked deal with 20th Century Fox to get his own take on a James Bond film to the screen. ...  Show more

In this episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, a pair of hit films that hit at the box office, but also that each met a challenge or two. The idea of a Hollywood take on TV show The Equalizer had been knocking around since the mid-2000s, and for a while it looked as if Russell ...  Show more