Movies with Rhianna

Have you heard? The SAG AFTRA actors strikes are over, which means there be actors in these here podcasts: namely Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Hunter Schafer and Josh Andrés Rivera, the stars of the new Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. Joining them is their director, Panem veteran Francis Lawrence, as they talk about returning to The Capitol and what makes their take different to what we've seen before with that Jennifer Lawrence character.

So this is an unusual episode of Radio 1's Screen Time - sort of - in so far as there are not one but TWO interviews to enjoy, namely Saltburn's Emerald Fennell and The Marvels' Nia DaCosta. Plus, as a bonus, we've also got a brief review of Nic Cage's Dream Scenario in the middle, making this one heck of a cinematic sandwich.

Friend of the show and Independent film critic Clarisse Loughrey joins newcomer Dan Layton and good 'ol Ali Plumb this week for a triple-headed review-a-palooza tackling all of the big releases of that past few weeks, including Scorsese's latest, and, well, Trolls 3 - not forgetting 91-minute fight club high school comedy Bottoms, David Fincher's Michael Fassbender assassin thriller The Killer and more than a few more...

With Ali only just back from his trip to the USA, we've been digging through the back catalogue for a throwback interview special, and look who popped up! Twice! Some handsome chap known as Tom Hiddleston, and with Loki back on Disney+ for a second series, it made perfect sense to put together the TWO 'Becoming... Loki' interviews he's done over the years, once as Infinity War came out (2018) and another when Loki came to town first time around (2021). So join Ali has we go back through the sacred timeline and see what Tom has to say about the Marvel villain he's played for well over a decade now (!)

Ali is still in California, no doubt trying to visit as many filming locations as possible, you know what he's like - and in that particular US state, there are more than a few filming locations worth visiting, that's for sure - but fret not, there's still a podcast for you this week in the form of this Ali Plumb's Film Club. BBC podcasting compadre Greg Jenner stopped by recently to speak to fellow backflipping-whilst-singing fan Ali as they discuss what could well be the greatest movie musical of all time. Disagree? Let us know!

After last week's gaming special, here's a bonus interview for anyone who's just as excited as Ali about the imminent arrival of Insomniac Games' new Spider-Man outing. Bryan Intihar and Jon Paquette, two of the creative team behind the series that's also given us the original Spider-Man game in 2018 and the Miles Morales follow-up in 2020, spoke to Radio 1's in-house nerd before he jetted off on holiday. And on that note! As well as this bonus podcast, we'll also have an Ali Plumb's Film Club to tide us over next week, don't you worry!

Yes, Screen Time is primarily a film 'n' TV podcast but Ali really does love his gaming, and let's be honest, chances are you do too. So joining him for a rambling journey around the best and biggest games of 2023 - so far - are gaming journalists (and friends of the podcast) Aoife Wilson and Steffan Powell to talk about the likes of Baldur's Gate 3, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Diablo 4 and much, much, much more. Needless to say, plenty of conversation also featuring what's still to look forward to this unbelievably stacked year, including Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Alan Wake 2 and... let's include Assassin's Creed Mirage as well, shall we?

Gareth Edwards - the director who gave us Godzilla and Rogue One - has a new film out in cinemas this weekend and its name is The Creator. Amazingly, it's not based on any intellectual property you might know, making it (can you imagine?) a blockbuster sci-fi that could be described as, well, original. Incredible. Truly. Hear him talk to Ali about his near future world of AI, "simulants", robot wars (kinda), Rain Man, the magic of CGI, John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Allison Janney and much much more on this special BBC Radio 1 interview podcast.

Dumb Money is in cinemas this week, telling the real-life story of the incredible GameSpot short squeeze of early 2021, centring around cat-obsessed, investing-obsessed real-life YouTuber RoaringKitty (aka Keith Gill, played in the film by Paul Dano). Yes, it's a film about the stock market, and you might be thinking that if you're not interested in that world then it's not for you... but maybe think again. As you'll hear in this interview with its director, Craig Gillespie, it's a fascinating, fast-paced, thrilling insight into a pocket of recent history that honestly very nearly defies belief. Also! As well as Paul Dano, it's also features the likes of Seth Rogen, Shailene Woodley, Anthony Ramos, Nick Offerman, Sebastian Stan and many other brilliant names - Barbie's America Ferrera, let's not forget! - so by all means, be intrigued, go on.

There's a whole lot going on in this week's podcast. In a good way! Ali and his new best friend - he likes to think, anyway - Vivian Oparah (Rye Lane, Class, Then You Run) chat about their new favourite film, the heartbreaking Korean romance Past Lives, as well as Vivian herself, before opening up the film club to talk about the wonders of Jordan Peele, concentrating on 2019's Us but touching on Nope and, of course, Get Out.

As it's somehow September and summer blockbuster season winds up for another year, Ali invited fellow film critic Clarisse Loughrey into the Radio 1 studios to try to do justice to the biggest movies of the past few months - including Barbie, Oppenheimer, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 and maybe a few more. Warning: there are some spoilery mentions here, particularly when it comes to The Flash, but generally you should be okay.

Yes, you're absolutely right: Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse hit cinemas early June, but with summer wrapping up - how is it September already? - and the animated Spider-Sequel now on digital download, Ali and Ace thought it would be a good time to sit down for about an hour's worth of spoilerific, high geeky arachno-chat. A lot is discussed, but fair warning: A 'n' A don't get into the 'different versions of the films released' side of things, but loads of other stuff is, don't you worry!

Ali's ol' buddy ol' pal Nikesh Patel - who just so happens to be a very successful actor, off of Amazon's horror sci-fi The Devil's Hour and the BBC's Rose Matafeo rom-com series Starstruck - stopped by the BBC Radio 1 Screen Time studio to catch up recently, and here's the podcast to prove it. So as well as talking about how Starstruck is back on our screens on the 28th August, Nikesh also was generous enough to join an 'Ali Plumb's Film Club', where the pair chatted about recent feature length Groundhog Day-ish comedy Palm Springs. You know the one, with Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti. It's ace. You'll love it.

Earlier this month Cillian Murphy appeared on Radio 1's Screen Time talking about Oppenheimer, his latest with the one and only Christopher Nolan, an epic biopic that is still doing incredibly well in cinemas across the world. But that conversation was part of a bigger Movies That Made Me chat from mid-July, and this here podcast is the second half of that, a hop skip and a jump through Cillian's big screen work (with a little on Peaky Blinders), touching on the likes of Sunshine, 28 Days Later, The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception and more.

You might know him best as Jim Hopper from Stranger Things, but this weekend David Harbour is petrolhead Jack Salter in Gran Turismo, one of those films where the plot is nigh-on unbelievable but somehow based on a true story. You know, the sort of tale where a die-hard gamer (guess which one Jann Mardenborough liked to play...) becomes an actual professional racer. As you do. But as this is a 'Story So Far' interview, David kindly talks through his whole career (more or less), from Law And Order to Black Widow and back again, with a very cheeky Ali gently taking the mick all along the way.

Zoe Saldaña is an incredible actress and one we've long wanted to speak to for a 'Movies That Made Me' here at Radio 1's Screen Time - that said, the reason she was in town early in July talking to Ali was for a TV show, Taylor Sheridan and Paramount+'s action thriller Special Ops: Lioness, one so cinematic that it slots right in next to the likes of the Star Trek series, her MCU entries as Gamora, not forgetting the Avatars, Pirates Of The Caribbean and so on and so on. She's truly awe-inspiring and a fantastic interviewee so please sit back, relax and bask in the glory of the one and only Zoe Saldaña.

Speaking with Ali in back early July, David Tennant and Michael Sheen were on fine, fine form talking about the second series of Amazon Prime Video's heavenly / devilish show Good Omens - based on the book by Neil Gaiman and the late, great Sir Terry Pratchett - indulging in a nerdy request for some autographs and generally being upstanding and accommodating in a way they truly excel. Warning: contains dad jokes. Because of course it does.

Christopher Nolan's epic biopic Oppenheimer is finally in cinemas, a three-hour treat-yourself-to-IMAX thriller featuring an absolutely incredible cast, including Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Rami Malek and two of our guests on this here podcast, Robert Downey Jr. and The Man Who Would Be Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy. Christopher Nolan also makes a brief appearance, and Ali sort of embarrasses himself in front of him with a QI-like fact that could well blow your mind.

Hey Barbie! Hey Ken! Margot Robbie (Barbie herself) and Ryan Gosling (just Ken) speak to Ali Plumb about Greta Gerwig's Barbie, touching on such hot button topics as the Barbie slide, the Barbie wave, Barbie memes, Ken's rollerskates, Ken's tricky-to-say fashion pieces and Ken's totally unimportant t-shirts. Oh, and those times Margot and Ryan dressed up as a cigarette and a hamster (respectively). And that's not forgetting Greta herself, as well as America Ferrera, Simu Liu and Issa Rae, who are all on fine, fine form.

Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Cary Elwes, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby... the cast of the latest Mission: Impossible is actually truly ridiculously charming, and this podcast proves that and then some. So imagine you're balancing on top of a high speed train (with joy!) and enjoy this thrill ride of an episode (kind of).