Screenshot

Inspired by the record-breaking success of huge action epic RRR, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the global popularity of contemporary Indian cinema, with the help of some of its key players. Ellen takes a closer look at the box office smash that is RRR. She talks to the film's director SS Rajamouli, who is responsible for three of the top five highest-grossing Indian films of all time. They discuss Rajamouli's role in the Pan-Indian Cinema movement and why he thinks RRR has become such a hit across the world. And Mark, with the help of British-Tamil film critic Ashanti Omkar and superstar composer AR Rahman, investigates how Indian cinema has gone global over the last two decades and asks whether it might be time to retire the term 'Bollywood'.Also, actor Nikesh Patel, star of hit romcom Starstruck, shares what he's been watching recently. Producer: Jane Long Editorial Consultant: Ashanti Omkar A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen and Mark take a turn into the exclusive gated community of housewives in cinema and television, ahead of the release of new film Don't Worry Darling. Ellen investigates why we're so drawn to housewives on screen, from original housewife satire The Stepford Wives to global reality TV phenomenon The Real Housewives, with the help of critic Anna Bogutskaya and Real Housewives exec producer Andy Cohen.And Mark celebrates director Todd Haynes' cult 1995 film Safe, starring Julianne Moore in her first lead role, as a housewife suffering from a mysterious ailment. He speaks to pioneering independent film producer and long-time Haynes collaborator Christine Vachon about the making of Safe, and hears from composer Gazelle Twin and director Desiree Akhavan about the personal and emotional responses both had to the film. This week's Viewing Note is courtesy of Olivier-nominated Home, I'm Darling star Katherine Parkinson.Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen and Mark examine the legacy of the quintessential blonde bombshell ahead of the release of Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde.Mark speaks to Blonde’s director Andrew Dominik and US pop culture critic Angelica Jade Bastien about the very different personal connections both feel to Monroe and the reasons for her enduring star power. Meanwhile, Ellen explores some of the bombshells compared to Monroe on this side of the Atlantic. She speaks to Diana Dors biographer Anna Cale about how the label of 'the British Marilyn' affected Dors' varied and colourful time in the spotlight. And she learns about the elusive and often tragic careers of British starlets including Belinda Lee and Sabrina, with the help of Professor of British Cinema Steve Chibnall. Also, musician Warren Ellis talks about what he was watching while composing the score for Blonde with Nick Cave.Producer: Jane Long
 A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode celebrate 40 years of Film4 with a quartet of famous film-makers who have been part of its rich history and legacy.Founded in 1982, Film4 soon became an iconic and vital voice in British film. It has fostered a reputation for producing gritty, diverse stories from unheard voices as well as championing the more leftfield and experimental side of British cinema.Ellen looks at Film4's origins in conversation with Stephen Frears who directed the very first Film4 film, Walter. Walter stars Sir Ian McKellen as a young man with learning difficulties and the film documents his struggles in Margaret Thatcher's Britain. Frears continued to explore life in 80's Britain in the now iconic and still ground-breaking My Beautiful Laundrette. Stephen and Ellen discuss what the film meant at the time and why it remains relevant.Mark talks to Gurinder Chadha. In 1993 her Film4 produced debut, Bhaji on the Beach, became the first full-length feature film made by a British Asian Woman. Gurinder and Mark discuss the importance of Film4 in championing minorities and what the British film industry was like before and after Film4's emergence.Ellen chats with Ben Wheatley about Film4's response to his irreverent 2011 folk horror film Kill List as well as the multi-platform release of 2013's A Field in England. They talk about how Film4 has always made space for the more uncommercial and experimental side of British cinema.Finally, Mark talks to Clio Barnard about her 2013 Film4 debut, The Selfish Giant. A social realist adaptation of an Oscar Wilde story, Clio discusses how Film4 supported her as an artist and allowed her to share her unique and touching tale.This week's Viewing Note is courtesy of former Film4 head and veteran producer, Paul Webster.Producer: Hester Cant A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones celebrate Werner Herzog's 80th birthday by discussing his inspiring work, enduring appeal of Fitzcarraldo, and conspiracy theories surrounding a past incident. The podcast explores Herzog's unique filmmaking style, collaborations, and his supportive nature. With insights from a volcanologist, mockumentary director, and DJ, the episode offers a fascinating dive into the world of cinema's enigmatic character.

From the Old Testament to Captain Underpants, via Jane Austen and pulp fiction, the relationship between the page and the screen is unbreakable. But the journey from book to screenplay can be a long and winding road that is sometimes paved with gold, and often filled with detours and potholes.To get under the skin of literary adaptations, Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones decamped to the Hay literary festival where the book world’s biggest names gather to enjoy discussion and sharing ideas.Cressida Cowell, author of the popular How To Train Your Dragon series, talks about the joyful process of seeing her characters come alive in a huge franchise comprising animated movies, TV series and a video game.When her first novel Brick Lane was turned into a film in 2007, Monica Ali was not involved in the adaptation. Now, 15 years later, Monica is writing the screenplay of her latest novel Love Marriage and she talks to Mark and Ellen about the new skills she has learned along the way.After many close calls with producers, Jennifer Egan (A Visit from the Goon Squad, The Candy House) knows about the mercurial nature of having work ‘optioned’. She discusses her favourite literary adaptations and shares a cinematic piece of writing by Arthur Conan Doyle.Also, broadcaster and writer Jeffrey Boakye takes a spin with an 80s classic movie to reveal the deeper issues at play in Dirty Dancing.Producer: Freya Hellier A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Fifty years ago a break-in at the Watergate complex in Washington DC caused a cover-up that ultimately cost Richard Nixon the presidency. From the moment the hearings into the scandal were televised, there has been a massive audience for all things Watergate. There have been feature films, plays, podcasts, online comedy series, documentaries and TV dramas. Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode investigate the lasting legacy of Watergate on screen. Actor and comedian Harry Shearer has been playing Tricky Dicky since the very start of his career. He tells Mark about turning the president's tape recordings into verbatim comedy-drama Nixon's The One. Over a series of TV interviews the late Sir David Frost got President Nixon to admit that he had acted illegally and let the American people down. Mark talks to Michael Sheen who played the British broadcaster on both stage and screen in Frost/Nixon. Meanwhile, Ellen explores politically focused TV and film with the creator of The Thick of It and Veep, Armando Iannucci and screenwriter Liz Hannah, whose films The Post and Long Shot focus on journalism and politics.And journalist and broadcaster Martha Kearney gives her Viewing Notes.Producer: Marilyn RustA Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ahead of Jamaican Independence Day, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode immerse themselves in one of the island’s greatest exports, The Harder They Come, marking the film’s 50th anniversary.The Harder They Come was a sensation, but it took a while for its vibrations to be heard around the world. In 1972, the premiere in Kingston brought the area to a complete standstill. Outside of Jamaica, the film helped introduce reggae music to millions, thanks to its Jimmy Cliff-driven soundtrack.Exploring the film’s continuing legacy, Ellen hears from one of its stars, Carl Bradshaw, and the film’s publicist Barbara Blake-Hannah, for whom the movie was so life-changing that she left the UK and moved to Jamaica where she later became a Member of Parliament. Mark speaks to DJ, broadcaster, musician and filmmaker Don Letts, whose film Dancehall Queen is a homage to The Harder They Come. Mark also talks to music supervisor Ed Bailie who worked closely with Steve McQueen on his Small Axe films, including Lovers Rock which also owes a great debt to this cult classic.Ellen and Mark also look at what The Harder They Come did, or did not do, for the Jamaican film industry, and the films that followed it - including Rockers, Countryman, and Babylon.Producer: Tom Whalley A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen and Mark discuss the enduring screen presence of Elvis Presley, from Love Me Tender to Wild at Heart. One of the most hotly anticipated films this summer is Elvis - director Baz Luhrmann’s biopic chronicling the singer’s career and complicated relationship with manager Colonel Tom Parker. Committed Presley fan Mark discusses Elvis’ prolific acting career with a couple of fellow obsessives - the actor Sanjeev Bhaskar, and journalist and screenwriter Ray Connolly.And Ellen explores how The King has lived on via film and TV in the 45 years since his death. She’s joined by comedian and pop culture devotee Greg Proops and filmmaker Jeanie Finlay, whose 2015 documentary Orion: The Man Who Would Be King told the bizarre story of a masked Elvis soundalike.Also, movement director Polly Bennett talks about what she watched to help prepare actor Austin Butler for his starring role as Elvis in Luhrmann's film.Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore big budget flops, from Ishtar to Cats.Ishtar – writer and director Elaine May's huge budget comedy starring Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman – was released in May 1987. The film, about a pair of incompetent singer-songwriters who become entangled in a CIA plot in north Africa, tanked at the box office and ultimately put paid to May's directing career. In the process the word Ishtar became a joke - that title alone symbolising Hollywood hubris at its worst. But, as May put it, "If all the people who hate Ishtar had seen it, I would be a rich woman."Thirty five years on, Mark asks culture critic Lindsay Zoladz and comedian and director Richard Ayoade whether Ishtar is ripe for reappraisal. And Ellen draws up a set of rules to help Hollywood studio bosses avoid box office bombs in 2022, running them past Film Stories founder Simon Brew and Hollywood super-producer Lynda Obst. Also, controversial director Gaspar Noe shares his Viewing Notes. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4