The 10 Best Film Podcasts If you see a movie that thrills or moves you, it’s natural to want to talk about it. We like to share the things we enjoy with other people.
As a film reviewer, I know that enjoyment is the force behind all the most engaging movie podcasts. The history of cinema is long, and it is deep, full of fascinating stories, wonderful characters, and incredible films. There is so much to talk about, and so much to learn. Whether the hosts are recounting the tales of actors from long ago, or talking about a bad film they had fun watching, or a good one that they’d like to recommend, or the process of making a movie, the best of these shows are borne from a contagious love of that most communal of mediums. Here are ten of the most enjoyable film podcasts.
There is a whole galaxy of podcasts about bad movies about there, but none of them are as quite so consistently funny (or have such a stellar theme tune) as How Did This Get Made? Actors and comedians Jason Mantzoukas, Paul Scheer and June Diane Raphael all have excellent chemistry (you’d hope so too, as Scheer and Raphael are married!), and they approach their vivisections kindly, as well as comedically, never hiding when they actually do find something to like about one of the films in question. That well-honed host rapport has kept this behemoth going strong since 2010.
The grand dame of the movie podcast world, Karina Longworth’s You Must Remember This “explores the secret, and/or forgotten histories from Hollywood’s first century.” While she does dive into specific films along the way, Longworth is primarily concerned with the people behind the pictures, tracking the intersection of their personal and professional lives across many years.
There are no bad ones, but the very best seasons of the podcast are those that follow two connected but contrasting figures over multiple episodes: those on Jane Fonda and Jean Seberg, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr., and Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi are particularly good at showcasing Longworth’s empathy and storytelling prowess.
Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* (*Almost)
This is one for those who once studied film in an educational setting, and now feel terribly nostalgic! Every two weeks, Ayesha Khan discusses a sci-fi film with two academics, focusing on its historical context, themes, and sometimes just the little moments they found interesting.
She’s been going through the history of sci-fi in order (the first movie covered was 1902’s A Trip To The Moon, the most recent at time of writing was 1958’s The Blob), with sporadic tangents into newer releases, and other related areas. Though the scholarly format can be a little dry sometimes, Khan is a warm, enthusiastic host, and each episode is packed with thought-provoking analysis.
You might think from that title that this one is another bad movie podcast – actually however, what makes What Went Wrong such a dependably interesting listen is its dedication to covering the troubled production histories of both good and bad films.
The show’s tagline is “Every movie is a miracle— even the bad ones”, and hosts Lizzie Bassett and Chris Winterbauer keep that ethos at the forefront of their discussions; while there’s a lot of levity along the way, the two always empathise with the panoply of problems the productions in question faced.
The perennial argument that culture lovers have about the comparative merits of books and their cinematic adaptations can be a tedious one. Not in the hands of the Book Vs Movie podcast. Margo Donahue and Margo Porras tackle that age old question with an abundance of detail, enthusiasm and humour, illustrating their discussions with unusually (yet welcomely) lengthy audio clips.
The Margos discuss a vast range of movies, from the classics, to the obscure, to the recently released in theatres. And their source material isn’t limited to books either – they’ve covered quite a few based simply on songs! It all adds up to a delightfully varied, consistently enjoyable listening experience.
From books versus movies, to books about movies! In Writers on Film, John Bleasdale interviews various authors who have a cinema-related book coming out, talking at great depth (episodes often run to feature length) about both their process and their subject matter – whether it be an actor, a director, a specific production, or something else entirely.
As a film writer himself, Bleasdale is able to talk to his guests as a peer, which lends his conversations a pleasingly informed, familiar quality. In general the shows play something like an DVD commentary track for the books in question, adding invaluable context.
An intriguing counterpart to You Must Remember This – in fact, the first season of The Plot Thickens, which was focused on director Peter Bogdanovich, coincided with the YMRT season on Polly Platt, who was Bogdanovich’s creative partner and ex-wife.
Host and TCM presenter Ben Mankiewicz has a tendency towards hagiography, especially in the seasons based around interviews with the living subjects (the Bogdanovich season suffered from this), but he is also a charming presenter who’s adept at adding a personal touch to his tales without stealing focus. He spins detailed, absorbing narratives about filmic figures, illustrated with well-chosen audio clips.
In a nutshell: Desert Island Discs for cinema, but with a much more macabre sense of humour. Host Brett Goldstein (Roy Kent of Ted Lasso fame, though the podcast predates the TV show), interviews his guests about the movies that have shaped their lives, drawing out answers that are often as fascinating as they are funny.
Goldstein is a warm, incisive, and yet very funny questioner, whose ability to really listen to his guest elevates the show above many other interview podcasts. As well as entertaining you, each episode of Films to Be Buried With is likely to leave you with a lengthy watchlist.
Too Scary; Didn’t Watch
Ruined With Alison Leiby and Halle Kiefer
Both of these podcasts have the same idea, and both execute it well, it’s simply a matter of personality which appeals more. One of the hosts (Halle Kiefer on Ruined, Sammy Smart on Too Scary; Didn’t Watch) is an avid viewer of horror movies; the others (Alison Leiber/ Emily Gonzalez and Henley Cox) are scaredy-cats, who are nevertheless morbidly curious as to the happenings in these frightening films.
The podcasts take the form of a recap, with the brave friends entertainingly recounting the plot to the scared ones, who are able to enjoy the twists and turns without worrying that anyone is going to jump out at them. Obviously, if you’re planning to watch one of the movies that either podcast covers, make sure you do it before you listen!
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Chloe Walker is a writer based in the UK. You can find her work at Culturefly, the BFI, Paste, and her Letterboxd page.