Groovy Movies

What better way to conclude the odyssey that has been the official run of Groovy Movies than with Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey? But where does his most challenging - and already most successful - film to date sit in our Nolan ranking? Plus, as we bring the podcast to a close, we look back at how the film industry has fared over the five years we’ve been recording.----If you love what we do, please like, subscribe and leave a review!Produced and edited by Lily Austin and James BrailsfordOriginal theme music by James BrailsfordLogo design by Alfie GarlandFollow us: Instagram, TikTok & LetterboxdEmail us: [email protected]: groovymoviespod.co.uk

Part two of our Christopher Nolan recap takes us from Inception - the movie that made his name as an “IP” director - all the way to the present day and our hellish scramble to get IMAX tickets for The Odyssey. If you haven’t got yours yet, what are you waiting for? On our next and final episode, we’ll be concluding our 5-year run of Groovy Movies with a special episode discussing this most major cinematic event. References The Film Data Scientist (not the film stats guy, as we called him)The Amazing Digital CircusPatrick H Williams on How IMAX made Nolan a better directorAtonement Dunkirk scene, directed by Joe WrightWatch Mussolini: Son of the Century, directed by Joe Wright on Sky or Apple TVIf you love what we do, please like, subscribe and leave a review!Produced and edited by Lily Austin and James BrailsfordOriginal theme music by James BrailsfordLogo design by Alfie GarlandFollow us: Instagram, TikTok & LetterboxdEmail us: [email protected]: groovymoviespod.co.uk

In anticipation of The Odyssey's release, we’re traversing the course of Christopher Nolan’s career and plotting his signature hallmarks along the way. Plus: the box office-shattering success of Backrooms and Obsession, and the AI movie showing at Tribeca Film Festival. References Christian Zilko’s IndieWire articleNolan’s 60 Minutes interview The Nolan Variations: The Movies, Mysteries, and Marvels of Christopher Nolan by Tom ShoneIf you love what we do, please like, subscribe and leave a review!Produced and edited by Lily Austin and James BrailsfordOriginal theme music by James BrailsfordLogo design by Alfie GarlandFollow us: Instagram, TikTok & LetterboxdEmail us: [email protected]: groovymoviespod.co.uk

We take a deep dive into indie cinema’s biggest success story: production company A24. Plus, we discuss its latest hit, the non-rom-com The Drama.ReferencesThat needle drop in The Drama we mentioned: "Inside Out" by Jesse RaeIf you love what we do, please like, subscribe and leave a review!Produced and edited by Lily Austin and James BrailsfordOriginal theme music by James BrailsfordLogo design by Alfie GarlandFollow us: ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠ & ⁠Letterboxd⁠Email us: ⁠[email protected]⁠Website: ⁠groovymoviespod.co.uk

This week we’re learning lessons from blockbusters: the latest, Project Hail Mary, and a classic, Jurassic Park. With the help of Hannah McGregor, the author of the brilliant “Clever Girl” and co-host of the podcast, Material Girls (do go and subscribe), we decipher the messages about care, chaos and lady monsters which lay under the wobbly surface (get it? that's a Jurassic Park reference) of these popcorn movies. References Buy Clever Girl by Hannah McGregor hereMaterial Girls podcast Kodak’s Verita film, used on Euphoria season 3John Travolta’s novel on Good Reads If you love what we do, please like, subscribe and leave a review!Produced and edited by Lily Austin and James BrailsfordOriginal theme music by James BrailsfordLogo design by Alfie GarlandFollow us: ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠ & ⁠Letterboxd⁠Email us: ⁠[email protected]⁠Website: ⁠groovymoviespod.co.uk

After another lacklustre awards season and a decline in viewers, is it time to reinvent the awards ceremony or just retire it altogether? Then we get up to speed on the latest in the Warner Bros. takeover psychodrama (and future hopes for Star Trek nerds the world over), before reviewing two recent films that take big, beautifully flawed swings: Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride and Oliver Laxe’s Sirāt.ReferencesPeter Bradshaw’s Sirāt review for The GuardianDune: Part Three trailerIf you love what we do, please like, subscribe and leave a review!Produced and edited by Lily Austin and James BrailsfordOriginal theme music by James BrailsfordLogo design by Alfie GarlandFollow us: ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠ & ⁠Letterboxd⁠Email us: ⁠[email protected]⁠Website: ⁠groovymoviespod.co.uk

Finally, Valentine’s Day weekend has finally come to pass, which could only mean one thing: we’ve been to see Wuthering Heights - sorry, “Wuthering Heights” that is. Was it as erotic as the test screen audience reported? And can Jacob Elordi really not grow a beard?  We search for answers. ReferencesThat World of Reel article  Emerald Fennell’s BFI interview on Wuthering Heights Emerald Fennell’s Ask Penguin podcast interview -----------If you love what we do, please like, subscribe and leave a review!Produced and edited by Lily Austin and James BrailsfordOriginal theme music by James BrailsfordLogo design by Alfie GarlandFollow us: ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠ & ⁠Letterboxd⁠Email us: ⁠[email protected]⁠Website: ⁠groovymoviespod.co.uk

We’re back and it is our 101st episode! And we’re marking the milestone with an area of special interest for James, and mostly special disinterest for Lily: Star Wars (or at least until she watched the burlesque show “The Empire Strips Back.” We take a whistlestop tour through the three sagas to consider how one of the great trilogies became such a mess. But could this year’s 50th anniversary of A New Hope offer a new hope?References The Empire Strips Back burlesque showThe Phantom Menace BTS documentary -----------Produced and edited by Lily Austin and James BrailsfordOriginal theme music by James BrailsfordLogo design by Alfie GarlandIf you love what we do, please like, subscribe and leave a review!Follow us: ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠ & ⁠Letterboxd⁠Email us: ⁠[email protected]⁠Website: ⁠groovymoviespod.co.uk

What could be more festive than a masked orgy? Or an axe-wielding husband? Or a smart device going rogue in space? We finish this series with a Christmas special for those looking for an alternative movie recommendation during the holidays, by counting down our top 5 Kubrick Christmas movies. -----------If you love what we do, please like, subscribe and leave a review!Edited by Lily Austin Original music by James BrailsfordLogo design by Alfie Garland groovymoviespod.co.ukInstagram TikTokLetterboxdEmail us

The end of the year is drawing in, you have precisely 15 days to catch the best movies of 2025 and/or swerve the worst. This mission, should you choose to accept it, can be aided by this very podcast. Enjoy. ReferencesThe reviewer of Actors On Actors - @theamateurstakeBTS of the making of Kill Bill's lost chapter for FortniteCharli XCX's The Moment trailer Gwyneth Paltrow and Jacob Elordi on Actors on ActorsAlexander Skarsgård and Stellan Skarsgård on Actors on Actors -----------If you love what we do, please like, subscribe and leave a review!Edited by Lily Austin Original music by James BrailsfordLogo design by Alfie Garland groovymoviespod.co.ukInstagram TikTokLetterboxdEmail us