We've another bumper-sized edition of the Empire Podcast in store for you this week, folks, with a double whammy of top notch guests — so buckle up! Our first guest is legendary director Barry Levinson, who sat down with our very own Chris Hewitt on the eve of the release of his new gangster joint The Alto Knights to discuss working with Robert De Niro, Robert De Niro, aaaand Robert De Niro's dogs, as well as the life-changing impact Marlon Brando putting on a glove in On The Waterfront had on him as a young whippersnapper. [23:31 — 40:13 approx] Then, we also hear from Latvian indie animation hero Gints Zilbalodis, the director of this year's Oscar-winning animated movie Flow, in an exclusive excerpt from a recent Empire VIP Club event hosted by resident superfan Beth Webb. [59:44 — 1:13:04 approx]
Either side of those stellar chats, Chris is joined back in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara, James Dyer and, briefly, Alex Godfrey, for another doozy of an ep in which the gang reflect on St. Patrick's Day, discuss Hollywood actors in British TV adverts, and find themselves mulling over their favourite movie assassinations (because of The Ides Of March.) There's also time for a dive into this week's movie news, including new trailers for Happy Gilmore 2, Joseph Kosinski's F1, and Celine Song's Past Lives follow-up The Materialists, as well as what shall henceforth be known as The Convergence — the upcoming releases of HAVOC, The Accountant 2, and Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera on 25 April. All that, and there's still time for reviews of Flow, The Alto Knights, and the Rachel Zegler twofer Snow White and Y2K. It's a veritable podapalooza, not to be missed!
You can listen to this week's episode (which, if you're counting, is #660) on the pod app of your choice.