Movies with Rhianna

Ali speaks to friend of the podcast Kim Taylor Foster, who has literally written the book about The Matrix, all about the game-changing film franchise. Also, he has a hilarious interview with Emily Blunt, Dwayne Johnson and Jack Whitehall, who all star in the new Jungle Cruise movie.

The Suicide Squad comes a whole five years after the original Suicide Squad, bringing a couple of veterans along for the ride, and a whole host of newbies too. Here in this particular Screen Time interview special, you'll hear from Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, David Dastmalchian, Joel Kinnaman and our writer/director James Gunn.

M. Night Shyamalan is the writer-director behind the likes of The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Glass, Signs, The Village, Split, The Visit and now the efficiently-named "Old", a horror-thriller that almost defies description. A group of holidaymakers are taken to a mysterious private beach where they soon start to notice that they're aging at an alarming rate: children become teenagers, then young adults, over the matter of hours. Horrifying, right? You bet. Listen here to Ali talking to the man himself about where the idea came from and the practicalities of shooting on a beach in the Dominican Republic for days on end...

Seen Black Widow? Well, boy is this the podcast recorded expressly with you in mind. Ali teams up with friend of the podcast Clarisse Loughrey to talk about the 24th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in spoilerific detail. Seriously, the spoiler siren has been well and truly sounded. So look forward to about an hour's worth of in-depth catsuit-related geekery as the pair discuss Russian accents, plot twists and, um, pigs. Again, you really should see the film and then all that will make a tonne more sense...

Vanessa Kirby is the star of Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw, The Crown, the Oscar-nominated Pieces Of A Woman and now The World To Come (out July 23rd), a period drama / romance set in 19th century rural New York state where two women (Kirby and Katherine Waterston) fall for each other in a world full of hardships and obligations. In this interview, Kirby talks about shooting in Transylvania, having Jason Statham's number on her phone and the fine art of acting when you've seriously hurt your ankle. As the saying goes: you suffer for your art, and in this case, it's really really true.

At long last, the follow-up to the 2013 Dreamworks animation The Croods is finally in UK cinemas. Fans of the original hoped for a sequel much sooner, but with a pandemic and studio changes getting in the way, it's been a quite a while indeed. Speaking to its stars - Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone and Kelly Marie Tran - back in November 2020, Ali asks about the fine art of voice acting, pretending to be punched over and over (and over), working with the legend that is Nic Cage and their comfort food movies and TV shows. It turns out The Artist Also Known As Deadpool is also a Great British Bake Off fan. Now you know!

Swooping into Ali Plumb's Film Club, smashing a skylight as he does so, is 1989's Batman: Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Tim Burton and a lot of facial prosthetics, just the way you like it. Comedian and member of double act 'The Pin', one Ben Ashenden, is the man with the Bat-plan this week, stopping by to lovingly take the mick out of the movie that gave us 'Batmania'. And as a special bonus treat, we've also got Zendaya talking about her role as Lola Bunny in Space Jam: A New Legacy - and why not?

As well as a bumper-sized trip to Ali Plumb's Film Club this week - where Starstruck's very own Emma Sidi stops by to talk about her love of 2014's The Lego Movie - we've also got Monsters At Work (and Monsters, Inc., of course) stars John Goodman and Billy Crystal round to talk about their new show, as well as their co-stars Ben Feldman and Mindy Kaling. And that's not forgetting the news section and a reminder of all that's worth watching in the cinemas these days.

Black Widow - at long, long last - is finally here, both in cinemas and on Disney+ Premier Access, which means we've also finally got a 'Becoming... Black Widow' interview to enjoy. So look forward to Scarlett Johansson herself opening up about how she got the role, what the character Natasha Romanoff means to her, mementos she's kept and much more. And as a bonus we've also got her Black Widow co-star O. T. Fagbenle also talking about his role, plus director Cate Shortland to boot! So what are you waiting for? Get busy listening, go on.

Out in cinemas - finally! - this weekend, Freaky is a body-swap horror comedy starring Kathryn Newton and Vince Vaughn and it is a lot of fun - as is this interview, where the two stars talk about their favourite 'kills', flicking back imaginary hair and an-all important secret handshake. Note: just to be extra, extra clear, this is a conversation about a gory horror comedy, so please note... it's got some red on it.

Sci-fi actioner The Tomorrow War has landed on Amazon Prime Video and - what are the chances!? - the stars of said film have been doing press around the movie, which has resulted in this here podcast episode. An incredible coincidence, we can all agree. Look forward to Chris Pratt and his crew - including Yvonne Strahovski, J. K. Simmons, Jasmine Mathews, Sam Richardson and Edwin Hodge - talking about battling aliens, the 'soccer' world cup and the perils of taking your top off for the benefit of time travel.

Ali Plumb's Film Club choice this week is MOANA. Yes, MOANA. Worthy of the capital letters, and no mistake. The excellent and wonderful comedian Janine Harouni stopped by to talk about one of her favourite films ever, adding to a bumper(ish) episode that features the fabled return of the long-lost news section.

Entering the 'Ali Plumb's Film Club' hall of fame this week is The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Time Out's film editor Phil de Semlyen is here to talk about all things Wes Anderson in spoilerific detail. Warning: this podcast / conversation is incredibly gushy about Mr. Anderson so, well, now you know. We really enjoy his particular brand of preciousness, especially when it's delivered by one Ralph Fiennes, what can we say? (A lot, as it turns out...)

Over the last 20 years, the Fast And The Furious series has become one of the most successful film franchises in the history of Hollywood. Now with the latest in the series, Fast & Furious 9, finally arriving in cinemas, we’ve caught up with some familiar faces, some old friends returning to the fold and a brand new member of the family, John Cena, who plays Dom's long lost brother. So as well as John, look forward to hearing from Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sung Kang, Jordana Brewster, director Justin Lin and the main man himself, Vin Diesel.

Good news, animation fans! Today you’ll hear from Luca's writer-director Enrico Casarosa and producer Andrea Warren - plus Pixar Creative Art Director Deanna Marsigliese - as they talk about Pixar's latest (now on Disney+, by the way), Luca, a tale of two best friends going on summery adventures on the Italian riviera. Oh, and did you know they happen to be sea monsters, disguising themselves as humans? Well... guess what? They are. True story. Ish.

This particular Screen Time interview special is all about The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard - the sequel to the 2017 odd couple Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson action comedy thriller The Hitman’s Bodyguard - with this follow-up featuring much more Salma Hayek, just the way you like it. Press play to hear Reynolds and Hayek talk about 'the perfect British accent', slapping each other, Morgan Freeman's laugh and much more, not forgetting the man behind all the madness, director Patrick Hughes, whose on-set giggling will one day become legend.

On this particular Friday edition of the podcast we have ONE THING - yep, just one thing, Ali's on holiday you see - 'Ali Plumb’s Film Club', where Empire magazine deputy editor and ‘80s comedy expert Nick de Semlyen generously stops by to talk Ghostbusters in spoilerific (and occasionally sweary, it should be said, but you know Ghostbusters) detail.

Loki is back! Tom Hiddleston's God Of Mischief has returned to our lives after the tumultuous events of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame thanks to a new Disney+ show called - would you believe it? - Loki, and Ali spoke to the star himself for a very special face-to-face conversation about how it all came about. Warning: this interview is burdened with glorious, geeky purpose. Now you know.

NobodyNobody is a revenge action thriller about a seemingly innocuous, pleasant, wouldn’t hurt a fly family guy - Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad’s very own Bob Odenkirk, also known for his amazing comedy work with the likes of David Cross on Mr Show - who’s dragged into a battle with a brutal drug lord after his home is invaded. On this particular Sunday interview special Bob talks about how he was inspired to make the movie - in cinemas now, by the by - after enduring his own home invasion, plus the realisation of just how much of a reach he had internationally with the ongoing soaraway success of Better Call Saul.

The Father is the heartbreaking drama about an aging man (Sir Anthony Hopkins) who must deal with his progressing dementia as he is aided (and seemingly hindered, from his increasingly unreliable perspective) by his daughter Anne, played by the ever-wonderful Olivia Colman. On this particular interview special of Screen Time, writer-director Florian Zeller, alongside his star Colman, talk to Ali about how they put the film together, and how it feels to work with such an incredible human being as - their words, not ours - "Tony".