Recommended: Movie Podcasts

Do you want to hear people talk about movies? Want to hear the thoughts of some film professionals? I'm chiming in quickly to highlight some good choices... I'd post more, but I honestly haven't sampled enough to really suggest every film-podcast I've heard of.

If you're looking for thoughtful film reviews, I can't think of anyone better than BBC's own Mark Kermode's film review. I tune in nearly every week, sometimes streaming live every Friday at 10AM (EST). I sometimes disagree with the man, and his points.

Still, I like his approach, his sarcasm, and his vast film education; the guy's got a PhD in it. I loved his brutal rant over the nomination announcements for this year's Golden Globes (those events get special non-Friday podcasts).

Also, it's broadcast from London, so he reviews movies months before/after they've come out here! If you stream it on Friday mornings, you'll get BBC news and traffic breaks; that M-25's a hassle, right? You can find Kermode and Mayo's review on ITunes, as well as through the link above. There's a descriptions of all the major reviews (and big name interviews) in each episode, but they also run through the UK's Top 10. Typically, it's 45 minutes to 2 hours long.

The AV Club is a sub-group of The Onion. I link to their news often. I may argue and disagree with their opinions on occasion, but I do trust them thoroughly; I pay attention to them and try to consider the viewpoints of (most of) their writers. Every Friday (or late Thursday), their homepage will feature a new session of "AV Talk," and it's usually a film review or discussion.

Even when they tackle music, TV, or give a recap of Sundance, they are worth listening to. You can follow the link above to see all the entries, or go to The AV Club site and look under the "Features" column. Also, they're on ITunes.

Kevin Pollak's Chat Show has a solid reputation. With good reason - just read the brief Wiki synopsis, or my short version of that letter-perfect description. It generally deals with films or the film industry. It has in-depth interviews, some regular segments, audience interaction via Chat. The KPC Show features great, well-known, guests. I loved Kevin's comedy specials, and I've loved him in pretty much every role he's played.

This weekly internet broadcast airs every Sunday, then goes onto Youtube, ThisWeekIn, and ITunes. It's usually 1-2+ hours. It also has an additional, separate Wiki page.

This time, I saved the best for last: Stephen Fry's podgrams are freakishly excellent. Everyone's favorite English actor/genius (who else ya gonna go with?) expounds on issues like copyright and freedom of speech.

You can find them on ITunes as well as the link above (to Fry's site). It's a 9 episode series, and the installments vary in length. However, there hasn't been a new one since 2009. The release schedule was always sporadic, though, so no one's given up hope yet. And well they shouldn't...

Or sate yourself a little with Fry's other podcast series, The Dongle of Douglas Trefusis. That gem is a mixture of podcast, radio show and audio book. Again, it's a limited-run (12 ep) series, and it's been stalled out since 2 years ago. They're both superb, tho, so try to make them last...

There you have my podcast recommendations, all. Barring some surprise news, I won't post anything new until Tuesday. You could, of course, read through some old posts until then... And enjoy a podcast or two...