Episodes

She is never afraid of a challenge. The fearless and talented actor & producer Noomi Rapace joins us for a conversation about her new film Lamb, her most personal work yet, & much more. Noomi Rapace is also starring in the upcoming films Netflix ‘Black Crab” & the Sundance hit ‘You Won’t Be Alone’

Erik Anderson, editor-in-chief, at Awardswatch joins us to talk about last nights 2022 SAG awards! Plus our reactions to the Academy Awards decision not to air 8 major awards during the Oscar telecast in March.

The wonderful Jeff Hiller (‘30 Rock’ ‘Community’ ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’) stars in the hit, HBO comedy-drama ‘Somebody Somewhere’. Jeff joins us for a great conversation about the themes of the show, finding your people & community,  surviving bullying and how he, like his character Joel, found a safe space in the church and in school choir. Plus much more!‘Somebody Somewhere’ is co-created & executive produced by Hannah Bos & Paul Thureen; starring and executive produced by Bridget Everett. Airs on HBOMax.

Writer Esther Zuckerman joins us to talk about her new book “Beyond the Best Dressed” a cultural history of Oscar fashion!Esther Zuckerman is an entertainment journalist whose work has been published by Thrillist, Entertainment Weekly, Vanity Fair, Refinery29, and The A.V. Club, among others.

Writer/director Sir Kenneth Branagh joins us for a conversation about his semi-autobiographical new film “Belfast” and much more!‘Belfast” is nominated for 7 Academy Awards including, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Picture

A conversation with newly minted Oscar nominee Eskil Vogt!Vogt was just nominated for Best Original Screenplay, together with director Joachim Trier, for ‘The Worst Person in The World’. The film was also nominated for Best International Feature. We talk about his long collab with Trier, ‘The Worst Person in the World’, as well as his new film, his second feature as writer/director, the supernatural horror film ‘The Innocents’.

Erik Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of Awardswatch.com, joins us to to talk about the Oscar nominations 2022! The surprises, the snubs and state of the race.The 94th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 27, 2022.

This week on Pop Culture Confidential, actor Jamie Dornan, star of ‘Belfast' the critically acclaimed and semi autobiographical film by Kenneth Branagh! Dornan joins us to talk about returning to him hometown for this movie, playing Branagh’s father, his intense year, Bond rumors and much more.

Director & co-writer Joachim Trier ( ‘Reprise’, ‘Oslo, 31 August’ ) joins us to talk about his critically acclaimed new feature “The Worst Person in the World”, life, love and rom coms!“The Worst Person in the World” is Norways Oscar submission 2021 & actor Renate Reinsve won the award for Best Actress at Cannes this for her performance as Julie.

This week we are at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival! We are excited to be joined by Ryan McQuade, editor at InSessionFilm, host of the Chasing The Gold podcast and covering Sundance for AwardsWatch.com! We are a little more than half way through the virtual festival, Christina & Ryan sit down to talk about some the incredibly interesting movies at this years' fest. The most about buzzed films, which films they loved and which ones they just can’t wrap their heads around!Twitter @ryanmcquade77

We are thrilled to be joined by EP Jessica Rhoades (Sharp Objects, The Affair) and creator, showrunner & EP Patrick Somerville (The Leftovers, Maniac) to talk about their groundbreaking series “Station Eleven”. On making a post apocalyptic show about joy and healing during an actual pandemic. On themes of grief and living in the now. And so much more.“Station Eleven” is streaming on HBOMax.

Thrilled to welcome NPR TV critic Eric Deggans back to the show for a new year of television! In this episode we talk about some of the most anticipated new shows coming the first half of 2022. Notorious scandals like the story of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s stolen sex tape in the upcoming Hulu series 'Pam & Tommy’, Julia Garner as con artist Anna Delvey in ‘Inventing Anna’ (Netflix) created by Shonda Rhimes, Amanda Seyfried as disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes in ‘The Dropout’  (Hulu).  Plus Jason Katims' (Friday Night Lights) new show ‘As We See It’ a comedy-drama series about living on the autism spectrum (Amazon Prime), ‘House of Dragon’ (HBOMax), ‘The Gilded Age’ (HBOMax) and much more!  Eric Deggans talks about his favorites, some disappointments and what to expect coming your way! Listen now.Twitter: @Deggans

Critic & author Thelma Adams joins us for an in-depth conversation on the many incredibly interesting portraits of motherhood in film & TV this season, from The Lost Daughter to Succession to Spencer and many more!Thelma Adams recent article in Variety is “Screenplay Contenders From ‘Lost Daughter’ to ‘Spencer’ Grapple With Messy Emotions of Motherhood”Twittter @thelmadams

We are so happy to have Jazz Tangcay, Senior Artisans Editor at Variety, back on the show! We take a look at some of the incredible achievements behind the scenes, this tumultuous year in cinema. 2021 has been an incredible year at the movies, from giant blockbusters like Dune and Spider-Man to the haunting cinematography of The Power of the Dog, make up transformations and tragedy on set. Listen now. And Happy Holidays!Jazz Tangcay Twitter: @jazzt

Editor in Chief of AwardsWatch Erik Anderson is back! We analyze the controversial Hollywood Foreign Press Association and their Golden Globe nominations. We talk about the state of the Oscar awards race. Give our thoughts on West Side Story, Don’t Look Up and more. Plus we discuss this incredible season finale of Succession! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we revisit our 2019 interview with the great Jeremy Strong!Jeremy Strong talked to us while on location filming season two. We talked about researching media-moguls for the role,  the relationship between Kendall and his father Logan, Succession in the age of Trump,  filming the very powerful last scene of season 1 and how it almost made him quit acting, what's in store for Kendall in season two and so much more Season 3 of Succession is on HBO MAX now

Happy Holidays to all celebrating Thanksgiving this week! As a holiday treat here is is a special episode of Pop Culture Confidential: Kirsten Dunst & Benedict Cumberbatch speak to us about their incredible performances in Jane Campions’ The Power of The Dog (Netflix)Interviews were done by Christina on location at the Venice Film Festival for a segment originally aired on SVT, Swedish National Television.

Thrilled to be joined by the multi-award-winning television writer and producer Georgia Pritchett (In The Thick of It, Veep, Succession) She is currently a writer and co-executive producer on HBO's Succession, now in it's third season and show runner of the new Apple TV+ miniseries The Shrink Next Door, starring Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell.Her new memoir is “My Mess Is A Bit of A Life. Adventures In Anxiety”

One of our favorite guests returns! Actor, writer, director Arian Moayed joins us to talk about the incredible season opener of 'Succession' S3 (HBO Max), Stewy & lots of behind the scenes talk from the show. Plus Moayeds upcoming projects: from Shonda Rhimes new limited series ‘Inventing Anna’ (Netflix) to the much awaited new MCU blockbuster 'Spider-Man: No Way Home'. The actor , who’s born in Iran, also talks about saying no to roles playing “terrorist n4” and what he tells his students about fighting stereotypes and changing the industry!

AwardsWatch Erik Anderson is back with a report for the AFI fest & more! We talk about Will Smith, on his way to Oscar glory as KING RICHARD & Lin Manuel Mirandas excellent directorial debut TICK TICK …BOOM! Nicole Kidman is incredible in Aaron Sorkin's Lucille Ball biopic BEING THE RICARDOS. Erik was disappointed by HOUSE OF GUCCI. We talk angry fans & much more Listen now! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A conversation with Danny Strong (‘Game Change’, ‘Recount’) the creator/writer/director of ‘Dopesick’. Mr Strong talks about making the series & taking on the origins and devastation of the opioid epidemic in the U.S.And how one company triggered the worst drug epidemic in American history.‘Dopesick’ starring Michael Keaton, Kaitlyn Dever, Michael Stuhlbarg premieres on Disney+ on November 12th.

Actor Reed Birney (House of Cards, The Blacklist) joins us to talk about his Gotham Award nominated performance in the powerful film ‘Mass’. We spoke about his role (which first time director Fran Kranz wrote specifically for him), the tragedy of his character, themes of grief, forgiveness and surviving the worst. And much more.

Erik Anderson, editor-in-chief AwardsWatch .com, is back for our regular segment covering all the most important industry & awards news! Dune and Belfast. The Golden Globes, just when we thought we were out they are dragging us back in. As well as the Dave Chapelle controversy and the tragedy on the set of Rust. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An unwanted pregnancy, an animated fetus and Rakel, a great character at the center, Ninjababy is a hilarious film that packs some powerful punches. We talk to director Yngvild Sve Flikke about the interesting themes, how differently the film has resonated around the world and much more, The movie won 4 Amanda awards at the Norwegian International Film Festival, it is one of Norways 2021 Oscar submissions and has made a splash at festivals, from Berlin to SXSW.