• 1 hour 16 minutes
    Is ICE CREAM MAN Eli Roth’s most chilling work or does it need more sprinkles? + Taika Waititi

    The Take is now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/kermodeandmayo

    Become a Vanguardista or an Ultra Vanguardista to get video episodes of Take Two every week, plus member-only chat rooms, polls and submissions to influence the show, behind-the-scenes photos and videos, the monthly Redactor’s Roundup newsletter, and access to a new fortnightly LIVE show - a raucous, unfiltered lunchtime special with the Good Doctors, new features, and live chat so you can heckle, vote, and have your questions read out in real time.

    Mark Kermode assesses Eli Roth’s gory horror Ice Cream Man, about an ice-cream van whose treats turn kids into homicidal monsters. He also reviews French drama Love Me Tender, starring Vicky Krieps as a mother whose divorce and sexuality trigger a brutal custody battle. Staying abroad, Mark then covers The Summer Book, a Tove Jansson adaptation set on a Finnish island, featuring a standout turn from Glenn Close as a grandmother helping a grieving child and her withdrawn father.

    And Simon Mayo chats to Taika Waititi on adapting the New Zealand novel Wild Pork and Watercress into the much-loved Hunt for the Wilderpeople as it returns in a 10th anniversary 4K release.

    Plus, the Box Office Top Ten jumps back in time to 1976. As does the Laughter Lift for that matter….

    You can contact the show by emailing [email protected] or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo.

    EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/take Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!

    Our Christmas Movie Spectacular is back! It’s in Bristol this year on Sunday 6th December. Don’t miss it!

    Here’s the link for tickets:

    https://www.fane.co.uk/kermode-and-mayo

    A Sony Music Entertainment production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts

    To advertise on this show contact: [email protected]


    Timecodes:

    00:00:00 Introduction

    00:11:52 Ice Cream Man review

    00:21:32 Box Office Top Ten (1976)

    00:33:37 Taika Waititi Interview

    00:47:23 Love Me Tender review

    00:55:01 Laughter Lift

    00:59:52 The Summer Book review

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    6 August 2026, 12:00 pm
  • 1 hour 26 minutes
    Has SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY got Mark’s Spidey senses tingling? + ASA BUTTERFIELD

    The Take is now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/kermodeandmayo

    Become a Vanguardista or an Ultra Vanguardista to get video episodes of Take Two every week, plus member-only chat rooms, polls and submissions to influence the show, behind-the-scenes photos and videos, the monthly Redactor’s Roundup newsletter, and access to a new fortnightly LIVE show - a raucous, unfiltered lunchtime special with the Good Doctors, new features, and live chat so you can heckle, vote, and have your questions read out in real time.

    Spider-Man is swinging back onto cinema screens this weekend in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Tom Holland’s masked web slinger is anonymous once again, his identity having been wiped from the memories of his fellow New Yorkers - including those once closest to him. Mark reviews this latest Marvel blockbuster, alongside a homegrown British indie that’s generating some serious buzz: Ish. Recalling Kes, The 400 Blows and the Apu trilogy, it’s a vivid coming-of-age debut you won’t want to miss.

    Also coming soon on digital is Our Hero Balthazar, a dark satire tackling gun violence and internet culture, starring Asa Butterfield - who is our special guest this week. He plays Solomon, a gun-obsessed would-be school shooter, online-trolling from the Texas trailer he shares with his granny. The film centres around Solomon’s uneasy friendship with Balthazar, a New York rich kid who craves the social cachet of preventing a shooting by befriending its potential perpetrator. Asa joins Mark and Simon to unpack this transformational performance.

    Plus the Laughter Lift, more on our inevitable technological overlords in new mini-feature ‘AI Don’t Like That’, and of course lots of top correspondence from you. Cheers!

    You can contact the show by emailing [email protected] or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo.

    Our Christmas Movie Spectacular is back! It’s in Bristol this year on Sunday 6th December. Don’t miss it!

    Here’s the link for tickets:

    https://www.fane.co.uk/kermode-and-mayo

    What’s On info:

    https://www.deliveryafterdark.com/

    https://theatreship.co.uk/#tickets

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    A Sony Music Entertainment production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts

    To advertise on this show contact: [email protected]


    Timecodes:

    00:00:00 Introduction

    00:08:29 Ish review

    00:16:27 Box Office Top Ten

    00:31:22 Asa Butterfield interview

    00:46:51 Our Hero, Balthazar review

    00:57:48 Laughter Lift

    00:59:26 AI don't like that

    01:03:32 Spider-Man: Brand New Day review

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    30 July 2026, 12:45 pm
  • 1 hour 25 minutes
    Are some ANIMAL FARM adaptations more equal than others? With ANDY SERKIS

    The Take is now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/kermodeandmayo

    Become a Vanguardista or an Ultra Vanguardista to get video episodes of Take Two every week, plus member-only chat rooms, polls and submissions to influence the show, behind-the-scenes photos and videos, the monthly Redactor’s Roundup newsletter, and access to a new fortnightly LIVE show - a raucous, unfiltered lunchtime special with the Good Doctors, new features, and live chat so you can heckle, vote, and have your questions read out in real time.

    We have a very ‘precious’ guest for you this week… yes, it’s Andy Serkis, AKA Gollum himself. The actor, director, and motion capturer extraordinaire chats to Simon about his new film Animal Farm - an animated adaptation of Orwell’s classic story for a young audience. With Seth Rogan putting a comic spin on Orwell’s porky totalitarian Napoleon, and a key new character and third act added, Serkis’ child-friendly version has attracted some ire already - but is it fair? Listen in to find out where Mark stands.

    Plus, we’ve got two more reviews of what’s out this week for anyone not going to see The Odyssey. First up, Pinocchio Unstrung - the latest in Twisted Childhood’s series of slasher-fied, copyright free children’s classics. Then there’s Ask E. Jean, a powerful doc about American columnist E. Jean Carroll, who took on Trump in the courts and won. Plus, the Laughter Lift as usual, and we’re also debuting a technophobic new feature ‘AI don’t like that’ - a home for the ever-increasing correspondence about the terrifying ascendency of our future AI overlords.

    You can contact the show by emailing [email protected] or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo.

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    A Sony Music Entertainment production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts

    To advertise on this show contact: [email protected]


    Timecodes:

    00:00:00 Introduction

    00:09:04 Pinocchio Unstrung review

    00:15:49 Box Office Top Ten

    00:31:00 Andy Serkis interview

    00:48:20 Animal Farm review

    01:02:58 Laughter Lift

    01:09:01 Ask E. Jean review


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    23 July 2026, 11:30 am
  • 1 hour 26 minutes
    Is THE ODYSSEY truly epic? With SIR CHRISTOPHER NOLAN

    The Take is now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/kermodeandmayo

    Become a Vanguardista or an Ultra Vanguardista to get video episodes of Take Two every week, plus member-only chat rooms, polls and submissions to influence the show, behind-the-scenes photos and videos, the monthly Redactor’s Roundup newsletter, and access to a new fortnightly LIVE show - a raucous, unfiltered lunchtime special with the Good Doctors, new features, and live chat so you can heckle, vote, and have your questions read out in real time.

    The time is upon us for the biggest and most epic cinematic event of the year: Sir Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey is finally hitting the (very) big screen—shot on IMAX film, no less. With Matt Damon as Odysseus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope, and a smattering of other screen superstars including Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, and Zendaya in the cast, it’s the cinematic event we’ve all been waiting for. Not to mention Samantha Morton who, as you’ll hear, might just steal the show… Strap in for a bumper review from Mark and Ben—plus of course Simon’s interview with director Sir Christopher Nolan himself. He tells us all about his decades long journey with this ancient story, bringing myth to life, and wrestling with the gods in this massive movie.

    Synthetic Sincerity is our second film up for review—a docufiction curio about a filmmaker’s deal with an AI company that hovers somewhere between fiction and reality. Plus, Mark and Ben will run down the box office top 10, witter around your excellent correspondence, and subject us all to the Laughter Lift again—although we can blame/credit (delete as applicable) you guys for some of the jokes this time. Thanks as always for being part of the Witterverse!

    You can contact the show by emailing [email protected] or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo.

    EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/take Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!

    A Sony Music Entertainment production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts

    To advertise on this show contact: [email protected]

    Our Christmas Movie Spectacular is back! It’s in Bristol this year on Sunday 6th December. Don’t miss it!

    Here’s the link for tickets:

    https://www.fane.co.uk/kermode-and-mayo


    Timecodes:

    00:06:52 Synthetic Sincerity review

    00:22:51 Box Office 10

    00:40:02 Sir Christopher Nolan interview

    00:56:09 The Odyssey review

    01:19:19 Laughter Lift--

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    16 July 2026, 12:15 pm
  • 1 hour 21 minutes
    Are we in for a MOAN-A from Mark about live action remakes?

    The Take is now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/kermodeandmayo

    Become a Vanguardista or an Ultra Vanguardista to get video episodes of Take Two every week, plus member-only chat rooms, polls and submissions to influence the show, behind-the-scenes photos and videos, the monthly Redactor’s Roundup newsletter, and access to a new fortnightly LIVE show—a raucous, unfiltered lunchtime special with the Good Doctors, new features, and live chat so you can heckle, vote, and have your questions read out in real time.

    Disney animated smash Moana is getting the live action treatment this week—and our guest is director Thomas Kail, who previously helmed both the screen and stage versions of Lin Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton and In The Heights too. He talks to Simon about their longstanding collaboration, the whole island of creatives it took to make this movie, and discovering the perfect Moana from thousands of auditionees in Catherine Laga’aia. Plus Mark reviews it—will he be charmed, or is this one live action remake too far?

    Also on the review slate this week we’ve got Rosebush Pruning, a twisted indie family drama featuring all the bodily fluids, and Evil Dead Burn—the latest in the super-influential zombie series. Is the franchise unkillable, or a dead man walking? Don’t miss Mark’s verdict.

    All that plus the box office top 10, the weekly trial of the Laughter Lift (sorry), and of course plenty of correspondence from you lot. Keep it coming!

    You can contact the show by emailing [email protected] or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo.

    EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/take Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!

    A Sony Music Entertainment production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts

    To advertise on this show contact: [email protected]

    Our Christmas Movie Spectacular is back! It’s in Bristol this year on Sunday 6th December. Don’t miss it!

    Here’s the link for tickets:

    https://www.fane.co.uk/kermode-and-mayo

    WHAT’S ON:

    Dr. Jazz and the Cheshire Cats Swingin’ At The Movies:

    https://stockportplaza.co.uk/whats-on/dr-jazz-and-the-cheshire-cats/

    The Labours of Hercule: Poirot Double Bill:

    https://www.picturehouses.com/movie-details/022/HO00017996/the-labours-of-hercule-poirot-double-bill?filter=


    Timecodes:

    00:10:46 Rosebush Pruning

    00:19:41 Box Office Top Ten

    00:36:16 Thomas Kail interview

    00:51:47 Moana review

    01:01:36 Laughter Lift

    01:04:10 Evil Dead Burn

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    9 July 2026, 12:30 pm
  • 1 hour 35 minutes
    Are the Minions master movie makers? + Edward Norton & Olivia Wilde on THE INVITE

    The Take is now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/kermodeandmayo

    Become a Vanguardista or an Ultra Vanguardista to get video episodes of Take Two every week, plus member-only chat rooms, polls and submissions to influence the show, behind-the-scenes photos and videos, the monthly Redactor’s Roundup newsletter, and access to a new fortnightly LIVE show—a raucous, unfiltered lunchtime special with the Good Doctors, new features, and live chat so you can heckle, vote, and have your questions read out in real time.

    Pffft. Bottom. Yes, it’s Minions movie week. Directed by last week’s guest Pierre Coffin, this latest instalment sees the little yellow fellas take on filmmaking. But will Mark’s love for the franchise endure?

    On a much more adult note, our guests this week are Edward Norton and Olivia Wilde, who star in (and in Wilde’s case direct) searing and sexy dark comedy The Invite. It follows Jaded couple Angela (Wilde) and Joe (Seth Rogen), whose marital troubles are thrown into relief by a visit from their fruity neighbours Pena (Penelope Cruz) and Hawk (Norton). Simon sits down with them to talk compersion, catastrophe, and colour coordination.

    Plus, internet sensation turned big screen effort Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie, and finally a Supergirl review too. Don’t miss another top Take!


    As promised, here’s the ticket link for the special K&M live show in Bristol: 

    https://www.fane.co.uk/kermode-and-mayo-s-2026-tickets/bristol-beacon-hall/2026-12-06-19-00  


    You can contact the show by emailing [email protected] or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo.

    EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/take Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!

    A Sony Music Entertainment production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts

    To advertise on this show contact: [email protected]


    Timecodes:

    00:10:56 Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie review

    00:22:18 Box Office top ten

    00:29:32 Supergirl review

    00:43:58 ad break

    00:45:32 Edward Norton & Olivia Wilde interview

    00:57:38 The Invite review

    01:09:57 Laughter Lift

    01:13:05 Ad break

    01:17:10 Minions and Monsters

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    2 July 2026, 4:00 am
  • 1 hour 23 minutes
    Jackass: I thought Jonny Knoxville was an a***

    The Take is now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/kermodeandmayo

    Become a Vanguardista or an Ultra Vanguardista to get video episodes of Take Two every week, plus member-only chat rooms, polls and submissions to influence the show, behind-the-scenes photos and videos, the monthly Redactor’s Roundup newsletter, and access to a new fortnightly LIVE show—a raucous, unfiltered lunchtime special with the Good Doctors, new features, and live chat so you can heckle, vote, and have your questions read out in real time.

    With Mark recording the show from the air-conditioned cool of a film festival in Croatia while the UK swelters, Simon bravely holds the fort back in showbiz north London as he chats to Minions creator Pierre Coffin about the new film, Minions and Monsters.

    For this week’s reviews, Mark dons his safety helmet and grabs a sick bucket for Jackass: Best & Last, the latest big-screen goodbye to Johnny Knoxville and the Jackass crew, packed with stunts, injuries and end-of-an-era nostalgia. It’s not for everyone (Simon) but will Mark indeed find it “best and last”, or a stunt too far?

    Back on safer ground 500 Miles comes under the spotlight. It’s a YA-novel adaptation in which two brothers run away from home and travel across land and sea to reach their grandfather in rural Ireland, encountering music, mishaps and buried family history along the way.

    Finally, A Private Life is a French-language mystery-thriller from Rebecca Zlotowski starring the always excellent Jodie Foster as a psychiatrist drawn into a patient’s death and a spiral of suspicion.

    And as ever, there’s box office chat (predictably dominated by Toy Story 5 this week), our always thought-provoking listener correspondence, and yes…hahahhahaha…. the Laughter Lift.

    You can contact the show by emailing [email protected] or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo.

    EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/take Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!

    A Sony Music Entertainment production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts

    To advertise on this show contact: [email protected]



    Timecodes:

    00:00 Introduction

    00:11:06 500 Miles review

    00:16:59 Box Office top 10

    00:31:16 Pierre Coffin interview

    00:48:19 A Private Life review

    00:56:14 Laughter Lift

    01:02:31 Jackass: best and last review

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    25 June 2026, 1:00 pm
  • 1 hour 16 minutes
    Is playtime finally over for TOY STORY?

    The Take is now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/kermodeandmayo   

    Become a Vanguardista or an Ultra Vanguardista to get video episodes of Take Two every week, plus member-only chat rooms, polls and submissions to influence the show, behind-the-scenes photos and videos, the monthly Redactor’s Roundup newsletter, and access to a new fortnightly LIVE show—a raucous, unfiltered lunchtime special with the Good Doctors, new features, and live chat so you can heckle, vote, and have your questions read out in real time. 

     

    The box office big beast this week is Toy Story 5, and we’re bringing you Mark’s verdict on this fifth instalment of the beloved Pixar franchise. It’s been a Take favourite since it first hit screens in the 90s and has never let us down so far, but can it really live up to the hype for the fifth film in a row?  

     

    Plus we’ve got two more reviews from this weekend’s cinema slate. First up, Welsh language drama Effi o Blaenau, which recasts a Greek tragedy plot in working-class Cardiff. And from gritty modern drama to glossy period drama, there’s Virginia Woolf’s Night and Day - an ‘unromantic comedy’ based on a comic novel by modernist literature’s most famous feminist.  

    It also brings us to our guest this week…  

     

    It’s Timothy Spall, who will be chatting to Simon about playing the film’s crusty old patriarch, Mr. Hilbery. One of our most respected and versatile British actors, Spall has played everyone from Winston Churchill to Wormtail, and has made several celebrated films with Mike Leigh (famously, the friendliest of all directors). This one is a meaty chat not to be missed.  

     

    Mark will be playing Mr Punchline in this week’s Laughter Lift - unfortunately unlikely to make it any funnier. Lots and lots of correspondence from you lot too, including a thorough Disclosure Day debrief. Don’t miss it!  

     

    You can contact the show by emailing [email protected] or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo. 

     

    EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/take Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! 

     

    A Sony Music Entertainment production.     

     

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts   

     

    To advertise on this show contact: [email protected] 


    Timecodes: 

    00:07:09 Effi O Blaenau review 

    00:14:50 Box Office Top Ten 

    00:24:56 Timothy Spall interview 

    00:39:57 Virginia Woolf's Night and Day review 

    00:47:33 Laughter Lift 

    00:54:36 Toy Story 5 review 

     

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    18 June 2026, 1:00 pm
  • 1 hour 30 minutes
    Is DISCLOSURE DAY the best Spielberg in decades? With EMILY BLUNT & COLMAN DOMINGO

    The Take is now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/kermodeandmayo

    Become a Vanguardista or an Ultra Vanguardista to get video episodes of Take Two every week, plus member-only chat rooms, polls and submissions to influence the show, behind-the-scenes photos and videos, the monthly Redactor’s Roundup newsletter, and access to a new fortnightly LIVE show—a raucous, unfiltered lunchtime special with the Good Doctors, new features, and live chat so you can heckle, vote, and have your questions read out in real time.

    It’s Disclosure Day week! Yes, film buffs, that means it’s time for a new Steven Spielberg film—and not just a new Spielberg, but a new Spielberg sci-fi. We can’t wait to see the iconic director return to the genre he defined, and to hear Mark’s verdict. Should we believe the hype that it’s his best film in decades?

    As well as Mark’s review, we’ll hear Simon’s interview with two of its stars, Emily Blunt and Colman Domingo. They talk Spielbergian on-set insights, space aliens, and, erm… Percy Pigs. Plus, yet more speculation as to whether Jaws is or is not about a shark.

    On top of that we’ve got two more reviews of two new movies who dared to release alongside this box office whopper. First up, quirky Scottish tragicomedy The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford, about a man desperate to keep his small town’s true history alive when a Game-of-Thrones-style production circus arrives and threatens to redefine it. And it’s reissue time for Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights, scrubbed up in glorious 4K, and back on the big screen to celebrate. How does this groovy and grimy modern classic stand up after nearly 30 years? Let’s see what the Good Doctors say.

    All that plus the usual hilarity/hardship of the Laughter Lift, and of course your erudite and insightful correspondence to boot. Don’t sleep on another top Take!

    You can contact the show by emailing [email protected] or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo.

    EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/take Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!

    A Sony Music Entertainment production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts

    To advertise on this show contact: [email protected]


    Timecodes:

    00:10:27 The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford review

    00:20:03 Box Office Top 10

    00:35:23 Colman Domingo and Emily Blunt interview

    00:46:23 Disclosure Day review

    01:12:10 Boogie Nights review

    01:22:57 What's On?



    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    11 June 2026, 12:00 pm
  • 1 hour 17 minutes
    Is SAVAGE HOUSE Richard E. Grant’s most unhinged role yet?

    The Take is now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/kermodeandmayo

    Become a Vanguardista or an Ultra Vanguardista to get video episodes of Take Two every week, plus member-only chat rooms, polls and submissions to influence the show, behind-the-scenes photos and videos, the monthly Redactor’s Roundup newsletter, and access to a new fortnightly LIVE show—a raucous, unfiltered lunchtime special with the Good Doctors, new features, and live chat so you can heckle, vote, and have your questions read out in real time.

    The one and only Richard E. Grant joins us on this week’s Take for a chat with both Mark and Simon about Savage House. He stars as the flamboyant and grotesque Lord Chauncey Savage in this unhinged satirical period drama, alongside Claire Foy. Expect wigs, leeches, the pox and quite a lot of poo.

    Mark will also be reviewing Savage House, alongside two more of the week’s biggest releases. Masters of the Universe sees an all-star ensemble cast led by Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes and Idris Elba (erm, and Jared Leto) bring the He-Man franchise to the big screen—but is it superpowered, or another revival nobody asked for? Plus, Scary Movie, the latest instalment in Mark’s (least) favourite horror spoof franchise.

    All that plus the usual excess witterings, and plenty of your excellent correspondence—including many more Muppet Game entries. We may have started something we can’t finish with this one….

    You can contact the show by emailing [email protected] or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo.

    A Sony Music Entertainment production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts

    🌎 Get an exclusive 15% discount on your first Saily data plans! Use code [Take] at checkout. Download Saily app or go to https://saily.com/Take ⛵

    To advertise on this show contact: [email protected]



    Timecodes:

    00:00 Intro

    11:54 Masters of the Universe review

    21:45 Box Office Top Ten

    34:12 Richard E. Grant interview

    48:23 Savage House review

    56:58 Laughter Lift

    01:00:49 Scary Movie review



    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    4 June 2026, 1:30 pm
  • 1 hour 22 minutes
    Does Mark think BACKROOMS is a-maze-ing?

    The Take is now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/kermodeandmayo

    Become a Vanguardista or an Ultra Vanguardista to get video episodes of Take Two every week, plus member-only chat rooms, polls and submissions to influence the show, behind-the-scenes photos and videos, the monthly Redactor’s Roundup newsletter, and access to a new fortnightly LIVE show—a raucous, unfiltered lunchtime special with the Good Doctors, new features, and live chat so you can heckle, vote, and have your questions read out in real time.

    Our guest this week is James Graham, one of Britain’s most prolific and successful writers, including of the brand new BBC series Dear England. Adapted from a play which Graham also wrote, it charts the journey of Gareth Southgate’s England men’s team from the disappointment of the ‘golden generation’ to the success we all cheered on in recent years—except for Mark, of course. No chance of him following the football. James talks to Simon about the highs and lows, moving from stage tp screen, and why Gareth Southgate has a redemption narrative straight outta Shakespeare.

    Mark reviews it too, plus three more of the week’s big releases—a packed show again. We’ve got Power Ballad, a dark musical comedy of unfulfilled potential and stolen success starring Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas, Backrooms a new A24 horror that started life as a viral YouTube video, and Tuner, the crime thriller starring Dustin Hoffman and last week’s Take guest Leo Woodall.

    All that plus the usual lovely nonsense. Enjoy!


    Timecodes:

    00:00 Introduction

    10:04 Power Ballad review

    16:38 Box Office 10

    30:29 James Graham interview

    47:00 Dear England review

    53:33 Laughter Lift

    01:00:31 Backrooms Review

    01:08:22 Tuner review



    The fundraising page for Dave Mitchell, director of Alien On Stage can be found here:

    https://www.goodhub.com/go/helpdave

    You can contact the show by emailing [email protected] or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo.

    🌎 Get an exclusive 15% discount on your first Saily data plans! Use code [Take] at checkout. Download Saily app or go to https://saily.com/Take ⛵

    A Sony Music Entertainment production.

    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts

    To advertise on this show contact: [email protected]



    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    28 May 2026, 4:05 pm
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