Director/Producer Hiro Murai whose new show is Apple TV’s “Widow’s Bay,” joins host Ben Mankiewicz. They discuss why he and Donald Glover collaborate so well and how their initial approach to making “Atlanta” was unsustainable. Murai and Ben debate the value of surrealism in art and Murai reveals that he once pitched himself to direct a Beyonce video but completely understands why he didn’t get the gig. His answers to the Super 8 span Japanese films like Miyazaki’s “My Neighbor Totoro” and Takeshi Kitano’s “Sonatine” to the Albert Brooks comedy “Modern Romance” and Kubrick’s “The Shining.”

Films Mentioned:

• Rosemary’s Baby
• Eraserhead
• Cool Runnings
• The Shining
• Terminator 2: Judgement Day AKA T2
• Elevator To The Gallows
• Boogie Nights
• No Country For Old Men
• Jurassic Park
• Modern Romance
• La Chimera
• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• Ran
• My Neighbor Totoro
• Tampopo
• The Sound of Music
• Reds

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Oscar-winning actress Sally Field gets real with Ben Mankiewicz. Drawing on her memoir In Pieces, she discusses her fraught relationship with ex-boyfriend/Smokey and the Bandit co-star Burt Reynolds and his similarity to her abusive step-father. During The Flying Nun she was introduced to the Actors Studio where she transformed from a sitcom actress Hollywood had written off into someone who could fight for Norma Rae, fight Spielberg twice for Lincoln, and win both battles. In the Super 8 she praises the work of Louise Fletcher in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and reveals she rarely cries at movies.

Films Mentioned:

• Remarkably Bright Creatures
• Smokey and the Bandit
• Sybil
• Norma Rae
• The Way West
• Places in the Heart
• Lincoln
• Gone with the Wind
• Them!
• The Searchers
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
• Charade
• Steamboat Bill, Jr.
• The Enchanted Cottage
• A Letter to Three Wives
• Hooper
• Absence of Malice
• Steel Magnolias
• Forrest Gump
• Hud

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Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon joins Ben Mankiewicz to share unvarnished stories of a life in films– from making Rocky Horror Picture Show, Bull Durham, Witches of Eastwick, and Pretty Baby to navigating the cynical world of showbiz. She argues that every film is political– either challenging the status quo or enforcing it– and reveals her input into the iconic ending of Thelma & Louise which turns 35 this year.

Films Mentioned:

• The Nutty Professor
• The Accompanist
• Dead Man Walking
• Joe
• Atlantic City
• Pretty Baby
• Rocky Horror Picture Show
• Witches of Eastwick
• Bull Durham
• Sirat
• Afterlife
• Grapes of Wrath
• Lord of the Rings
• Bambi
• Waiting for Guffman
• Best in Show
• Thelma & Louise
• Being There
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
• The Front Page, 1974

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Oscar-nominated actress Rosie Perez sits down with host Ben Mankiewicz to discuss the films that shaped her career—Do the Right Thing and Fearless—as well as early favorites like Saturday Night Fever and Double Indemnity. She reflects on building a career in an industry that didn’t readily accept her for who she is, and speaks candidly about being raised in a strict Catholic home for girls. In the Super 8 segment, she tells Ben about an amazing boxing story she’d love to see on the big screen.

Films Mentioned

• The Way We Were
• Do The Right Thing
• Fearless
• Criminal Justice
• The Bells of St. Mary's
• The Little Princess (Shirley Temple version), 1939
• Old Yeller
• Rosemary's Baby
• Saturday Night Fever
• Double Indemnity
• Cool Hand Luke
• Some Like It Hot
• Detour
• Young Frankenstein
• Stormy Weather

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Comedian and actor Patton Oswalt joins host Ben Mankiewicz for a live taping of Talking Pictures recorded at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on the eve of the 2026 TCM Classic Film Festival. An obsessive movie fan, Patton sees hundreds of films a year; he hates talkers in theaters but loves when going to a movie turns into a bonding experience with strangers. From his acting career, he tells stories of being suspended in a tree on the set of “Magnolia” and doing a sex scene with Charlize Theron in “Young Adult.” In the Super 8, Oswalt shares films you’ll want to remember and see the first chance you get.

Films Mentioned:

• Young Adult
• Ratatouille
• The D.I.
• Halloween
• Magnolia
• Hard Eight
• Young Adult
• Stalag 17
• The Great Escape
• Yojimbo
• Bad News Bears, 1976
• Casablanca
• Pee Wee’s Big Adventure
• Return of the Living Dead
• Three Kings
• Gates of Heaven
• Bachelor Party
• Baby Driver
• After Life
• The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
• Planet of The Apes
• Wait Until Dark
• Man With No Name
• A Catered Affair
• The Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming
• Sergeant York
• The Taking of Pelham 123
• Female Trouble
• Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
• The Twelve Chairs
• Blazing Saddles
• Ikiru
• Kingpin
• Quick Change
• Pig

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Talking Pictures is back with ardent movie fan and beloved filmmaker Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead and The Running Man). He talks with host Ben Mankiewicz about living in Quentin Tarantino’s guesthouse, action movie montages, and being mesmerized by Sidney Poitier at the TCM Classic Film Festival. To Ben’s surprise, Wright christens Ben’s home studio with a perfect classic film moniker.

Films mentioned:

• Raiders of the Lost Ark
• Shaun of the Dead
• Baby Driver
• The Running Man
• Hot Fuzz
• The World’s End
• Star Wars: Episode IV:
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture
• Watership Down
• The Lord of The Rings (1978 animated film)
• Popeye
• Evil Dead and Evil Dead II
• El Mariachi
• Reservoir Dogs
• Bad Taste
• Rumble In The Bronx
• Something About Mary
• Silence of the Lambs
• In the Heat of the Night
• Raising Arizona
• Goodfellas
• Pink Panther films
• Hellraiser
• The Wages of Fear
• Sorcerer
• Lawrence of Arabia
• E.T.
• Umberto D.
• This Is Spinal Tap

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Season three of Talking Pictures is back, with a brand new lineup of guests celebrating the movies they love, this time on video.

Host Ben Mankiewicz invites some of the most iconic figures in Hollywood for an intimate conversation at his home studio. Guests like Sally Field, Edgar Wright, and Susan Sarandon open up about the moments that made them, the movies that informed them, and share behind-the-scenes stories that haven’t been told. Of course, every episode ends with the Super 8, where they reveal the movies that make them laugh, cry, and that they can’t forget.

From TCM and HBO Max, this is Season 3 of Talking Pictures: A Movie Memories Podcast, hosted by Ben Mankiewicz.

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Oscar-nominated writer/director Joachim Trier (Sentimental Value) talks with Host Ben Mankiewicz about how being raised in a filmmaking family shaped his worldview and his career. Ben and Joachim bond over E.T., Hitchcock's villains, and the enduring humor of Step Brothers. At the end you get a rare peek at a couple of Ben’s prized movie posters.

Films Mentioned:

• Sentimental Value
• The Passion of Joan of Arc (aka La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc)
• The Worst Person in the World
• Oslo, August 31st
• Tarzan the Ape Man
• Mon Oncle
• E.T.
• The Hunt (aka The Chasers)
• The Pinchcliffe Grand Prix
• The Champ, 1979 and The Champ, 1931
• F1
• Annie Hall
• Salò
• Solaris
• Notorious
• Amarcord
• Flashdance
• Fame
• Flight of the Eagle
• The Emigrants
• The New Land
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
• The Sting
• Slap Shot
• Step Brothers
• One Battle After Another
• Kes
• Harry and Tonto
• Where Eagles Dare

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Oscar-nominated writer/director Chloé Zhao (Hamnet) reveals why she has dance parties on set and what happened when a Los Angeles high school teacher took her under his wing. This two-time Academy Award winner, whose latest film is up for eight Oscars, also reveals where she stores her Oscars.

Films Mentioned:

• Hamnet
• Nomadland
• Terminator 2
• True Lies
• Ghost
• Sister Act
• Basic Instinct
• Happy Together
• The Matrix
• The Mummy
• Ghost In The Shell
• The Rider
• Red River
• Jeremiah Johnson
• My Darling Clementine
• Unforgiven
• Avatar
• Titanic
• Aliens
• Alien
• Star Wars
• Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
• Land of Silence and Darkness
• Into the Abyss
• Lord of the Rings
• Harry Potter
• The Tree of Life
• Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
• Casablanca
• Interstellar
• The Searchers

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In this bonus episode of Talking Pictures recorded live at the TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood, host Ben Mankiewicz chats with director and actor Eli Roth. They discuss Roth’s close relationship with David Lynch and his role as The Bear Jew in Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglorious Basterds.” Known for his horror films, we discover that scary movies made a young Eli Roth projectile vomit! The Super 8 reveals Roth’s broad film knowledge and his family admiration for Mel Brooks movies.

Films Mentioned:

• Cabin Fever
• Hostel
• Hostel 2
• The Green Inferno
• Thanksgiving
• Inglourious Basterds
• Death Proof
• Pulp Fiction
• True Romance
• The Idol*
• Ben-Hur
• Eraserhead*
• Superman: The Movie (1978)*
• The French Connection
• The Royal Tenenbaums
• The Conversation
• Knock Knock
• The Godfather
• The Godfather Part II
• Night Moves
• Scarecrow
• Quiz Show
• The Paper
• The Music of Chance
• Dr. Strangelove
• Rabbits
• The Scary of Sixty-First
• Jimmy and Stiggs
• It Follows*
• The Ring
• Clown
• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
• Alien
• Private Parts
• House of 1000 Corpses
• Saw
• Nosferatu (2024)
• All Hallows' Eve
• Terrifier
• The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
• Scream VI
• Sleepaway Camp
• Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
• Outland
• Dracula (1979)
• Kingdom of the Spiders
• Raiders of the Lost Ark
• Evil Dead
• A Nightmare on Elm Street
• The Devil's Rejects
• American Werewolf in London
• Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom
• The Wizard of Oz*
• Wild at Heart
• Joe (1070)
• The Breakfast Club
• Re-Animator
• Porky's
• Zapped
• Fast Times at Ridgemont High
• My Chauffeur
• 2001: A Space Odyssey*
• Blue Velvet*
• Pink Flamingos
• Hamburger: The Motion Picture
• One-Eyed Jacks
• House of Wax (1953)
• A Night at the Opera
• A Day at the Races
• Young Frankenstein
• The Producers (1967)
• Blazing Saddles
• High Anxiety
• American Psycho
• The Sixth Sense
• Friends with Benefits
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
• America's Sweethearts
• The Exorcist
• The Shining
• Suspiria (1977)

*Available on Max as of 5/7 (Availability of titles subject to change)

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One of the godfathers of movie podcasts, Paul Scheer launched How Did This Get Made? fifteen years ago. His love of movies started as a kid on Long Island working at a Blockbuster Video. Through his talent for improv comedy, he ended up writing, directing and performing in some of the funniest shows ever put on TV. Paul details his rollercoaster career, his extremely awkward celebrity encounters, and how movies were often an escape from his difficult childhood. In the Super 8, Paul tells Ben how he once lined up at 6:00 AM... just to watch a trailer.

Films Mentioned :

• Ordinary People
• The Milagro Beanfield War
• Dollars
• Heaven Can Wait
• Shampoo
• The Elephant Man
• The Avengers
• Iron Man 3
• Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
• Meet Joe Black
• The Cable Guy*
• Galaxy Quest
• Twilight
• Psycho 4: A New Beginning
• Ghost
• Phantasm
• Flowers in the Attic
• Young Frankenstein
• Blazing Saddles
• Happy Gilmore
• Back to the Future
• Groundhog Day
• Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Grosse Pointe Blank
• Midnight Run
• Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.
• *Available on Max as of 2/04 (Availability of titles subject to change)

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