Cinema in Context

Steven Spielberg films. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss Disclosure Day (2026) and Minority Report (2002), two Science Fiction films directed by cinema great Steven Spielberg. Our conversation begin by unpacking our reactions to and judgements of Disclosure Day, including how the film connects to or doesn't connect to the real-world pressures of today. We praise the performances...

Movies that made Sophie. Jeremy Downing and returning guest to the podcast Sophie Gray discuss the most significant films in Sophie's life in our series of Movies That Made Us. We talk about our mutual love of storytelling, our experiences of film fandom as teenagers, and then jump into our discussion of specific movies. Sophie brings up a range of films, including Singin' in the Rain (1952), Scho...

Drew Goddard solo space flicks. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss Project Hail Mary (2026) and The Martian (2015). We begin by celebrating the ten-year anniversary of the podcast. We discuss our reactions to both films, from directors Ridley Scott, and Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. We discuss the calibre of the cast in The Martian and the strength of Ryan Gosling's and Matt D...

Classic stories retold. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss Wuthering Heights (2026) and Romeo + Juliet (1996). Emerald Fennell's adaptation of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights and Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet provide us with a wealth of points to talk about. We begin by discussing our reactions to 1996's Romeo + Juliet. We talk about the pres...

Thrillers with an insidious carer at the centre. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss Send Help (2026) and Misery (1990). We begin by discussing our shared experience of watching Send Help and praising the performances of Rachel McAdams as Linda Liddle and Dylan O'Brien as Bradley Preston. Our conversation jumps between Send Help and Misery, equally praising the performances of Kath...

Rian Johnson films. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss Wake Up Dead Man (2025), the latest in the Knives Out series, and Rian Johnson's first film Brick (2005). We begin by discussing our experiences watching Brick back in 2005 and 2006. This moves into us discussing a number of Rian Johnson's films, ending with Wake Up Dead Man. We discuss the range of actors in Wake Up Dead Man,...

The best of the year. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss their film and television highlights of the year, including their biggest surprise, biggest disappointment, classic revisted, best television and best films of 2025. Here are the films and television shows we discussed: • Biggest surprise of the year: Ne Zha 2 (William); The Last Showgirl (Sarah); Final Destination: Bloodlin...

1987 and 2025 versions of The Runninng Man. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss The Running Man (2025) and The Running Man (1987), adaptations of the Richard Bachman aka Stephen King novel of the same name. We begin with our initial reactions to the new film, recorded immediately after watching the preview screening together. The conversation moves to the original adaptation from 1...

Paul Thomas Anderson films. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss One Battle After Another (2025) and Punch Drunk Love (2002), both directed by PTA. Out conversation begins by comparing the villains in both films, played by Sean Penn and Philip Seymour Hoffman, respectively. We talk about the confident performances of Adam Sandler and Emily Watson in Punch Drunk Love. We praise the w...

Girl power demon slayers. Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss KPop Demon Hunters (2025) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992). William and Jeremy also watched the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) television series episode "Hush" (Season 4, Episode 10), as well as reference "Doppelgangland" (Season 3, Episode 16) and the musical episode "Once More With Feeling" (Season 6, Episode 7). The conv...

Zach Cregger films. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss Weapons (2025) and Barbarian (2022). Our conversation begins with our experiences watching Barbarian for the first time and it quickly weaves into our reactions to watching Zach Cregger's latest film Barbarian. We make connections between the films and with Heretic (2024), Longlegs (2024), The Shining (1980), Carnivàle (2003-2...

1978 and 2025. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss Superman (1978) and Superman (2025). Our conversation begins with our reactions to 1978's Superman, directed by Richard Donner, with most of the podcast watching the film for the first time in preparation for the podcast recording. We talk about the score from John Williams and how it connects to his other great scores from the 197...

Zombie films, the first and latest. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss 28 Years Later (2025) and Night of the Living Dead (1968). Our conversation begins with confusion as we realise some podcast hosts were under the impression we were focusing on 28 Days Later (2002). We compare the cinematography of Anthony Dod Mantle in both 28 Years Later and 28 Days Later. We discuss the meri...

The Final Destination saga. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025) and the original Final Destination (2000), as well as the sequels in between: Final Destination 2 (2003), Final Destination 3 (2006), The Final Destination (2009) and Final Destination 5 (2011). We begin by discussing the Health and Safety elements of the films, especially the 'Publ...

Pamela Anderson starring films. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss The Last Showgirl (2024) and Barb Wire (1996). We begin by discussing Barb Wire and showering it with praise (excuse the pun). We celebrate the 90s-ness of the film. We talk about all the homages and connections we noticed in Barb Wire, including Casablanca (1942), Batman Forever (1995), Alien 3 (1992), Mad Max (19...

Artificially Intelligent girlfriends. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss Companion (2025) and Her (2013). Both films have director-writers in Drew Hancock and Spike Jonze, respectively. We start by discussing the vision of the future Her presents and how much has come to pass - 'prescient' is the word we all describe the film as. We celebrate a number of elements of Her that we en...

Week-long liaisons. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss two films about a young sex worker asked to be a date for a week: Anora (2024) and Pretty Woman (1990). We discuss our initial experiences watching the Gary Marshall's Pretty Woman. We praise the film's creation of tropes, archetypes and memorable movie moments. We celebrate the performances, especially Julia Roberts. We talk...

Minisode: Oscars 2025 by Cinema in Context

Three Paddington films. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss Paddington (2014), Paddington 2 (2017) and Paddington in Peru (2024) and our general reactions to the films, especially those of us who haven't seen a Paddington film before. We talk about the work of writer and director Paul King, including The Mighty Boosh and Wonka (2023), and praise the work of first-time director Doug...

The best of the year. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss their film and television highlights of the year, including their biggest surprise, biggest disappointment, wildcard, best television and best films of 2024. Here are the films and television shows we discussed: • Biggest surprise of the year: Migration (William); Kneecap (Sarah); Wicked: Part 1 (Jeremy) • Biggest disappoint...

1970s television films. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss Saturday Night (2024) and Network (1976), films about television in 1975. We begin by discussing our connection and experience watching the television sketch-comedy show Saturday Night Live (1975-present). We discuss the actors' performances in the film, especially in their impersonations of the famous cast members of the...

Mega-city grand vision films. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss Megalopolis (2024) and Metropolis (1927), films by Francis Ford Coppola and Fritz Lang. We begin by sharing our experiences watching Metropolis, including the first time watching it and our experience watching it more recently. We talk about the music in Metropolis, how it's drawn from music before it and influenced...

Say their name multiple times. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss Candyman (1992) and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024), as well as Beetlejuice (1988). We start by sharing our experiences and reactions to watching Candyman, including the key imagery and ideas that stand out. We praise the score from Phillip Glass, the writing work of Clive Barker, the direction and vision from Bernar...

The Alien franchise. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss Alien (1979) and Alien: Romulus (2024), as well as Aliens (1986), Alien³ (1992), Alien: Resurrection (1997), Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017). Our conversation dips in and out of all these films, praising and critiquing the work of directors Ridley Scott, Fede Alvarez, James Cameron, David Fincher and Jean-Pierre...

Looking back at 100 months. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss the last 100 months of Cinema in Context. We reminisce on the beginnings of the podcast, referencing the many people who have contributed along the way. We discuss our top films of the 'new' films we've focused on since 2016. The films we discuss include Thor: Ragnarok (2017) from Episode 20, Mission: Impossible - Fall...