Cinema in One Take

Are cinemas putting audiences off before the film even begins? This week on Cinema in One Take, Emma Jones and Kaleem Aftab respond to Sony’s Tom Rothman, who has urged cinemas to shorten the bloated pre-show of ads and trailers before films start, and ask whether the pre-cinema experience itself is part of the problem of getting audiences in? Then it’s to Cannes 2026, where the line up for other...

The Cannes Film Festival 2026 line-up is here, and it feels like something is shifting. Fewer Hollywood titles, a surge in war stories, and a Competition shaped by global auteurs, with Japanese and Spanish films featuring prominently this year. Emma Jones and Kaleem Aftab unpack the key themes, including a growing global crossover between Europe and Asia, both in casting and direction, and a notab...

On this week’s Cinema in One Take, Emma Jones and Kaleem Aftab explore what audiences really want from cinema — from AI-generated performances to timeless movie magic. They begin with the rise of AI in film, from the failure (for now) of virtual influencer Tilly Norwood to the ethics of recreating Val Kilmer on screen, and ask whether audiences are ready for artificial stars. Then, as French class...

A film very few people have seen is already causing outrage. On this week’s Cinema in One Take, Emma Jones and Kaleem Aftab dive into the backlash surrounding The Drama after a leaked plot twist set the internet off. Is the twist genuinely in poor taste, and has it also provided exactly the kind of controversy modern film marketing thrives on? They also discuss the darker side of visibility, as ac...

  Ryan Gosling heads into space (with exceptional knitwear) in Project Hail Mary — a rare original sci-fi that’s already shaping up to be one of 2026’s biggest hits.  Film experts Emma Jones and Kaleem Aftab ask whether Hollywood might finally be rediscovering its appetite for risk. Is this a genuine shift away from franchise dominance — or just a one-off? And they look beyond Hollywood to the glo...

  In this Oscar special episode of Cinema in One Take, Emma Jones joins from Los Angeles hours after the ceremony while Kaleem Aftab watches from across the Atlantic — and together they unpack one of the more intriguing Academy Awards in recent years. From Paul Thomas Anderson finally winning Best Picture and Best Director for One Battle After Another to the electrifying reaction when Michael B. J...

With the Oscars fast approaching, Emma Jones and Kaleem Aftab dive into the strange theatre of awards-season campaigning — where one off-the-cuff comment can suddenly dominate the conversation. This week they unpack Timothée Chalamet’s opera and ballet gaffe, and ask whether Oscar races are increasingly decided by narrative, momentum and campaign drama rather than the performances themselves. Emma...

Danish actor Claes Bang ( The Square, Dracula, Bad Sisters) joins Cinema in One Take to discuss his new French film The Great Arch, by Stephane Demoustier, playing the uncompromising architect behind one of Paris’s most striking landmarks. Speaking with hosts Emma Jones and Kaleem Aftab, Bang reflects on portraying a fiercely principled creative figure, what the AI future holds for cinema, and why...

  With Oscars 2026 approaching, film critics Emma Jones and Kaleem Aftab ask whether awards season has simply become too long. From the Golden Globes to the Academy Awards, they debate whether audiences still watch the Oscars — and why this year’s race feels unusually unpredictable. They also head  to the César Awards, where American director Richard Linklater won Best Director for Nouvelle Vague,...

In this week's Cinema in One Take, Kaleem Aftab and Emma Jones digest what happened at the BAFTA Film Awards, when a racial slur was aired by the BBC broadcast of the event. They also discuss the Berlin Film Festival winners, and that ceremony was overshadowed (as was the entire festival) by political controversy. Who'd want to run a film festival and what happened to these events being about the...

On the latest Cinema in One Take. Emma Jones and Kaleem Aftab look back at the political controversy that dominated this year's Berlinale festival, over remarks Jury President Wim Wenders made during the opening press conference. Emma picks out 'Rose' starring Sandra Huller, as her favourite of the Berlin Competition films, and runs through a few more of her highlights, while the pair pay tribute...

In this week's Cinema in One Take, It's the start of the Berlin International Film Festival and Emma and Kaleem raise the topic of a new levy on streaming profits in Germany that have to be reinvested in film and TV. A great idea for German culture, or just ignoring what audiences actually want? Afghan director Shahrbanoo Sadat opens the festival with a rom-com set in Kabul as the country falls ag...

This week Kaleem and Emma explore Kristen Stewart's excellent directing debut The Chronology of Water, starring Imogen Poots, and her r ecent words to the press that at some point she might quit the USA, because she "can't work freely there." They ask why (Mark Ruffalo aside) there's a deafening silence from Hollywood in the middle of awards season during a turbulent time in the USA. They explore...

Cinema in One Take's Kaleem Aftab and Emma Jones discuss what's behind the surge in Japan's box office. They also  disagree over Richard Linklater's new film 'Nouvelle Vague', about the making of Jean-Luc Godard's movie 'Breathless' And as Sundance comes to an end in Park City, Utah, they mark the end of an era with some of their best Sundance films and memories.  

Kaleem and Emma sit down to discuss the Oscar nominations right after they happened and to celebrate Sinners (16 nominations, Kaleem's favourite film) and Norway's Sentimental Value (9 nominations) - which also dominated this week's European Film Awards in Berlin. Plus, Matt Damon's words to Joe Rogan on how Netflix films are being watched (hint: with distraction!) and a recommendation for Greenla...

It's 2026 ! And to kick off January, hosts Emma Jones and Kaleem Aftab dive into the the state of international cinema as they start the year. They discuss the surprising resilience of cinema and how optimistic they both are about the big screen, despite press claims of its decline, highlighting the impressive box office performance of 2025. They also wrangle over the Golden Globes... including Ka...

Kaleem Aftab and Emma Jones dive into the great festive divide: Gurinder Chadha's Christmas Karma. While critics have gleefully sharpened their candy-cane daggers, Kaleem stands tall as the film’s most enthusiastic champion — and he’s ready to explain why this mocked musical deserves a second look. They also share their verdicts on potentially the biggest movie of 2025, Wicked for Good,  and explo...

This week on Cinema in One Take, Emma Jones and Kaleem Aftab unpack the headline-grabbing trailer drops — Wuthering Heights, the MJ biopic and a new Devil Wears Prada — to first looks at Mario Bros. and SS Rajamouli’s much-anticipated Mandakini, the follow-up to RRR. The pair explore why trailers continue to shape the conversation long before a film hits cinemas. Plus, Left Handed Girl, directed b...

Can we ever take a  film centred around real events  as actual history? Kaleem talks about Annemarie Jacir's 'Palestine 36' and whether it can be seen as a historical film. Emma reviews Kathryn Bigelow's A House of Dynamite and the start of Netflix's season of award contenders. And Kaleem reviews Asif Kapadia's film on renowned footballer Kenny Dalglish. Plus, a little gem of the week: Souleymane'...

In this episode of Cinema in One Take, Emma and Kaleem discuss the launch of Tilly Norwood, an AI actress. They also analyse why Leonardo Di Caprio's new film, One Battle After Another, isn't grabbing cinema goers as much as critics. Is this vindication for Kaleem's review? Finally, onto the release in North America, the UK and Ireland of The Smashing Machine, and an Oscar Campaign for Dwayne John...