Kermode & Mayo’s Take

This week’s guests are the red-hot actor and director duo, Jesse Plemons and Yorgos Lanthimos. They’re on to talk about their film ‘Kinds of Kindness’, which is released on 28th June, among tons of other things. It’s one you won’t want to miss.  Mark also gives his take on the film, as well as reviewing ‘Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1’. This is Kevin Costner’s epic Western drama, which show...

Ben and Nemone put sous-chef Sydney Adamu from The Bear into therapy. She helps whip the team at the restaurant into shape, she’s nurturing but anxious and riddled with self-doubt, not to mention a person of colour with the highest of ambitions in a profession dominated by white men. Mouthwatering, no?    We want to hear about any theories we might have missed, what you’ve thought of the show so f...

This week’s guests are documentarian Asif Kapadia and videographer Joe Sabia, the co-directors of ‘Federer: Twelve Final Days’, an intimate look at the tennis legend as he approaches his retirement.   Mark also gives his take on the film, as well as reviewing ‘Something in the Water’, a thriller which sees five girlfriends, reunited for a destination wedding, get stranded in open water, finding th...

Ben and Nemone put Chandler from Friends on the famous Central Perk couch to talk about his phobia of commitment, his attachment patterns and how he feels about mum AND dad putting on a black dress and trying to seduce one of your best friends. Expect doses of sarcasm, celebrity cameos and Janice’s laughter peppered throughout. We want to hear about any theories we might have missed, what you’ve t...

This week’s guest is writer-director Jeff Nichols, who is on the show to tell Simon all about his long-awaited, star-studded crime drama ‘The Bikeriders’, which stars Simon’s fave Austin Butler, and tells a fictional story inspired by the 1967 photo-book of the same name, which depicts the  lives of the Outlaws MC, a motorcycle club founded in McCook, Illinois. Mark will give his thoughts on the f...

Ben and Nemone stroll into The Office (USA). They consider the differences between Michael Scott and David Brent, explore ego and ask why some people think they’re funny (when they’re just not). We want to hear about any theories we might have missed, what you’ve thought of the show so far and your character suggestions. Please drop the team an email (which may be part of the show): shrinkthebox@s...

This week’s guest is one of America’s most beloved auteurs, and arguably the most laid-back director working today, Richard Linklater, who is on the show to tell Simon all about his latest black romantic comedy ‘Hit Man’, which sees a professor moonlighting as a hitman descend into dangerous, dubious territory when he finds himself attracted to a woman who enlists his services. Mark also gives his...

Ben and Nemone answer your questions and explore your suggestions. They talk about whether they have any friends who are spies and explore some brilliant female led comedies you've either missed or forgotten. We want to hear about any theories we might have missed, what you’ve thought of the show so far and your character suggestions. Please drop the team an email (which may be part of the show):...

This week, Take fave Benedict Cumberbatch tells Simon all about his psychological miniseries ‘Eric’, which sees him play troubled puppeteer Vincent, who clings to his missing son’s drawings of a blue monster puppet named Eric, convinced that if he can get Eric on TV then his son will come home.   Mark also gives his take on the show, as well as reviewing ‘Sting’, which sees a 12-year-old's pet spi...

He’s grumpy, belligerent, stubborn, filterless and has to win every single argument. We ask how Larry David has any friends left and why he is so concerned with manners, yet is rude to virtually everyone he meets. Plus, Ben and Nemone look at why some people find Curb Your Enthusiasm excruciating whilst others just can’t get enough of the hit show.   We want to hear about any theories we might hav...

This week, director George Miller sits down with Simon to chat all things ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’, the origin story of renegade warrior Furiosa before her encounter and team-up with Mad Max. Mark also gives his take on the film, as well as reviewing ‘In Flames’, a Pakastani-Canadian supernatural drama, which sees a mother and daughter’s precarious existence ripped apart after the death of the fa...

Gang dynamics, whether you can escape a criminal heritage and the physiological cause and effect of PTSD. Plus, race rigging, opium smoking and casual violence - all in a day's work for The Peaky Blinders. Here’s the article Ben mentioned by his sister Zadie Smith: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1399593/My-father-the-accidental-hero.html We want to hear about any theories we might have mi...

This week, Vicky McClure chats to Simon about her new limited series ‘Insomnia’, which sees a mother approaching her fortieth birthday forced to grapple with her traumatic past after she develops insomnia.   Mark gives his thoughts on various new releases, including ‘Two Tickets to Greece’, a French comedy-drama starring Laure Calamy (of ‘Call My Agent’ fame) which follows two childhood friends wh...

As Cersei says: ‘power is power’ and she’s got it in spades. We investigate how she becomes a master manipulator, and we take an honest objective look at her over-familiar relations with her brother Jaime.  We want to hear about any theories we might have missed, what you’ve thought of the show so far and your character suggestions. Please drop the team an email (which may be part of the show): sh...

This week, Simon’s fave John Krasinski, along with Ms Fleabag herself, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, are on the show to discuss their new film ‘If’, which sees a 12-year-old girl who can see everyone’s imaginary friends, embark on a magical journey to reconnect the forgotten so-called IFs with the now-adult kids who dreamt them up. Mark will be reviewing the film next week. The good doctor Kermode gives h...

Where does Frasier’s snobbery originate from? Why does he revert to his ‘child state’ when around his father? And... the hidden story behind Frasier being a Freudian analyst and Niles (his brother) being a Jungian analyst. Plus, Ben and Nemone’s minds are blown when they realise a crazy coincidence with Frasier and Tony Soprano. We want to hear from you!!! Please drop the team an email with your q...

This week, man of the moment Josh O’Connor is in the studio to chat to Simon about his leading role in ‘La Chimera’, Italian auteur Alice Rohrwacher’s period fantasy drama about a British archaeologist who becomes involved in an international network of stolen Etruscan artifacts during the 1980s. Mark gives his take on various new releases including ‘Love Lies Bleeding’, the latest offering from K...

This week there’s no guest, but lots more witterings from the good doctors to make up for it.   Mark gives his take on a swathe of new films, including ‘Ordinary Angels’, a Hilary Swank-starring emotional drama about a hairdresser who rallies an entire community to help a widowed father get his critically ill youngest daughter a liver transplant; ‘Boy Kills World’, an action thriller about a marti...

This week Simon and Mark are away so instead we have a clip episode for your viewing pleasure featuring interviews with the likes of Ramy Youssef and Emma Stone, Denis Villeneuve and Hans Zimmer; and reviews of everything from ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ to Madame Web. Enjoy listening to some of the best The Take has had to offer these past few months! Timecodes (relevant only for the Vanguard -...

This week, Kirsten Dunst and Alex Garland sit down to chat with Simon about their new film ‘Civil War’, which sees Dunst star as a photojournalist travelling with her team across a dystopian United States, engulfed by a second civil war, in a bid to interview and photograph the president. Mark also gives his take on the film, as well as reviewing ‘The Teachers’ Lounge’, a drama in which a teacher...

This week, the lovely Dev Patel is on the show to chat all things ‘Monkey Man’, his (co) writing and directorial debut, which sees a young man hunt down the group of corrupt leaders responsible for his mother’s death. Mark also gives his thoughts on the film, as well as reviewing ‘Evil Does Not Exist’, an enigmatic eco-parable, which sees a Tokyo company buy up land near a pristine lake in a bid t...

This week, Obi Wan Kenobi himself, aka Ewan McGregor, sits down with Simon to discuss his new miniseries ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’, which sees a Russian aristocrat spared from death and placed under house arrest while the Bolshevik Revolution plays out before him. Mark also gives his take on the series, as well as reviewing ‘Mothers’ Instinct’, a Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway-starring thriller...

No interview this week, but even more witterings from your favourite duo for your trouble. Mark gives his thoughts on new releases, including ‘Late Night with the Devil’, a found footage horror, which sees a 1977 live television broadcast go horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation’s living rooms; ‘Immaculate’, a Sydney Sweeney-starring horror about an American nun who heads to a convent in...

This week, the one and only Cate Blanchett joins Mark and Simon for a chat about her drama ‘The New Boy’, which follows a young Aboriginal Australia orphan, who is brought into a Christian monastery, run by a renegade nun, begin to question his faith and loyalty to his heritage. Mark gives his take on the film, as well as reviewing ‘Monster’, a Japanese psychological mystery thriller about a mothe...

This week, acclaimed director Ava DuVernay chats to Simon and Mark about ‘Origin’, her new biographical drama based on the life of the author Isabel Wilkerson who wrote the seminal book ‘Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents’, while coping with personal tragedy. Mark also offers his thoughts on the film, as well as reviewing ‘The Inventor’, a Stephen Fry-starring animation, which imagines Leonardo...