Writers on Film

Scott Feinberg is a veteran reporter of The Hollywood Reporter and hosts the Awards Chatter podcast. His work can be found here .   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Norwegian film director Truls Krane Meby and John-Kristian Dalseth, programmer for the Tromsø International Film Festival (TIFF) and manager of the Verdensteatret Cinemateket join John Bleasdale to talk about the 40th Cinema Ritrovato Festival in Bologna. John Bleasdale's second novel Connery A Novel is available to buy at Plumeria. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for...

Published to coincide with the 35th anniversary of Michael Lehmann's 1991 infamous "turkey shoot",  The Unmaking of Hudson Hawk  is an in-depth look at the history and legacy of the film that brought Bruce Willis's career crashing to Earth, from the germ of the idea in 1980s New York to the recent revisionist views of the film by critics and commentators. Featuring interviews with co-cre...

Laura Horak  is Professor of Film Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, and founder of the award-winning Transgender Media Portal. She is author of  Girls Will Be Boys: Cross-Dressed Women, Lesbians, and American Cinema. Trans Cinema Making Communities, Identities, and Worlds is an exciting introduction to cinema by the trans creators who are innovating filmmaking to imagine a more in...

Ed Zwick made his film debut with the comedy About Last Night (1986), followed by Glory (1989), Legends of the Fall (1994), Courage Under Fire (1996), The Siege (1998), The Last Samurai (2003), Blood Diamond (2006), and Defiance (2008). His later films include Love & Other Drugs (2010), Pawn Sacrifice (2014), and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016). He is also the co-creator of the ABC family d...

Christina Jeurling Birro speaks to John Bleasdale about the 79th Cannes Film Festival and competition entry, Fjord, directed by Christian Mungiu. John Bleasdale's new novel Connery is released by Plumeria.co.uk and is available HERE.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Thomas Schultz speaks to John Bleasdale about the 79th Cannes Film Festival and competition entry, Minotaur, directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev. John Bleasdale's new novel Connery is released by Plumeria.co.uk and is available HERE. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Nicolas Bell (Eye On Cinema) and Ed Potton (The Times) join John Bleasdale to talk about the 79th edition of the Cannes International Film Festival. Read John Bleasdale's Connery , HERE.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ian Christie FBA is a British film scholar whose work on Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, Martin Scorsese and the development of cinema has made him one of the most respected film writers today. He is a regular contributor to Sight & Sound magazine and a frequent broadcaster as well as being the Professor of Film and Media History at Birkbeck, University of London. Hosted by Simplecast,...

In the first episode of a new mini-series, Dr. Brian Baker joins me to discuss the adaptations of J.G. Ballard on film, including Empire of the Sun, Crash and High Rise along with some lesser known films. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Nicholas Bell and John Bleasdale discuss Salvatore Giuliano (Francesco Rosi, 1962). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Robert Kolker and David Wyatt provide readers with a history of auteur theory, from its initial origins in France in the late 1940s as an outgrowth of the cinematic theories of the French film critics and theorists André Bazin and Alexandre Astruc, to the canonizing work of American film critic Andrew Sarris in the 1960s. Available HERE. Connery A Novel by John Bleasdale can be bought EXCLUSIVELY...

John Rain is the host of the cult podcast Smersh Pod and the author of Thunder Book, SuperBook and Explodobook. Smersh Book is available here . Connery A Novel is available here.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One of the greatest films never finished. One of Hollywood’s most dangerous alliances. One enduring legend. In the late 1920s, at the height of silent cinema’s reckless glamour, three formidable figures set out to make an impossible film. Gloria Swanson, the era’s most dazzling star. Erich von Stroheim, cinema’s most obsessive and uncompromising auteur. And Joseph P. Kennedy, a ruthless financier...

Although Alfred Hitchcock was notoriously dismissive of actors, Victoria Lowe (University of Manchester) and Adrian Garvey have edited a collection of essays which argues that acting played a key element of his work. Films discussed include Notorious, Stage Fright and Strangers on a Train. The book provides detailed analysis of some exceptional performances by major stars – from Ivor Novello to Ti...

Filmmakers Thinking begins from a simple premise: that we do not take the ongoing reflections of filmmakers about their medium, their art and their craft, seriously enough. Every day, everywhere, filmmakers are asked to talk mainly about themselves and their own works. Yet their vocation springs from a deep engagement with the history and possibilities of cinema as a whole. Going beyond the usual,...

Stephen Volk is a Welsh screenwriter, who wrote the screenplays for numerous horror films, including Ken Russell's Gothic (1986), The Kiss (1988), and William Friedkin's The Guardian (1990). In 1992, Volk wrote the teleplay for the BBC pseudo-documentary Ghostwatch. Other screenwriting credits include Octane (2003) and The Awakening (2011). Stephen Volk's website can be visited here. Buy John Blea...

Irish actor and writer Gabriel Byrne talks about writing his memoir Walking with Ghosts, available here. Buy John Bleasdale's Connery here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

DANIEL KRAUS  is a  New York Times  bestselling writer of novels, TV, and film. His latest novel,  Angel Down , was a  New York Times  Top 10 Book of 2025. His novel  Whalefall  won the Alex Award, was a  Los Angeles Times  Book Prize Finalist, and was named a Best Book of 2023 by NPR,  The New York Times , Amazon,  Chicago Tribune , and more. With Guillermo del Toro, he cowrote  The Shape of Wate...

“Most dyed-in-the-wool film buffs nurture their own private lists of movie directors they feel have been underappreciated, neglected, and/or underrated,” Joe Dante writes in this book’s Foreword. “But very few of us are moved to write an entire book about them.” Beyond mere appreciation, however, author Daniel Kremer presents a philosophy and a guiding principle for venerating the undervalued or f...

The World of Black Film is an entertaining, informed, and thought-provoking survey of important and influential Black films from around the globe. Available here. The recommended book is African Cinema: Politics & Culture by Manthia Diawara. Meanwhile my novel Connery is available here.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use...

As a film critic and disabled person, Kristen Lopez speaks with particular authority on how disability is represented-and too often misrepresented-in movies.  Popcorn Disabilities  is her impassioned but nonetheless fun and engaging survey of how Hollywood has dealt with disability over the last century. Buy Kristen's book Here. Connery: a Novel by John Bleasdale is available here. Hosted by Simpl...

Featuring nearly 400 original interviews with close friends, family members, and colleagues, The Life of Singleton is the definitive account of prolific filmmaker John Singleton’s life and times. Get it here. Also Connery: a Novel by John Bleasdale is available here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for adve...

For over 50 years, Martin Scorsese has been one of cinema’s most celebrated directors. From a Catholic kid in Manhattan to a legendary filmmaker, he’s shaped Hollywood with masterpieces such as  Taxi Driver ,  Goodfellas  and  The Irishman . But what makes a Scorsese film unique? His stories explore power, morality, and human nature, blending raw emotion with intellectual depth. Whether reinventin...

Ever since the dawn of the sound era, Hollywood and friends have made a series of elaborate feature films about the lives of the great artists: the cast of colorful characters includes Fredric March as Cellini, Charles Laughton as Rembrandt, George Sanders as Gauguin, José Ferrer as Toulouse-Lautrec, Kirk Douglas as Van Gogh, Charlton Heston as Michelangelo, Mel Ferrer as El Greco—and, more recent...