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by TCM and HBO Max
Talking Pictures is a podcast about movies, memories, and all the life that happens in between. Join host Ben Mankiewicz as he sits down with some of Hollywood’s most influential actors and filmmakers to discuss the movies that inspired them, touched them, and made them laugh. They swap stories, jokes, surprising moments, and endless movie recommendations then watch some of those very same films on the streaming service HBO Max.
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- Jul 2, 20261h 7m
Ron Howard
Oscar-winning director Ron Howard tells host Ben Mankiewicz that he feared being “branded” a supernatural comedy director following the success of “Splash” and “Cocoon.” After tapping guidance from his “Happy Days” boss, Garry Marshall, and insight from Frank Capra’s biography, Howard set forth to explore the medium of film in all its genres as a director. He tells Ben about being mesmerized by “Bonnie and Clyde” and “The Graduate” and learning how to work with stars when acting in “The Shootist” with John Wayne directed by Don Siegel. Ron Howard’s Super 8 answers run the gamut from nods to “Project Hail Mary.” and “Eastern Promises,” to “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” and “Blazing Saddles.” Films Mentioned: Night Shift Splash Cocoon Grand Theft Auto It Happened One Night Brian’s Song Boys in the Band The Wild Bunch The Graduate Bonnie and Clyde White Heat The Shootist Charley Varrick Skyward Eden The Paper The Missing Backdraft Frontier Woman The Journey Around the World in 80 Days One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Project Hail Mary Eastern Promises Unforgiven A Face in the Crowd Gone with the Wind Matilda High Noon Arrival Something About Mary Terms of Endearment As Good as it Gets Young Frankenstein Blazing Saddles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
- Jun 25, 20261h 3m
Tony Goldwyn
Actor-Director Tony Goldwyn talks with host Ben Mankiewicz about breaking into Hollywood where his family roots run deep and the Goldwyn name looms large. Tony looks back on the ups and downs of his acting career from Ghost to One Battle After Another and explains that directing became a way to get some control in a largely unpredictable business. He also admits that he nearly passed on Scandal– a role that revitalized his career. In the Super 8, he shares his most memorable movie watching experience: being absolutely terrified by The Exorcist. Films Mentioned: Ghost Ezra One Battle After Another Dodsworth Saturday Night Fever Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives Gaby: A True Story Blood Simple A Walk On The Moon Someone Like You Conviction The Exorcist The Godfather Part II Howard’s End The Maltese Falcon The Garden of the Finzi-Continis The Best Years of Our Lives The Madness of King George When Harry Met Sally Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
- Jun 18, 202658 min
Hiro Murai
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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
- Jun 11, 20261h 7m
Sally Field
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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
- Jun 4, 20261h 3m
Susan Sarandon
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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
- May 28, 20261h 2m
Rosie Perez
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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
- May 21, 20261h 31m
Patton Oswalt
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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
- May 14, 202659 min
Edgar Wright
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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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About Talking Pictures
Talking Pictures is a podcast about movies, memories, and all the life that happens in between. Join host Ben Mankiewicz as he sits down with some of Hollywood’s most influential actors and filmmakers to discuss the movies that inspired them, touched them, and made them laugh. They swap stories, jokes, surprising moments, and endless movie recommendations then watch some of those very same films on the streaming service HBO Max.
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