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TCM and Max

From Turner Classic Movies and 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 Max.

Talking Pictures

Get ready for your new summer obsession! We're sharing a special preview of Cleopatra, the new season of Ben Mankiewicz's other podcast, The Plot Thickens. (Yes, he has two.) Cleopatra was the most tumultuous production in Hollywood history, a disaster of epic proportions written and directed by Ben's Oscar-winning uncle, Joseph L. Mankiewicz. With Mankiewicz calling the shots and with the luminous Elizabeth Taylor in the title role, Cleopatra should have been a smash. Instead, it was a shoot plagued by medical emergencies, climate disasters, nervous breakdowns, and egos as big as pyramids... not to mention Taylor's scandalous affair with co-star Richard Burton. Enjoy the first episode of Cleopatra right now, then look up The Plot Thickens for more episodes, wherever you get podcast
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The Plot Thickens: Cleopatra

In this bonus episode of Talking Pictures recorded live at the TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood, host Ben Mankiewicz chats with director and actor Eli Roth. They discuss Roth’s close relationship with David Lynch and his role as The Bear Jew in Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglorious Basterds.” Known for his horror films, we discover that scary movies made a young Eli Roth projectile vomit! The Super 8 reveals Roth’s broad film knowledge and his family admiration for Mel Brooks movies. 

Films Mentioned:

 Cabin Fever

 Hostel

 Hostel 2

 The Green Inferno

 Thanksgiving

 Inglourious Basterds

 Death Proof

 Pulp Fiction

 True Romance

 The Idol*

 Ben-Hur

 Eraserhead*

 Superman: The Movie (1978)*

 The French Connection

 The Royal Tenenbaums

 The Conversation

 Knock Knock

 The Godfather

 The Godfather Part II

 Night Moves

 Scarecrow

 Quiz Show

 The Paper

 The Music of Chance

 Dr. Strangelove

 Rabbits

 The Scary of Sixty-First

 Jimmy and Stiggs

 It Follows*

 The Ring

 Clown

 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

 Alien

 Private Parts

 House of 1000 Corpses

 Saw

 Nosferatu (2024)

 All Hallows' Eve

 Terrifier

 The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

 Scream VI

 Sleepaway Camp

 Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope

 Outland

 Dracula (1979)

 Kingdom of the Spiders

 Raiders of the Lost Ark

 Evil Dead

 A Nightmare on Elm Street

 The Devil's Rejects

 American Werewolf in London

 Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom

 The Wizard of Oz*

 Wild at Heart

 Joe (1070)

 The Breakfast Club

 Re-Animator

 Porky's

 Zapped

 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

 My Chauffeur

 2001: A Space Odyssey*

 Blue Velvet*

 Pink Flamingos

 Hamburger: The Motion Picture

 One-Eyed Jacks

 House of Wax (1953)

 A Night at the Opera

 A Day at the Races

 Young Frankenstein

 The Producers (1967)

 Blazing Saddles

 High Anxiety

 American Psycho

 The Sixth Sense

 Friends with Benefits

 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

 America's Sweethearts

 The Exorcist

 The Shining

 Suspiria (1977)

*Available on Max as of 5/7 (Availability of titles subject to change)
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Bonus Episode: Eli Roth

One of the godfathers of movie podcasts, Paul Scheer launched How Did This Get Made? fifteen years ago. His love of movies started as a kid on Long Island working at a Blockbuster Video. Through his talent for improv comedy, he ended up writing, directing and performing in some of the funniest shows ever put on TV. Paul details his rollercoaster career, his extremely awkward celebrity encounters, and how movies were often an escape from his difficult childhood. In the Super 8, Paul tells Ben how he once lined up at 6:00 AM... just to watch a trailer. 
 
Films Mentioned :

Ordinary People 

The Milagro Beanfield War 

Dollars 

Heaven Can Wait 

Shampoo 

The Elephant Man 

The Avengers 

Iron Man 3 

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 

Meet Joe Black 

The Cable Guy* 

Galaxy Quest 

Twilight 

Psycho 4: A New Beginning 

Ghost 

Phantasm 

Flowers in the Attic 

Young Frankenstein 

Blazing Saddles 

Happy Gilmore 

Back to the Future 

Groundhog Day 

Planes, Trains and Automobiles 

Grosse Pointe Blank 

Midnight Run 

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. 

*Available on Max as of 2/04 (Availability of titles subject to change) 

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Paul Scheer

Pamela Adlon landed her first movie role when she was sixteen, and then twenty years later, she won an Emmy... for playing a teenage boy. Her thirteen seasons as Bobby Hill on King of the Hill made her a world-famous voice actor, but she's equally renowned for creating and starring in Better Things. Pam is also a director – her first feature, Babes, came out last year – and she sits down with Ben Mankiewicz to discuss her deep love of movies, which includes everything from musicals to the films of John Cassavetes. 
 
Films Mentioned:

Grease 2 

Babes 

Biosphere 

Creep 

The Animatrix 

Anora 

Deadwood* 

Porky's 

Love Streams 

Fame 

Bugsy Malone 

The Wiz 

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 

The Shining 

To Kill a Mockingbird 

The Guns of Navarone 

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein 

Mamma Mia!* 

My Old Ass 

Schindler's List 

The Notebook 

Terms of Endearment 

Coming Home 

The Birdcage* 

Merrie Melodies - Rabbit Hood 

*Available on Max as of 1/28 (Availability of titles subject to change) 
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Pamela Adlon

NBA legend Charles Barkley became addicted to movies as a rookie, when he'd sneak into theaters to escape the limelight for a couple of hours. By the time he changed careers from baller to broadcaster, he was a bonafide film buff, with strong opinions on all kinds of movies. In this hilarious episode, Sir Charles talks to Ben Mankiewicz about the similarities between a film crew and a basketball team, the secret to hosting Saturday Night Live, and the courtroom classic that never fails to make him laugh. 
 
Films Mentioned:

Space Jam 

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi 

A Quiet Place 

All the Way* 

The Beekeeper 

Jaws 

Arsenic and Old Lace 

It Happened One Night 

Gladiator 

Any Given Sunday 

Die Hard 

Live Free or Die Hard 

My Cousin Vinny 

A Bronx Tale 

Pulp Fiction 

Malcolm X 

The Karate Kid 

Stripes 

Taps 

Taxi Driver 

Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope 

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner 

The Ten Commandments 

Ben-Hur 

In the Heat of the Night 

Brian's Song 

Field of Dreams 

The Sixth Sense 

Dirty Harry 

Rawhide 

*Available on Max as of 01/21 (Availability of titles subject to change) 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Charles Barkley

From Bridesmaids to Spy to The Heat, Paul Feig has become Hollywood's go-to guy for raunchy, big-budget comedies about women. But his directing career only took off after his acting career crashed and burned. This week, Paul tells Ben Mankiewicz how getting fired from a beloved sitcom forced him out of his comfort zone and into a new role behind the camera. And during the Super 8, Paul reveals how his mother's taste in movies led to his love of double-breasted suits.

Films Mentioned:

Bridesmaids

The Heat

Spy

A Simple Favor

Animal House

Life Sold Separately

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids

The Blues Brothers

Thelma & Louise

Animal Crackers

What's Up, Doc?

Jackpot!

Ghostbusters

The Purge

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

Raiders of the Lost Ark

An American Werewolf in London

Polite Society

Napoleon Dynamite

Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope

His Girl Friday

Cabaret

It's a Wonderful Life

Poltergeist

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Paul Feig

Host Ben Mankiewicz begins the new year by talking to the nicest man in Hollywood, actor Henry Winkler. Winkler admits it was almost impossible to find work after his 10-year run as the Fonz on Happy Days. He reminisces about his friendships with Sylvester Stallone and Ron Howard and shares his struggles with dyslexia. And we get the inspiring story of how he got the second role of a lifetime on HBO’s Barry. Winkler is an enthusiastic movie watcher, so his Super 8 is full of gems. 
Films Mentioned: 

The Waterboy 

Little Nicky 

Barry* 

The Lords of Flatbush 

Rocky 

Heroes 

The One and Only 

Night Shift 

Scream* 

Rebel Without a Cause* 

City of God 

The Alamo 

Nobody 

Casablanca* 

Love Actually 

Notting Hill 

Four Weddings and a Funeral* 

Les Compères 

The Out-of-Towners

*Available on Max as of 1/7 (Availability of titles subject to change)
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Henry Winkler

Emmy-winner Jane Lynch is known for bringing her razor-sharp comic edge to movies like Best in Show and TV shows like Glee. But her biggest break came in a famous commercial for… Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes! She talks to host Ben Mankiewicz about breaking down a scene with Harrison Ford, the difference between masculine and feminine improv, and the film that made her sob all the way home from the theater.
Films Mentioned:

Best in Show

The 40-Year Old Virgin

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

Ninotchka

Camille

Anna Christie

The Wizard of Oz*

Gone with the Wind*

Sophie's Choice

The Devil Wears Prada*

Hang 'Em High

Three Days of the Condor

Husbands and Wives

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

The Sting

The Fugitive

A Mighty Wind

For Your Consideration

Mascots

Legally Blonde

American Pie

The White Lotus*

Waiting for Guffman

This Is Spinal Tap

Private Benjamin

Funny Girl

The Bridge on the River Kwai

The Big Sleep

White Christmas

Terms of Endearment

*Available on Max as of 12/17 (Availability of titles subject to change)
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Jane Lynch

This week, writer/director Jason Reitman (Saturday Night, Juno, Up in the Air) joins host Ben Mankiewicz to talk about growing up on a movie set, his brief stint writing for Saturday Night Live, and the joys of directing George Clooney. Reitman also reveals what his father, the late director Ivan Reitman, taught him about storytelling and making movies. During the Super 8, Jason surprises Ben with the movie props in his enviable collection. 
Films Mentioned:

Meatballs

Stripes

Ghostbusters

Dave

Thank You For Smoking

Juno

Inglourious Basterds

Animal House

Up in the Air*

Saturday Night

The Front Runner

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

The Fabelmans

Westworld

Jurassic Park*

Twins

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Back to the Future

Jaws

The Godfather

Election

Dr. Strangelove

Harold and Maude

Shampoo

Carnal Knowledge

The Graduate

Taxi Driver

The Conversation

Run Lola Run

The Blair Witch Project

Sexy Beast

American Psycho

Wet Hot American Summer

Pulp Fiction

Dazed and Confused

Slacker*

Bad News Bears

Boyhood

A Scanner Darkly

Before Sunrise

Before Sunset

Field of Dreams

Stand by Me

Breaking Away

Little Miss Sunshine

24 Hour Party People

Casablanca*

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Magnolia

Boogie Nights

Pee-wee's Big Adventure

Singin' in the Rain*

*Available on Max as of 12/10 (Availability of titles subject to change)
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Jason Reitman

Carol Burnett’s life has always spun around the movies. She tells Ben Mankiewicz about her childhood spent in Hollywood movie theaters, the famous actor who helped her break into showbiz, and the movie parodies in her groundbreaking television variety show. In fact, at 91, Carol Burnett remembers more about movies than Ben! We cap it all off with a delightful Super 8 complete with seasonal gems. Plus, Carol and Ben discuss their Wordle stats…listen to find out who’s winning. 
Films Mentioned:

The Carol Burnett Show 

New Faces 

The Pajama Game 

Babes in Arms 

All About Eve 

Gone with the Wind* 

The Fighting Guardsman 

Inferno (1953) 

Strangers on a Train 

On Moonlight Bay* 

Citizen Kane 

The Dolly Sisters 

The Godfather 

It's a Wonderful Life 

Capricorn One 

Ragtime Cowboy Joe 

Singin' in the Rain* 

From Here to Eternity 

Terms of Endearment 

Some Like It Hot 

Duel 

*Available on Max as of 12/3 (Availability of titles subject to change) 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Carol Burnett

Writer director Cord Jefferson (American Fiction) and host Ben Mankiewicz talk life transitions, bravery, and family for this in-depth conversation. Jefferson charts his path from journalist to TV writer to first-time film director of 2023’s celebrated American Fiction. He shares the movies important to him and gives his take on the ending of Shawshank Redemption.

FILMS MENTIONED:

American Fiction

Saltburn 

Promising Young Woman 

Sex, Lies, and Videotape

Master of None

The Good Place

Succession*

Watchmen*

The People vs. Larry Flynt

Do The Right Thing

Jacob’s Ladder

Clueless 

Cruel Intentions

Dangerous Liaisons

Punch-Drunk Love

Shawshank Redemption

Paths of Glory

The Killing

Eyes Wide Shut

Full Metal Jacket*

Pulp Fiction*

Young Frankenstein

Blazing Saddles*

Philadelphia

*Available on Max as of 2/6 (Availability of titles subject to change)
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Cord Jefferson

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