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The Beatles Films Podcast

The Beatles Films Podcast

By: Ed Williamson and Matt Looker
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 Two film writers and Fab Four fans discuss movies and TV about, starring, and inspired by The Beatles: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ed Williamson and Matt Looker Art Music
Episodes
  • Sam Mendes' four-film Beatles cinematic event: Beatle wives and other casting discussion

    Sam Mendes' four-film Beatles cinematic event: Beatle wives and other casting discussion
    Jan 13 2026
    Time for some wild speculation, now we've got a lot of the Beatle wives and fifth Beatle candidates' casting confirmed. We look in particular at Saoirse Ronan as Linda McCartney, and discuss the film Foe, in which she and Paul Mescal played a couple living in an isolated setting. A bit like Paul McCartney and Linda's Scottish farmhouse exile? We've been watching lots of films featuring the cast too, and we look at what their performances suggest they'll bring to these roles. Does the casting of high-profile actors to play wives and Beatle family members suggest big roles for them, and does this in turn suggest these films will have a focus on the band's home lives, and how fame affected them?We'll do our best to cite all the films we've mentioned. For Mescal and Ronan, watch Foe on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.co.uk/FOE-Saoirse-Ronan/dp/B0C9G86K94To make sure we've got it right: Ronan was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in 2008, and for Best Actress in a Leading Role three times: 2016, 2018 and 2020The other Mescal films: Hamnet and The History of Sound, both out in UK cinemas in January 2026Mescal talking about stepping back from public view while the Beatles films are in production: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jan/02/i-dont-want-to-resent-the-thing-i-love-paul-mescal-and-josh-oconnor-on-romance-rationing-and-retirementYou can and should buy and rent Harris Dickinson's Urchin in lots of places: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/urchinOther Dickinsongs: Where the Crawdads Sing, Blitz, BabygirlJoseph Quinn in Hoard: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/hoardStranger Things, featuring Quinn from season four: https://www.netflix.com/title/80057281The trailer for Andrea Arnold's wonderful Bird, with Barry Keoghan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y0iJkT97JcMore Keoghanicals: Dunkirk, Bring Them Down, The BatmanMia McKenna-Bruce stars in Seven Dials on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81314952 And in How to Have Sex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWmF8KpxxmAThe films' entry on the FDA website, that currently suggests they'll all be released on 7 April 2028, but as we say is likely to change: https://filmdistributorsassociation.com/release-schedule/past-present-and-future-releases/?filmSearch=beatlesMeet the Beatles Films PodcastThe Beatles Films Podcast is hosted by Matt Looker and Ed Williamson. We're both film writers and Beatles fans. Between us we've written for TheShiznit.co.uk, Total Film, Den of Geek and Virgin Media.But tomorrow may rain, so you'll follow us on:Instagram https://instagram.com/beatlesfilmspodBluesky https://bsky.app/profile/beatlesfilmspod.bsky.socialYouTube https://www.youtube.com/@BeatlesFilmsPodcastThreads https://www.threads.net/@beatlesfilmspodFacebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/304654901827622 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    1 hr and 15 mins
  • War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko

    War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko
    Dec 25 2025

    Happy Christmas! Let's have a look at Dave Mullins' film, co-written with Sean Ono Lennon, which won Best Animated Short Film at the 2024 Oscars. We discuss the animation techniques, including use of the Unreal Engine, and talk about how John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Christmas song Happy Xmas (War Is Over) came about in 1971, and how it came to be used in the film.


    • Watch the film on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W68-XaFepOg
    • We made a donation to the War Child charity for this episode, which you can too if you'd like: https://www.warchild.org.uk/donate-war-is-over-film
    • The "making of" short documentary piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADIePh3JR40
    • Yoko Ono's 1966 piece, Play It By Trust: https://www.imaginepeace.com/archives/24764
    • Dave Mullins' Pixar short, Lou: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIL0vSNx8Xg
    • The Toy Story 3 scene in which the characters accept and wait for their death: https://youtu.be/Hg2DBQNvLBQ
    • An article about the auction of the 1969 postcard John and Yoko sent UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-61174089



    Meet the Beatles Films Podcast


    The Beatles Films Podcast is hosted by Matt Looker and Ed Williamson. We're both film writers and Beatles fans. Between us we've written for TheShiznit.co.uk, Total Film, Den of Geek and Virgin Media.


    But tomorrow may rain, so you'll follow us on:

    • Instagram https://instagram.com/beatlesfilmspod
    • Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/beatlesfilmspod.bsky.social
    • YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@BeatlesFilmsPodcast
    • Threads https://www.threads.net/@beatlesfilmspod
    • Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/304654901827622

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    47 mins
  • The Beatles Anthology (2025 remaster): episode 9

    The Beatles Anthology (2025 remaster): episode 9
    Dec 8 2025

    What did we expect from the new episode? Well: the big decision here is not to include any new interviews with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr from the 2020s. We discuss the effect that decision has on this episode, and on how it rounds off the series as a whole. Does the episode work as a general making-of-Anthology, or as a patchwork of unused clips from the other eight episodes? And is there any more Threetles footage to come, or is that your lot?


    • The 2025 Beatles Anthology is available to watch on Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/browse/entity-cab32c53-c3f8-4879-86f5-c8e4a1657338
    • You can find our five-part deep dive into the original Beatles Anthology earlier in this feed
    • Tom Doyle's book Ringo: A Fab Life: https://share.google/JTtimJRkRdc9nEJaj
    • The episode of the Beatles Books Podcast featuring Tom Doyle: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-sjt4u-19a1a32


    Meet the Beatles Films Podcast


    The Beatles Films Podcast is hosted by Matt Looker and Ed Williamson. We're both film writers and Beatles fans. Between us we've written for TheShiznit.co.uk, Total Film, Den of Geek and Virgin Media.


    But tomorrow may rain, so you'll follow us on:

    • Instagram https://instagram.com/beatlesfilmspod
    • Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/beatlesfilmspod.bsky.social
    • YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@BeatlesFilmsPodcast
    • Threads https://www.threads.net/@beatlesfilmspod
    • Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/304654901827622

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    58 mins
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