Newton Talks

Newton Talks

In this podcast, James Newton discusses topics (mostly) related to cinema, television, and culture. His guests include filmmakers, artists, historians, and writers, and the podcast takes the form of unscripted discussions. The Cult Film Microcast series consists of very short discussions on a number of famous and sometimes obscure cult movies. James Newton is an academic and filmmaker. He is author of The Mad Max Effect (Bloomsbury, 2021) and The Anarchist Cinema (Intellect, 2019). As James Edward Newton, he is director of Black Lizard Tales (2020) and KATERNICA (2023). YouTube: @JamesNewtonCinema **All opinions expressed in this podcast are the opinions of James Newton and guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Kent.

Episodes

46: Newton Talks #36 Tom Lee Rutter and The Pocket Film of Superstitions

June 26, 2024 • 53 mins
In this episode the acclaimed West Midlands based filmmaker Tom Lee Rutter joins me to talk about his new feature The Pocket Film of Superstitions.
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45: Newton Talks #35 Death Lines: Walking London's Horror History with author Lauren Jane Barnett

April 9, 2024 • 49 mins
In this episode, author Lauren Jane Barnett joins me to talk about her new book, Death Lines: Walking London's Horror History - a walking guide to horror movie locations in the capital city. The book is now available here: https://strangeattractor.greedbag.com/buy/death-lines-walking-londons-horr/
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44: Newton Talks #34 Nigel Kneale's Beasts, with author Andrew Screen.

February 12, 2024 • 41 mins
In this episode, I talk to Andrew Screen about his new publication, The Book of Beasts  (Headpress, 2023), which is an in-depth study of the Nigel Kneale anthology horror series called Beasts from 1976. You can buy the book here:
https://headpress.com/product/the-book-of-beasts/ 
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43: Newton Talks #33 American Shot-on-Video Horror with Vincent A. Albarano.

November 2, 2023 • 51 mins
My guest in this episode is Vincent A. Albarano, who joins me to talk about his new book, Aesthetic Deviations: A Critical View of American Shot-on-Video Horror, 1984-1994. You can buy the book here: https://headpress.com/product/aesthetic-deviations/ and go to the Headpress website to for more fantastic books on cult film and media: https://headpress.com
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42: Newton Talks #32 Namsploitation with Neil Jackson

March 16, 2023 • 54 mins
In this episode, I talk to Neil Jackson, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Lincoln about his upcoming book, Combat Shocks: Exploitation Cinema and the Vietnam War (Bloomsbury, Forthcoming), which deals with exploitation films about the Vietnam war from the mid 1960s up until the late 1980s. We talk about the conventions and iconography of the cycle, as well as individual films such as Forced Entry (Shaun Costello, 1973), ...
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41: Newton Talks #31 Jackie Brown

February 24, 2023 • 40 mins
On the 25th anniversary since Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown had its UK release (the US release was Christmas Day 1997), Dr Chris Deacy joins me to discuss the casting and performances, the soundtrack and use of music, and the tone and mood of the film.
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40: Newton Talks #30 Director Lizzie Borden and Born in Flames

February 10, 2023 • 43 mins
In this episode I am joined by filmmaker Lizzie Borden to talk about her renowned 1983 feminist sci-fi movie Born in Flames. We also talk about her follow up feature film, Working Girls (1986). Lizzie's latest book, Whorephobia: Strippers on Art, Work, and Life (2022), is now available from Seven Stories Press. You can order the book here: https://www.sevenstories.com/books/4430-whorephobia 
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39: Newton Talks #29 Horror Films for Children with Cat Lester

October 26, 2022 • 44 mins
In this episode I talk to Dr Cat Lester about her book Horror Films for Children: Fear and Pleasure in American Cinema (Bloomsbury, 2021), which looks at horror movies aimed at young audiences, including Gremlins, Coraline, and Paranorman, among others. 
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38: Newton Talks #28 Filmmaker Interview: Raya Films

June 19, 2022 • 55 mins
In this episode I am joined by the writer/director team of Caroline Spence and James Smith, who together make up Raya films. Their movies Do Something, Jake (2018), Cyberlante (2020), Agent Kelly (2020), and Surveilled (2021) are available now, and they are currently casting for their new project entitled Best Geezer. Go to their website for more information: https://rayafilms.com
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37: Newton Talks #27 The Vigilante Thriller, with Dr Cary Edwards

May 31, 2022 • 56 mins
In this episode, Dr Cary Edwards joins me to discuss his new book The Vigilante Thriller: Violence, Spectatorship, and Identification in American Cinema from 1970-1976 (Bloomsbury, 2022). We discuss films such as Death Wish, Joe, Dirty Harry, and Taxi Driver, among many others, and the cinematic and social context that created the revenge and vigilante motif in 70s film. 
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36: Newton Talks #26 Best Films of the 2000s

March 17, 2022 • 43 mins
In this follow up episode to my best of the 1990s podcast I work through the Newton Talks top twenty films of the years 2000-2009, and I am joined by Dr Jennifer Wallis and Dr Chris Deacy, who give me nominations for their favourite movie of the decade.
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35: Newton Talks #25 Director Interview: Andrew Elias and Tales from the Great War

February 2, 2022 • 44 mins
In the latest of my filmmaker interviews I talk to Andrew Elias, writer and director of the upcoming Tales from the Great War (2022), a horror movie set in World War One. We discuss the making of the film, the inspirations for the stories it contains, and how Andrew approaches working with actors and crew. You can see the trailer here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P39nh8IzF8
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34: Newton Talks Cult Film Microcast #10 Showgirls

January 26, 2022 • 6 mins
In the tenth episode of my Cult Film microcast, I examine Paul Verhoeven's notorious Showgirls (1995), which failed with both critics and audiences on release, but which has since become a noteworthy cult movie. 
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33: Newton Talks #24 No Time To Die in-depth discussion with Lee Kenny

December 2, 2021 • 85 mins
This episode is the second of two on the 25th EON produced James Bond film, No Time To Die. In this one, I am joined by New Zealand based journalist and Bond fan Lee Kenny. We discuss the plot and characterisation in detail, and also get into where the series can go next.
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32: Newton Talks #23 No Time To Die reactions

December 2, 2021 • 45 mins
In this first of two episodes on the 25th EON produced James Bond film, No Time To Die, I am joined by journalist Lee Kenny, Dr Chris Deacy, who is a Reader in Theology and Religious Studies, and media lecturer Will Hill, to talk through our initial reactions to the film. 
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31: Newton Talks #22 Director Interview: Charlie Steeds and Making Low Budget Horror

November 8, 2021 • 63 mins
In this episode Charlie Steeds, who has directed more than ten horror feature films since 2016, joins me to discuss his career and the challenges of low budget filmmaking.  Charlie's films include Escape from Cannibal Farm (2017), An English Haunting (2020), and Death Ranch (2020), which has recently been released on DVD and VOD. You can visit his production company website here: https://www.darktemple.co.uk
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30: Newton Talks #21 The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Watergate, with author Martin Harris

October 21, 2021 • 51 mins
In this episode author Martin Harris of the University of North Carolina, discusses his new book, Leatherface Vs Tricky Dick: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre as Political Satire, which provides an in-depth commentary on the links between Tobe Hooper's film and the Watergate scandal involving Richard Nixon. You can buy the book here: Headpress, 2021 - https://headpress.com/product/leatherface-vs-tricky-dick/. 
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29: Newton Talks #20 Author R.M. Francis and The Wrenna

August 2, 2021 • 49 mins
I am joined in this twentieth episode of Newton Talks by Black Country author and lecturer R.M. Francis to discuss his new novella called The Wrenna, set on the Wren's Nest Estate in Dudley. We discuss the book's influences in both social realism and horror, its fractured structure, and its relationship to sex, violence, and the abject. We also talk about working class representation, culture, and history. You can order The Wr...
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28: Newton Talks #19 The Asylum in Cinema, with Dr Jennifer Wallis

June 24, 2021 • 43 mins
In this episode, historian of medicine and psychiatry Dr Jennifer Wallis joins me to discuss the relationship between the Victorian asylum and cinema, particularly the representation of the asylum in the horror film. We discuss 70s Amicus productions, Session 9 (2001), the reality of asylum life, and how cinema was used as entertainment in the West Riding Asylum in the 1920s. Jennifer is author of Investigating the Body in the...
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27: Newton Talks #18 No Budget Filmmaking in the Midlands, with director Tom Lee Rutter.

June 9, 2021 • 49 mins
In this episode, my guest is Tom Lee Rutter, director of the western Day of the Stranger, the folk horror Bella in the Wych Elm, and the forthcoming 'almanac' The Pocket Film of Superstitions. We discuss no budget and guerrilla filmmaking, what it's like to make films in the Black Country and the Midlands, and Tom's own approach to making creative horror features. You can see some of Tom's work in this link; https://www.youtub...
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