In one of those bumper-sized guest-filled jamborees in which we specialise, this week's Empire Podcast sees John Nugent sit down on Zoom to interview Eddington star, Joaquin Phoenix... or does Joaquin Phoenix interview John Nugent? All will be revealed. [18:52 - 35:59 approx] Elsewhere, Chris Hewitt has a lovely chat about The Life of Chuck with co-stars Tom Hiddleston and Chiwetel Ejiofor, in which they try desperately not to give anything away about Mike Flanagan's Stephen King adaptation; [59:45 - 1:18:06 approx] and he also has a chaotic Zoom with the stars of the excellent Eenie Meanie, Samara Weaving and Karl Glusman. [1:45:11 - 1:56:04 approx] Either side of that little lot, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara and Harry Stainer to talk about the movies that bring them joy in times of darkness; discuss the week's movie news, in which they say a sad but fond farewell to the legendary Terence Stamp; and review Eddington, The Life Of Chuck, Eenie Meanie, and Sorry, Baby. Oh, and Harry comes up with a novel use for custard. Enjoy.

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast will haunt your nightmares, but in a good way, as Chris Hewitt returns to the host chair, just in time to tackle, with Beth Webb and Amon Warmann, a Mount Rushmore question about the best Final Girls in horror movies. Their final choices may shock you, but that's nothing compared to the bit where Chris explains Freddy Krueger to Amon, who has never seen a Nightmare On Elm Street movie. Terrifying stuff. Elsewhere in the show, our intrepid trio also discuss the week's movie news (hello, Marty Supreme trailer!), and review Celine Song's Materialists, Nobody 2, and Together, the horror film in which Dave Franco and Alison Brie literally fuse together. Which wasn't weird at all for the real-life married couple, who also guest on this week's episode, talking to Mike Muncer about that very singular experience. [1:03:58 - 1:15:10 approx] And, finally on the guest front, Harry Stainer sits down with Celine Song to talk about her wonderful new movie, and the nature of love. Heavy, man. [29:02 - 44:40 approx] Enjoy, and sorry about the spooky child-like singing.

Or 42 minutes with Chris Hewitt and Nick de Semlyen. Which would you prefer? Don't answer that. Anyway, that's what you've got with the latest episode of The Shameless Plug, as Chris and Nick sit down to talk about Nick's extraordinary adventures in New Zealand, shadowing James Cameron for two days as he put the finishing touches to this month's cover movie, Avatar: Fire & Ash. Elsewhere, our friends and neighbours talk about some of the other highlights from the September 2025 issue, including Chris' interview with Jeremy Renner, and Alex Godfrey's epic Zoom sit-down with Spinal Tap. Yes, actual Spinal Tap. It's all happening. For those tales, and more from behind the scenes of the world's biggest movie magazine, press play. And if you haven't picked up your copy yet, there's still time in good, evil and virtual newsagents wherever you are. Enjoy.