Soundtracking With Edith Bowman

54 years after she first lit up the lives of the Banks family - not to mention cinema-goers the world over - everyone's favourite nanny is back. Mary Poppins Returns sees Emily Blunt in the title role, reunited with the household in the wake of a tragedy three decades after events of the original. It's directed by Rob Marshall, and we're delighted to say that Rob is our guest on this festive edition of Soundtracking - the weekly podcast about film and television music. Remaining true to the spirit and tone of the 1964 movie, Mary Poppins Returns is a love letter to London, Walt Disney, animation and, of course, classic silver screen musicals. The score and songs were composed by Marc Shaiman, with lyrics from fellow Broadway legend Scott Wittman, and we also reflect at length upon the Sherman brothers' classics of the original.

Epic is a word oft-applied to cinema, but rarely can it have been more appropriately used than to describe the work of Peter Jackson and Philippa Boyens. For along with writing partner Fran Walsh, it is they that brought us both the Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit trilogies, not to mention King Kong. Their latest project is the equally ambitious Mortal Engines, which they wrote and produced. Based on the novel of the same name by Philip Reeve, Mortal Engines is based on the mind-boggling premise that cities of the future have been mounted on wheels and motorised in order that they can hunt and prey upon each other. The film's score is provided by Tom Holkenborg, also known as Junkie XL, a previous guest on this show. There's plenty of his work to enjoy in this episode, as well of that of Howard Shore, who worked on The Lord Of The Rings & Hobbit movies.

In recent weeks, we've been asking for suggestions for your favourite example of guitar-playing in film with a view to winning a Fender from their new Player Series range. As you might imagine, we've been inundated - receiving shouts for everything from Morricone to The Blues Brothers and Wayne's World. For this bonus episode, we invited composer Daniel Pemberton and music supervisor Kle Savidge to judge the winning entries. Hopefully, you'll appreciate the magnificent trio of cues & scores which came out of the hat. Thanks to Fender for providing guitars from their Player Series range to our competition winners.

It's with a slightly heavy heart that we welcome you to our latest episode, given that the film we're discussing is almost certainly the great Robert Redford's last. That film is The Old Man And The Gun, and the writer / director behind it is David Lowery. David first appeared on the show in August 2017, where we covered A Ghost Story, Pete's Dragon and Ain't Them Bodies Saints among many other things. So here the focus is very much on his latest project. Based on a true story, it stars Robert as gentleman bank robber Forest Tucker, Sissy Spacek as the woman he falls for, and Casey Affleck as the rookie cop pursuing him. To a person, the acting is electrifying. Tom Waits also has a role, which gives us an excuse to play one of our favourite tracks of his, What's He Building?. You'll also hear music by Jackson C. Frank, The Kinks, Scott Walker and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. The score, meanwhile, is provided by Daniel Hart, who is David's regular collaborator. At Daniel's suggestion, the pair settled

If you want a masterclass in how to score an action movie, you've come to the right place. Because in this episode, director Christopher McQuarrie and composer Lorne Balfe talk us through their stellar work on the genuinely brilliant Mission Impossible: Fallout. As you'll hear, Chris and Lorne are, quite simply, tremendous company. We cover a lot of ground too - from the intricacies of scoring a chase sequence to reworking one of the most famous themes ever. Indeed, one of the obvious challenges faced by Lorne was how to marry Lalo Schifrin's iconic work on the TV series with Christopher's requirements for his very contemporary take on the franchise. Our opening cue Kashmir is an example of how he did it - featuring as it does Lorne's interpretation of Lalo's classic 'Plot' & 'Mission' themes. There's also plenty more of the score to enjoy and some great anecdotes about cinematic folklore. Be warned, while there are no major spoilers, Chris and Lorne do go into the narrative in some detail, so you

Over 100 episodes have passed since writer / director David Mackenzie first joined us on Soundtracking. On that occasion, we talked about his critically acclaimed thriller, Hell Or High Water, and much of his back catalogue. He returns to discuss Outlaw King, a passion project about Robert The Bruce which is available to watch now on Netflix. As well as a score by Tony Doogan (on which David is credited), Outlaw King features plenty of traditional Celtic and ecclesiastical music - which was sourced by music supervisor Jim Sutherland. You'll hear plenty of both throughout this episode. We should point out that if you don't know the story of Robert The Bruce, David goes into it at length during this conversation, which obviously provides much of the narrative content for his movie.

Our latest episode of Soundtracking comes off the back of a very special day Edith spent at Abbey Road Studios in London as the score for JK Rowling's Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Gindelwald was being recorded. She was there as the guest of director David Yates and producer David Heyman, both of whom join us this week to discuss what she heard and saw - and how James Newton Howard's stunning compositions compliment the action on screen. It's their second appearance each, having been on by themselves before, so do check out both those episodes once you're done with this one.

Our latest episode of Soundtracking in association with the White Company marks the first appearance for a man Edith has long admired. Steve McQueen is a British writer, director and producer. who had critical big-screen success with Hunger and Shame before scooping an Academy Award for 12 Years A Slave. His latest project is the ensemble heist thriller Widows. Based on the 1983 ITV series of the same name, The plot follows a group of women who attempt a heist in order to pay back a crime boss after their ne'er-do-well husbands are killed on a botched job. It's scored by Hans Zimmer, and also features a sumptuous Nina Simone track and brand new material by Sade, which is always cause for celebration. We also discuss David Bowie, Liza Minnelli, Glenn Gould and much more besides.

Our latest episode of Soundtracking in association with The White Company sees a return for a third time of two of our faves. Writer / director Ben Wheatley's made his debut on our very first show, while composer Clint Mansell walked us through his back catalogue in our 52nd outing - including his magnificent work on Ben's adaptation of the JG Ballard novel, High Rise.   Ben then returned to talk about the jazz-funk score for Free Fire, with Clint joining Duncan Jones in Los Angeles to discuss Duncan's future-noir thriller, Mute. That conversation was an awful lot of fun - and well worth checking out if you haven't already.  Now, at last, we've managed to get Ben and Clint in the same room to tell all about their latest collaboration, Happy New Year, Colin Burstead.  Very loosely based on the Shakespeare play, Coriolanus, it tells the story of Colin, who hires a lavish country manor for his extended family to celebrate New Year. But as we all know, family gatherings over the festive season rarely pass

It's another Soundtracking Live this week - this time recorded a month or so back at Festival No 6 in the weird and wonderful village of Portmerion, north Wales. Our guest that day was a novelist, playwright and occasional director of shorts, who well and truly thrust himself into the pop cultural consciousness with Trainspotting, and Danny Boyle's subsequent film adaptation of the same name. We are, of course, talking about Irvine Welsh. Irvine was on fine form - discussing everything from his unlikely love of musicals and rom coms to the directors and composers who've inspired him as both a writer and a great fan of cinema. It all seemed to go down well with a packed audience, which made a very long round-trip more than worthwhile. Expect music from from Oliver, Boogie Nights, Pulp Fiction and more ...

Our latest episode of Soundtracking sees a return for the supremely entertaining writer, director and producer Sacha Gervasi, who joined us a couple of months back to discuss his career to date. We held some of that interview back to coincide with the realease of his latest movie, My Dinner with Hervé. Starring Peter Dinklage and Jamie Dornan, My Dinner With Hervé recounts the later days of actor Hervé Villechaize, best known for his roles in smash TV show Fantasy Island and The Man With The Golden Gun, in which he played Nick Nack. As you'll hear, it's a deeply personal endeavour for Sacha, who, almost by chance, got to know Hervé well shortly before he commited suicide. Given My Dinner With Hervé was 25 years in the making, Sacha talks at length about his own relationship with Herve and why he felt he owed it to him to get project off the ground. We think it's a tale worth telling. So, before we get to the music, we're going to share this incredible backstory with you, interspersed with extracts from co

Since last joining us on Soundtracking, it’s fair to say Damien Chazelle has done alright for himself - becoming the youngest ever winner in the Best Director category at the Oscars for La La Land. His latest offering is First Man. Starring Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy, the narrative explores the years leading up to and including the 1969 Apollo 11 Mission to the moon, with the focus very much on the emotional challenges faced by Neil Armstrong and his family. It's another giant leap for Damien, who seems pathologically incapable of making a bad movie. We discussed Whiplash and La La Land at length during our first conversation, so the focus is very much on how he and composer Justin Hurwitz went about creating a soundscape to transcend earth and space for this project.

As if it weren't enough writing, producing, directing and starring in a movie, you'd surely have the right to feel pretty smug if said movie got rave reviews across the board too. Well, that's exactly what's happened with Bradley Cooper and A Star Is Born - though he was anything but smug when he joined Edith to discuss his achievements in our latest episode of Soundtracking. If anything, one gets the impression he's genuinely stunned and humbled by how well his work has been received. A remake of the 1937 film of the same name, it stars Bradly and Stefani Germanotta (better known as Lady Gaga), and follows a hard-drinking musician who discovers and falls in love with a young singer. It marks the third remake of the 1937 original, which was adapted into a 1954 musical starring Judy Garland and James Mason and then remade as a 1976 rock musical with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. And, just as Lady G proves to quite the actor, so it turns out Bradley has a really rather unexpectedly brilliant

We very much like welcoming musicians to Soundtracking, so we were incredibly excited to learn about a documentary on the life of superstar Sri Lankan / British rapper M.I.A. - not least because Edith has been a huge fan since her days at BBC Radio 1. Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. was directed by her longtime friend Steve Loveridge, and follows 22 years in her life - including her rise to fame and her perspective on the controversies sparked over her music, public appearances and political activism. It has been incredibly well-received, and won a special jury award at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Obviously, you'll hear plenty of M.I.A.'s work throughout the conversation, and also find out about some her musical and cinematic influences.

The latest episode of Soundtracking finds us out and about once more, this time at the British Film Institute on London's South Bank. And it's a truly stellar cast. Director Lenny Abrahamson, composer Stephen Rennicks, editor Nathan Nugent and producer Gail Egan joined Edith in front of an audience to discuss the music of their latest film, The Little Stranger. Based on the novel of the same name by Sarah Waters, the plot follows a doctor who visits an old house his mother used to work at, only to discover it may hold a dark secret. As you'll hear, there's a bit more talking and a bit less music than we usually serve up, but what the gang has to say makes for essential listening if you have even the the remotest interest in film-making. Now one of the reasons it was such a joy speaking to Lenny, Stephen, Nathan and Gail is that they brought along all sorts of exclusive clips to share with us, including alternative beginnings and rough cuts from The Little Stranger. Obviously you won't be able to s

Our latest edition of Soundtracking features British writer / director Bart Layton. Bart won widespread critical acclaim for his debut The Imposter, a documentary about the case of the French conman Frédéric Bourdin, who impersonated a Texas boy who disappeared at the age of 13 in 1994.  His new film is also inspired by an extraordinary true story about a group of ordinary everyday guys who plan to steal the most expensive book in America. Unlike The Imposter, though, it's predominantly a work of 'based on real events' fiction, with great performances by all of the actors in the central roles.   It also features a banging soundtrack and excellent score by Anne Nikitin.

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is a composer who cut his teeth as a founder member of Tindersticks, with whom he wrote orchestral arrangements, recorded numerous albums and toured worldwide. Dickon Hinchliffe then turned his hand to scoring films when French director Claire Denis asked the band to write the music for her film Nénette et Boni. Dickon hasn't looked back since, providing the sonic backdrop to films as diverse as Winter's Bone, Project Nim and Leave No Trace. His latest project is Idris Elba's directorial debut, Yardie, which required compositions that complimented not only the narrative but also the fabulous soundtrack.

Our latest guest may be German, but he's clearly something of an Anglophile, having made a Bond film, the Peter Pan inspired Finding Neverland, and now a new take on the British cultural institution that is Winnie The Pooh. Perhaps most importantly, Marc Forster is a total audiophile too!  Marc's Christopher Robin is a delightful live-action addition to the Disney franchise, with Ewan McGregor in the leading role and Jim Cummings, Toby Jones and Sophie Okonedo among those providing the animal voices.  It also features 3 original tunes by Richard Sherman, the legendary Disney songwriter. Christopher Robin is dedicated to composer Jóhann Jóhannsson, who had already started scoring the film when he passed away so unexpectedly at the age of 48. So, at the eleventh hour, Jon Brion and Geoff Zanelli stepped in. You'll hear plenty of their exceptional work throughout the conversation, as well as tracks by Spoon, Muse, Chris Cornell, Wreckless Eric and more.

Providing a sequel for one of the highest grossing and most loved live-action musicals of all-time is a terrifying challenge by any reckoning, so we think you might be surprised how humble and down to earth the man that was charged with doing so is. Ol Parker wrote and directed Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, and has done a fine job too. As well as managing an all-star cast including Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Cher, he also had the not insignificant problem of melding all those iconic songs with the wonderful Anne Dudley's score. Thankfully, Benny and Bjorn from ABBA were on hand to help …  The reason we're coming to you a little later than normal is because Anne and Mamma Mia music supervisor Becky Bentham have been moving heaven and earth to provide us with exclusive cues from the film. So as well as plenty of sing-along classics, you'll be hearing Anne's score too.

Our latest guest is another of those 'annoying' multi-talented sorts, who's written, directed and produced a whole host of movies to widespread acclaim. Sacha Gervasi's first film was The Big Tease, which he co-wrote with Craig Ferguson. He went on to pen The Terminal, made into a film directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks. That's some feat. He also directed the brilliant rockumentary Anvil, which tells the deeply personal story of a heavy metal band who've been plugging away for 30 years. And it's with Anvil that we began. If you're unfamiliar with their work, it's pure Spinal Tap, only real …