This week, the one and only James McAvoy joins Chris and Lizzie to break down what went wrong - and very right - on his directorial debut, California Schemin’.

The film follows two young Scottish rappers who get laughed out of the music industry… until they start pretending to be American. It’s a true story of ambition, delusion, and the blurry line between reinvention and outright fraud.

Find out what drew McAvoy to the script, how he assembled the perfect cast, and what surprised him most about stepping behind the camera for the first time. Plus, discover the tricks he borrowed from some of the best directors he’s worked with (and which ones actually worked).

Check out California Schemin’ in UK theaters starting today!

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David Lean's ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ is widely considered one of the greatest films ever made… but behind the sweeping desert vistas was a production as brutal and unpredictable as the landscape itself.

This week, Chris and Lizzie break down how a script that was never truly finished—thanks in part to one of its screenwriters landing in jail—left the film constantly evolving even as cameras rolled. Discover why Omar Sharif was a last minute replacement, and why both Sharif and Peter O’Toole were forced to perform their own dangerous stunts on camels that were as temperamental as they were painful to ride.

While ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ cemented David Lean's place in cinematic history, it also played a major role in shaping how the world understands the real T.E. Lawrence — for better and for worse.

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

'American History X' was a tough sell on paper, though that didn't stop up-and-coming star Edward Norton from fighting for it. But what started as a promising collaboration between Norton and first-time director Tony Kaye would soon explode into one of the most infamous behind-the-scenes battles in movie history.

This week, Chris and Lizzie break down how tensions that started brewing on set spiraled into an all out war in post-production. Discover how Kaye got completely shut out of the edit, and find out why he decided to spend $100K of his own money to retaliate... in public.

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

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

A Kubrickian schedule! Two months of shooting in the mud! Roundworm, tuberculosis, and mass-method acting! What are the building blocks of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 classic jidaigeki film, Seven Samurai? Chris and Lizzie learn of Kurosawa's battles with censors (Japanese and American), studios, and his own personal demons. Plus, how the score went from the wastebasket to the silver screen, how Toshiro Mifune saved the film from a self-serious tone, and how a request for 10 days off can lead to a two year stay at your director's house.

*This episode was made possible by the incredible support of Patrons like Blaise Ambrose!

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‘Forrest Gump’ became one of the biggest hits of the ’90s—but it was never a sure thing. What started as a seemingly unadaptable novel bounced through multiple directors, screenwriters, and studios before it finally found the team that could bring it to life.

This week, Chris and Lizzie break down how Robert Zemeckis pulled off the film’s groundbreaking visual effects, why the first three days of Tom Hanks’ performance were thrown in the trash, and the unexpected source behind Forrest’s now-iconic accent.

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

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