Is ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER film of the year? With Paul Thomas Anderson

Kermode & Mayo’s Take

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Thursday, 25 September 2025 - 1 hour 15 minutes

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‘One Battle After Another’ hits the big screen this week—and there’s already plenty of buzz, not least from Steven Spielberg, about this much anticipated new flick starring Leonardo DiCaprio and the dazzlingly named newcomer Chase Infiniti. Its director—and one of the most exciting directors working today—Paul Thomas Anderson is our very special guest this week. He and Simon unpack his decades-long writing process on the movie, his first ever car chase, and getting binned off by DiCaprio for ‘Titanic’. Could this be the year PTA finally gets his Oscar? Answers in an envelope now please... 

Mark reviews ‘One Battle After Another’ too--along with two more of the week’s most popcorn-worthy cinema releases. First up, ‘The Dead Of Winter’--where we see Emma Thompson explore new territory in a frozen thriller set in chilly Minnesota. And yes, that means she does the accent. Plus, ‘The Strangers: Chapter 2’... let’s see if this unintentionally silly slasher can improve on its predecessor, which shouldn’t be difficult... one would hope. 

All the usual tasty features too as Mark runs down the full Box Office Top 10 and Simon tries to wring some genuine humour out of the Laughter Lift. Tope correspondence from you as always--and don’t forget you can now watch the full show on YouTube!  

Timecodes (for Vanguardistas listening ad-free): 

The Dead of Winter Review: 09:16 (00:11:04 – 11:40:19) 

Box Office Top Ten: 15:44 

Paul Thomas Anderson Interview: 28:17 

One Battle After Another Review: 42:04 (Clip: 00:28:34 – 00:29:16) 

Laughter Lift: 56:11 

The Strangers: Chapter 2 Review: 01:00:06 (Clip 01:01:23 – 01:02:06) 

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