This week's podcast has a decidedly sporting flavour, going toe to toe with Mike Tyson and Brian Clough. Well, kind of.
With Jason Solomons still learning how to change nappies, Xan Brooks once more steps into the ring (or up to the plate/insert your favourite sports metaphor) to host. First, he discusses boxing with renegade film-maker James Toback, creator of Tyson, an extraordinary documentary about Iron Mike. James explains why he wanted to portray the former champion as a "complicated and noble human being" – and why Tyson continues to deny charges of rape.
Plus we hear from Tom Hooper, director of the HBO hit John Adams, who has now turned his hand to the big screen with debut feature The Damned United, the story of Brian Clough's disastrous 44 days managing Leeds United in 1974. Tom explains why Brian Clough was the first celebrity manager – and a perfect subject for drama.
And finally, film critic Mark Eccleston joins Xan in the pod to size up the latest releases. Up for discussion are James Gray's intense look at messy relationships Two Lovers, with Joaquin Phoenix and Gwyneth Paltrow; Michael Winterbottom's latest film Genova, a supernatural drama with Colin Firth; and Life Before Her Eyes, starring Uma Thurman as an adult survivor of a Columbine-like high-school massacre. It's a twisty thriller by Vadim Perelman, the director of The House of Sand and Fog – and Xan and Mark don't pull their punches.
