This is an audio transcript of the FT Weekend podcast episode: Our summer books and films special: what to read and watch

Lilah Raptopoulos
If you’re going on vacation this summer, you’re gonna want a few books to take with you. And if you’ll be in transit, you might opt for an audiobook.

Fred Studemann
I’ll let you in on something. I tend to listen to thrillers on audio, and I would call out and highlight Mick Herron’s latest, Bad Actors. But this year I’ve been listening to Ulysses.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Wow . . . 

Laura Battle
This is Fred’s, Fred’s light summer read.

Lilah Raptopoulos
For light summer read?

Laura Battle
Yeah, exactly.

Lilah Raptopoulos
That’s Fred Studemann, the FT’s literary editor. He’s talking to me and our deputy books editor, Laura Battle, about his summer book picks. And as you heard, one of them is the audiobook of Ulysses by James Joyce. Notoriously, that is one of the harder books to decipher in the English language.

Laura Battle
How many hours is that, Fred, or weeks of your life is that?

Fred Studemann
I’ll be honest with you. I’ve been, I started in February and it’s an ongoing project. (Chuckle) But I just like, I just love the way of dipping in and out. And it’s read by Jim Norton and it’s done very well. And he captures those crazy moments when Bloom is in a pub and there’s sort of 12 different voices going on at the same time. Whether everyone listening here would thank me for saying “Take that to the beach” (laughter), I don’t know.

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Lilah Raptopoulos
Today we meet with Fred and Laura, who give us an excellent list of summer books to take on holiday. We’ll talk about new fiction and non-fiction published this year, from thrillers to romance to a novel that suggests that we’re living in a simulation. Then deputy arts editor Raphael Abraham brings us through the best summer movies. Welcome to our summer recommendations spectacular. This is FT Weekend. I’m Lilah Raptopoulos.

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Lilah Raptopoulos
Every summer, the FT publishes a range of book recommendations from our top editors and writers based on the best books that have come out so far this year. It’s called The Summer Books Special, and I love it. First because it’s a great resource and a good halfway mark on the year in books, but also because the list reflects something cultural back at us. You get a sense of what publishers think will resonate with readers and also, what’s actually resonating. Fred and Laura, welcome.

Fred Studemann
Hi there!

Laura Battle
Hi, Lilah!

Lilah Raptopoulos
So this is a bit of a broad question, but before we dive in, I would love to hear about some trends in the publishing industry and trends and sort of the books that we’ve been seeing. Laura, what have you noticed this year across the publishing world?

Laura Battle
Yeah, it is an interesting question, and I think in some ways we’re seeing some of the fallout from Covid. I mean, one of the, one of the trends I’m noticing in fiction is this sort of time travelling narrative that blends historical and speculative fiction. You think of a book like To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara or Emily St John Mandel’s Sea of Tranquility. You know, there’s books that are kind of set over several centuries and sometimes several centuries in the future. And it’s an interest that’s been around for a few years, I think. But they often take the form of a parable about climate collapse. And some of them also riff on, on the idea of plague through the centuries. And Emily St John Mandel recently spoke about her desire to write about some far-flung future during Covid lockdowns. And so I wonder if it is something that’s kind of intensified due to our shared experience of confinement over the last two years.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah. And, Fred, what are you seeing? I mean, I noticed you recently, you wrote this column that I really liked about — BookTok, which is like TikTok influencers that are coming to book fairs . . . 

Fred Studemann
Oh yeah.

Lilah Raptopoulos
. . . And trying to make reading cool for Gen-Z. I don’t know. It doesn’t sound like a bad thing. I’m curious.

Fred Studemann
No, no, it’s all right. And to be encouraged, I think. But I don’t know if everyone has fully sort of got their heads around it, to be honest. But I mean, just for those of you who don’t know what it is, there’s a huge part of TikTok now that is related to books. And people are sharing their suggestions or their views on books. And it has had a huge impact. I mean, the publishers are just like stunned by this because it’s had the effect of driving books, some of them are old books that come off the backlist, as they say in the industry. So stuff published ten, 20 years ago where someone who’s got a big following who somehow, you know, says, look, I don’t know Oscar Wilde, it’s suddenly kapow. It’s back up in the best-, you know, or maybe for the first time ever in the bestseller list. So you can see you’re gonna see a lot of publishers piling in to that sector if they haven’t already.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Laura and Fred, you overlap a lot, but Laura tends to specialise in fiction and Fred, you in non-fiction. So Laura on fiction, what would you recommend, top beach read this summer? Looking for something kind of maybe sort of plot-driven, something that will sort of carry you away. What would you, what would you suggest?

Laura Battle
Yeah. Well, I think this novel called You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi who’s a really interesting, very prolific Nigerian-born writer.

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Lilah Raptopoulos
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty is a romance novel. I actually just read it on this recommendation on my own vacation. It follows the protagonist, who’s this New York-based artist to the Caribbean.

Laura Battle
And it’s kind of classic summer read, in some respects. I feel like it’s full of art and there’s some quite explicit sex, and there’s like ravishing landscapes and lots of delicious food.

Lilah Raptopoulos
But Emezi is also doing something really interesting for a romance novel.

Laura Battle
The book subverts some of the very white conventions of the romance genre with a story about very affluent black characters. So it’s a light-hearted read and it’s very plot-driven. But it’s also really interesting, too. So I definitely recommend that.

Lilah Raptopoulos
For a light non-fiction read, Fred recommends Circus of Dreams by John Walsh.

Fred Studemann
If you want something that’s entertaining and it’s maybe a bit self-indulgent because it’s about the book world, but it tells of the times that the raucous sort of eighties and nineties, it’s John Walsh’s memoir, Circus of Dreams, which is very London. And it is about the world we live in and move in. But it’s just sort of funny. You know, there was more money around, there was just sort of a lot of excitement. A lot of the authors that are now very big names were just starting out and breaking through. I think, as our reviewer pointed out, John Walsh, the former literary editor of The Sunday Times and has amazing memory recall because he seems to be able to remember whole conversations, but good for him.

Lilah Raptopoulos
I asked Fred and Laura for some advice for people who want to read more. You know, going into the summer, a lot of people do a lot of their big reading where they feel like they don’t have time during the year. They do it in their summer holidays or when they have a chance to get away. And I’m curious. You both read so much for work, like how do you fit it in? How do you have good hygiene around keeping reading all year? What tips do you have to be reading as many books as you, as you want to read?

Laura Battle
I think it’s also like just reading kind of as in as many sort of settings as you can. So, you know, reading isn’t just about opening a hardback book in a deep armchair, you know, in front of a crackling fire. It’s, it’s listening to audiobooks, you know, on your way to work or while you’re doing a lunch-break walk. And it’s, it’s just kind of, I suppose, trying to, trying to fit more reading into more corners of your, of your life, of your day.

Fred Studemann
Well, I’ll be honest that I end up . . . you know, holidays for me is, I’ve got a routine of where I put to one side the sort of could-be-reads on holiday. But the one thing I love doing — this is gonna sound maybe perverse and I’ll probably lose every single listener here — is I leave them there. It’s insane. I mean, they, my wife and family hate this bit because I end up carrying kilos of books. But it’s a routine I’ve sort of developed over the years, and I tend to go for things that are like, you’ve kind of alluded to that are non-work, you know, where it’s a sort of guilty pleasure. Like, no one’s gonna get past me for reading this.

Lilah Raptopoulos
So you take a book with you, you read it on holiday, and then you leave it there . . . 

Fred Studemann
Yeah.

Lilah Raptopoulos
 . . . for someone to find.

Fred Studemann
We often go to Italy. There’s a sort of well-established thing of you can leave books, you know, by the roadside. There are little sort of boxes where you can leave books for other people to pick up. So I like that sort of passing it on.

Lilah Raptopoulos
We were chatting ahead of this that anything to do with empire is very popular right now. And that’s really interesting. And I’m curious what that means and what those books are. And, if you could, if you’re willing to give an interpretation of what that means about us, that would be great.

Fred Studemann
Well, I think it means lots, see, you know, it’s a, it’s in a way a continuation of something that certainly in the UK has been under way for a couple of years and it’s a sort of revisiting and re-reckoning with the subject of empire and its legacy and trying to also adjust some of the perceptions that may have existed or do exist. You know what you were taught or not taught at school doesn’t always chime with the reality. You know, Caroline Elkin had a big book out earlier this year, Legacy of Empire, which was a very unflinching, critical reckoning with the British empire. Then you’ve just more recently had Dominic Lieven’s book, In the Shadow of the Gods, which is sort of looking at the whole concept of emperors and empires through history and sort of just making the point that actually that is the sort of format that has dominated much of human history. You know, it’s almost like it’s unusual to be living in a place and in a time when there in, when you aren’t within an empire.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Mmm.

Fred Studemann
There’s gonna be some other books coming out later this year around this that tells you just what a life subject that is, because it plays into so many very live and urgent debates that are happening in societies, whether it taps into Black Lives Matter or what’s been, you know, happening geopolitically.

Lilah Raptopoulos
One big topic that no one is reading about is Covid. Fred says there’s been a boon in non-fiction books about the pandemic and about viruses, but their sales numbers are extremely low. On the other hand, books on Ukraine and on Russian influence have seen a massive spike for obvious reasons. Fred recommends a book called Putin’s People by investigative reporter Catherine Belton.

Fred Studemann
A brilliant book about the whole, the rise of Putin and the system that he’s created. That’s become a massive bestseller in, not just in English, but in many other territories as well. Oliver Bullough’s book, Butler to the World, fortuitous timing in that it’s about the whole sort of the London end of dealing with, let’s just call it fast and loose money from oligarchs and how that has sort of, what that has done to London and to British society that came out just almost to coincide with the invasion, and they’ve had a massive spur.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Well, thank you both so much. I, before we close up, are there any books that we should have talked about that we didn’t? Anything that, trends that we should have talked about but we didn’t?

Fred Studemann
Well, shall I scare you, Lilah, with one thing?

Lilah Raptopoulos
Sure. I love being scared (laughter).

Fred Studemann
Laura and I were talking. We had, she, she may have something much happier to add to this. We had two things that surprised, well one surprised us and one slightly alarmed us. We did a big books essay on marriage and the state of marriage, and that sort of combined books that were almost, one was almost sort of in the realm of self-help. FT readers loved it. We got a huge mailbag and we didn’t see that one coming. So we’re obviously a little bit behind on understanding the lives of our readers. And then the one that went off the charts is Ed Luce’s essay on the question of whether America was heading for civil war. It’s an absolute, just broke all the records. But as, that isn’t something, it is not the happiest of subjects. (Laughter) So Laura tell me something happy, Laura, because we can’t end with civil war.

Lilah Raptopoulos
So wait, just a, just to clarify. So our readers are interested in complex problems in marriage and the possibility of American civil war.

Fred Studemann
Yes.

Laura Battle
Yeah. We’re trying to find some happiness and humour.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Sure, yes.

Fred Studemann
And I ruined it all, sorry.

Laura Battle
It’s a weekly struggle.

Lilah Raptopoulos
It really is.

Laura Battle
This isn’t exactly funny, but another kind of area of interest for our readers is AI and the whole idea of simulated reality. And there’s a novel that I’ve been — Fred associated me talking about because I just absolutely loved it — that I read at the start of the year called The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier. And it’s just been published in English, translation by, the translations by Adriana Hunter, and it was published in January. And this book won the 2020 Prix Goncourt and it imagines the kind of, the duplication of an Air France flight to New York and all its passengers. And it basically explores this idea of whether we are, in fact, just living out a kind of computer simulation. And it’s, it’s kind of it, it doesn’t sound funny, but it’s very funny. But it’s also thriller-ish and sort of scary. And it’s got a bit of everything, actually. So that, as a broad theme, is something our readers are interested in. And it’s something that in both fiction and non-fiction, there have been books this year that have been playing around with that.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Great. OK. Laura, Fred, thanks for doing this. This has been great!

Laura Battle
Thanks, Lilah. It’s been great fun!

Fred Studemann
Been wonderful. Thanks!

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Lilah Raptopoulos
The FT Summer Books special is all out now at FT.com/summerbooks. I’ve put the link in the show notes and I’ve also included a list of all the books that Fred and Laura mentioned today.

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Lilah Raptopoulos
OK. Now that you’ve got a long list of summer books, it is time for summer movies. Enter Raphael Abraham, the FT’s deputy arts editor and regular film critic. Raph has watched dozens of this year’s movies so that we don’t have to. And he’s here to tell us what we should watch and what he thinks will get us back in theatres after a very long two and a half years. Hi Raph, welcome to the show!

Raphael Abraham
Hi, Lilah! Really good to see you.

Lilah Raptopoulos
So, as the deputy arts editor and our official film buff, I would say, we wanted to walk through the summer movie calendar with you and also talk about the industry a little bit. So I wonder maybe to start, you went to Cannes in May. You saw 24 films in less than a week.

Raphael Abraham
That’s right.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Right.

Raphael Abraham
Madness.

Lilah Raptopoulos
A madness. You told me nobody eats popcorn in theatres (laughter), which like, shocked me. You said it was very, like, unacceptable.

Raphael Abraham
I mean, I’ve never seen it.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah.

Raphael Abraham
There’s definitely, there are like, concession stands, you know, where they’re shovelling out popcorn and Big Gulps and whatever. Now that kind of thing is, would be seriously frowned upon.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Right. (laughter) It’s just for us (laughter) commoners.

Raphael Abraham
I think . . . Yeah, well I just . . . Yeah.

Lilah Raptopoulos
How do you prepare for a marathon like that? What are you going in looking for? Are you looking to be in the room when they’re screening something that’s going to be a hit?

Raphael Abraham
Yeah. No, well, that’s absolutely, yeah, that’s a great question. I mean, the short answer is, of course, you don’t know. You never really know what’s gonna hit or what, let alone what’s gonna win the Palme d’Or. So it comes with this massive anxiety. Everyone who’s there, you know, as, at least as a critic, is trying to watch as much as possible because they’re afraid of missing the great thing.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Right.

Raphael Abraham
In my case, you go through the programme, you try and look at the names and see what you definitely don’t want to miss. The thing is there’s, I think it was about 20 films in the main competition. Now, you don’t want to miss any of those because one of them’s gonna win the Palme d’Or.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Right.

Raphael Abraham
And this is a real problem. And for me, was this year in particular, is that, you know, the best films aren’t always necessarily in the competition.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Right.

Raphael Abraham
So word of mouth is very valuable. So for instance, this year I heard somebody had seen this small Scottish film called Aftersun, which was showing in the Critics Week section, one of the sidebars. So I managed to seek it out and see it, and it was absolutely beautiful. Best thing I saw.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Wow.

Raphael Abraham
And it’s not in the main competition. So, you know, so it’s a kind of a treasure hunt, you know.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah.

Raphael Abraham
You try to watch as much as possible because the best stuff isn’t necessarily in the most obvious place.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Right.

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Lilah Raptopoulos
So let’s get started. I asked Raph to come in with the top four films that will be out this summer that he thinks we absolutely need to see.

Raphael Abraham
The first one is a film that’s just come out here in the UK and I think it’s on AMC in the US. It’s an Australian film called Nitram.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Mm-hmm.

Raphael Abraham
It’s a very powerful film, but it’s a difficult subject. It’s sort of based on the back story of the man who was responsible for the worst mass shooting in Australian history.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Mmm.

Raphael Abraham
And obviously very timely in the wake of Uvalde.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Mm-hmm.

Raphael Abraham
And it sort of tells his story from childhood and adulthood. And it’s very subtly done. It’s not sensationalist. It’s kind of showing this man with all his obvious mental health problems, but also it’s very humanising and it shows his family. And the subtext is a very powerful indictment of gun laws in Australia which were changed by this event.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yes. Right.

Raphael Abraham
So it’s, you know, this is not a fun summer movie. It’s a very difficult one, as I say, but it’s got terrific performances. And the lead actor, Caleb Landry Jones, who won the prize in Cannes last year, Best Actor prize, eerily, he’s from Texas. And he gives an incredible performance. And Judy Davis plays his mum, who’s also brilliant.

Lilah Raptopoulos
When you say nuanced, how do you paint a portrait of someone who’s done such a horrible thing without seeming sympathetic?

Raphael Abraham
Yeah, well, it’s it does it by presenting things very plainly, I guess. You know, you sort of see him going through his everyday life and people being mean and cruel to him. But also, you see that he comes from a loving family and you know that his parents are good, kind and honest people, just trying to do their best with this kid and they don’t know what he’s gonna become. They know he’s got problems. They’re just doing their best.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Mm-hmm.

Raphael Abraham
It’s not trying to . . . it’s not like a portrait of evil. It’s just sort of an honest portrait of somebody.

Lilah Raptopoulos
So we started, we started heavy.

Raphael Abraham
We started heavy.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Nitram is number one. Number two, what would you recommend?

Raphael Abraham
Well, another film is a lovely Iranian film called Hit the Road, which is, as the title suggests, a road movie. And it’s a really sweet, funny, very light-footed film, with this little ensemble cast. The whole thing takes place mostly in this car, which is driving through Iran with this kid who’s an absolute, just a bundle of energy and life force and his rather downtrodden parents. But it’s very warm and sweet and it’s kind of been described as a, as an Iranian Little Miss Sunshine.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Oh, wow, yeah.

Raphael Abraham
But there is also this kind of undertone to the whole thing, because the reason why they’re driving across Iran, which is sort of gradually revealed, there’s another, more emotionally weighty kind of, you know, pull to the whole thing. So it’s just . . . 

Raphael Abraham
Which you will not reveal.

Raphael Abraham
Which I won’t reveal.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah.

Raphael Abraham
I mean, it’s kind of only partially really revealed in the film itself, so . . . 

Lilah Raptopoulos
Right.

Raphael Abraham
Yeah. It seems too wrong to give that away. But what kind of adds, gives it a whole another dimension as well is it’s the first film made by — his name is Panah Panahi.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yes.

Raphael Abraham
And film lovers will know the name Jafar Panahi is his father, who’s a brilliant film-maker, dissident film-maker in Iran.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Amazing. OK. Nitram, Hit the Road. What’s next?

Raphael Abraham
Next up is McEnroe.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Oh, yes.

Raphael Abraham
Documentary that I just saw the other night, which is obviously very well-timed with Wimbledon.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Mm-hmm.

Raphael Abraham
. . . Just kind of reaching its climax. And it’s, yeah, it’s a very probing psychological study of the great man (chuckle) famed for his hot temper, shall we say . . .

Lilah Raptopoulos
Sure.

Raphael Abraham
As well as his, yeah, terrifically hot tennis. It, to some degree, does tell a familiar story of his rise and his great rivalry with Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors and others. But then it kind of goes beyond that. He’s very much involved in it and he’s, you know, sort of the main figure in it. So you really get his inner thoughts. And it’s basically, you know, it’s very much an exploration of greatness. And about how greatness does not necessarily equal happiness.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Mmm.

Raphael Abraham
And him reflecting on why he was the way he was and why he wasn’t able to enjoy his success more. And the sort of tyranny of perfection . . .

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah.

Raphael Abraham
And where that comes from. So there’s a lot in there about his relationship with his dad and his relationship with his children who come into it as well. Towards the end, it’s almost like a group-therapy session. (laughter) Well you know . . . 

Lilah Raptopoulos
That’s interesting. These themes of like, you become the great and then you don’t know where you’re going and you don’t actually find the happiness that you thought it would bring you, this like time and time again . . . 

Raphael Abraham
Yeah,

Lilah Raptopoulos
I love them (laughter).

Raphael Abraham
And it, I guess it’s a very contemporary, you know, subject . . . 

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah.

Raphael Abraham
 . . . right, and it’s sort of, you think it’s impossible to think of this being made, you know, I don’t know, even sort of 20 years ago. But now it’s sort of everyone seems willing to . . . 

Lilah Raptopoulos
Get into it.

Raphael Abraham
Get into it.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah.

Raphael Abraham
And sort of show their demons and, you know, to share them with the world, I’d say.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Times have changed. OK. So you have one more film for us?

Raphael Abraham
I have, yeah. So something hopefully lighter and more fun (laughter) towards the end of the summer, Three Thousand Years of Longing. It stars Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba, and it’s a really big fantasy, epic, spectacular.

Movie clip
There’s no story about wishing that is not a cautionary tale.

Movie clip
We all have desires, even if they remain hidden from us. But it is your story, and I cannot wait to see where it goes.

Movie clip
Or how it might end.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Raphael Abraham
Tilda Swinton is this academic northern Englishwoman who goes to Istanbul and happens upon this, uh, this little trinket in the market and unleashes Idris Elba, this enormous genie.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Wow, two legends too.

Raphael Abraham
Two legends, yeah, exactly! Sort of, you know, battling wits on the screen because she’s a very sort of buttoned up, you know, English academic. And, uh, he’s this, this genie who’s full of these tales of wonder. So, yes, these incredibly ornate, beautiful flashbacks to the ancient world and King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. And they’ll be sort of fantastical tales which are brilliantly done. The director is George Miller, who made Mad Max: Fury Road a few years ago. There’s just this the visual opulence of these tales from the genies past, the jinn, I should say. It’s kind of very sweet as well. It’s kind of, you know, leaves you with a nice, warm feeling.

Lilah Raptopoulos
One of the biggest struggles for Hollywood has been just getting people back to theatres. One survey found that 61 per cent of Americans didn’t go to a movie house at all last year and not because of a fear of Covid. According to another survey, it’s mostly because it’s expensive and people got used to watching movies at home.

I’m curious, looking forward, like what you think will get people back in the theatres? Top Gun was very popular. Everybody’s very excited about Elvis, which, you know, it’s a Baz Luhrmann spectacular, right? Like it seems like the thing that will really get people in theatres. Is that what’s gonna work at the end of the day?

Raphael Abraham
I wish I’d bought my crystal ball with me (laughter). Of course, the answer is nobody really knows, like . . .

Lilah Raptopoulos
Right.

Raphael Abraham
You know, famously, I just, you know, nobody even in Hollywood really knows what’s gonna hit. And, you know, the success of Top Gun: Maverick is, I think it’s kind of left a lot of people astounded.

Lilah Raptopoulos
(Laughter) Yeah.

Raphael Abraham
You know, I mean, it’s forecast to pass $1bn at the box office. Probably by the time this goes out, it will have.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Yeah.

Raphael Abraham
And I think the only person not surprised seems to be Tom Cruise (laughter) who just . . . right? He just like . . . 

Lilah Raptopoulos
He’s like, of course.

Raphael Abraham
Yeah. So, of course, nobody really ever knows. I mean, when you look at the list of biggest box office successes of this year, it’s not exactly that full of surprises. Almost everything is a sequel of some sort, you know, Marvel movies, the Doctor Strange movie, Jurassic Park sequel, I think all but one are sequels in the sort of top eight grossing movies of the year, and one is an adaptation of a successful video game series.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Right.

Raphael Abraham
So, you know, to some extent, you never know what’s gonna hit really big. But if you’ve got an existing IP, it’s you know, it’s obviously it comes with an existing fan base.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Right. And I mean, I think it also I mean, of course, crucially, it has to be good, right?

Raphael Abraham
Right.

Lilah Raptopoulos
I went to a movie recently in the theatres and there is a trailer for Top Gun and Tom Cruise’s face popped up and the whole theatre started laughing because it was almost like we didn’t, couldn’t believe he was still around. Like he’s such a caricature, almost of an actor now. And then I have some friends who have seen it and said it was the best thing they’ve seen, the most fun they’ve had in a theatre in a really long time. And it was really, really good.

Raphael Abraham
But I, yeah, I had a similar experience with Elvis when I went in, very sniffy, sort of, I don’t really like Baz Luhrmann films, and this is, you know, it’s just not my kind of thing. And I’m prepared to sort of sneer at it. And, you know, and I was, I must say, I mean, at least the whole first hour is which kind of shows Elvis’s rise, youth and rise to stardom. You know, I was pretty blown away. It’s a hugely entertaining film.

Movie clip
But this ain’t no nostalgia show . . . I’ll bring that (inaudible) . . . I wish to promote you, Mr. Presley . . . I believe I can be great. When I’m on . . . 

Lilah Raptopoulos
My last question is, just as an avid movie-goer and expert, what would you recommend for people who are just getting back into, going into theatres?

Raphael Abraham
Honestly, I think Elvis is a really good reason to go back into cinemas. It is really eye-grabbing, big-screen entertainment. Great music, great visuals. It’s not necessarily the definitive, you know, sort of thinking person’s movie about Elvis, but the fact is, you will go in and be blown away with just the sort of visual spectacular of the whole thing.

Lilah Raptopoulos
Right. Raph, this is awesome. Thank you so much!

Raphael Abraham
My pleasure!

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Lilah Raptopoulos
I’ve put a list of Ralph’s pics and the reviews of each of the films in the show notes.

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Lilah Raptopoulos
That’s the show this week. Thank you for listening to FT Weekend, the podcast from the Financial Times. Next week — I’ve been dying to have him on — we speak with Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, and debatably the most influential economics journalist in the world. Martin tells us how he forms an opinion, the importance of changing your mind and where he’s changed his mind over the course of his esteemed career. Then we talk about the phenomenon of gentle parenting with my colleague, Courtney Weaver. If you got some good recommendations out of this episode, please do share it on your social platforms or send it to a friend who may like it. That really helps the show and also let me know the films or books that you’ve watched or read so far this summer that you’ve loved and really recommend. I’ll share them alongside this episode on Twitter and on Instagram. I am on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap. The show is on Twitter @ftweekendprod, or you can always email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. Fred, Laura, Raph and I did all these conversations in person in London recently, which is super fun. I’ve got some behind the scenes photos from the studio on my Instagram.

A big shout-out this week goes to Marianna Giusti, who organised the live books conversation that you just heard on Twitter. Mari, you really herded cats with us to make that happen, so thank you! Links to everything mentioned today are in the show notes as usual, alongside a link of the best offers available on a subscription to the FT, including 50 per cent off a digital subscription and a great deal on FT Weekend in print. Those offers are at ft.com/weekendpodcast. Make sure to use that link.

I’m Lilah Raptopoulos and here’s my incredible team: Katya Kumkova is our senior producer, Lulu Smyth is our assistant producer. Our sound engineers are Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco, with original music by Metaphor Music. Niamh Rowe is our intern. Zoe Sullivan is our contributing producer, Topher Forhecz is our executive producer. And thanks go as always to Cheryl Brumley and Renée Kaplan. Have a lovely weekend and we will find each other again next week.

This transcript has been automatically generated. If by any chance there is an error please send the details for a correction to: typo@ft.com. We will do our best to make the amendment as soon as possible.

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