Author, documentarian and occasional screenwriter Jon Ronson — co-writer of the brilliant Okja, now streaming everywhere on Netflix — steps up for Tomas Alfredson’s masterful 2008 drama Let the Right One In, in which a bullied little boy is befriended by a little girl who is much more complicated than she seems. Your genial host Norm Wilner doesn’t understand why there were quite so many cats outside.

With Broken Social Scene’s new album Hug of Thunder coming out on Friday, it seemed like the perfect time to bring Brendan Canning on for a chat about Melancholia, Lars Von Trier’s 2011 allegory about clinical depression and the end of the world. Your genial host Norm Wilner would like to point out that he planned his own wedding, and it went just fine.

Following up on Adam Barken’s look at The Ninth Configuration earlier this week, actor and comedian Matt Braunger sneaks away from a set at Comedy Bar to talk about William Peter Blatty’s other directorial effort, 1990’s The Exorcist III. Following George C. Scott’s Lt. Kinderman on a murder case that turns into an inquiry into the nature of good and evil, it’s the least scary Exorcist movie ever made … right up until it pounces. Your genial host Norm Wilner did his best to keep the noise down.

As Killjoys returns for its third season this Friday on Syfy and Space, writer-producer Adam Barken takes a deep dive into the murky depths of The Ninth Configuration, the first directorial effort from William Peter Blatty, creator of The Exorcist. Your genial host Norm Wilner advises you that this is but one of two Blatty-centric episodes this week, and asks that you come back Friday to see who he got for The Exorcist III.

This week, Jonny Sun — playwright, Twitter cult leader and author of the new book Everyone’s A Aliebn When Ur An Aliebn Too, available June 27th — drops by in advance of his North American tour to chat about Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg’s Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End, the majestic genre mash-ups collectively known as The Cornetto Trilogy. Never heard of them? Your genial host Norm Wilner is very disappointed. (Find Jonny in your town this summer! Check http://jomnysun.com/events for his schedule!)

How does Allana Harkin, correspondent and producer on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, unwind? She immerses herself in the pleasures of When Harry Met Sally …, the 1989 comedy in which Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Nora Ephron and Rob Reiner came together to create one of the greatest romantic comedies ever made. Your genial host Norm Wilner can see the appeal, though he’s really more of a Bruno Kirby type.

Actor Varun Saranga — who joins the Western weirdoes of Wynonna Earp when that show starts its second season this Friday on Space and SyFy — spends a rainy day discussing his love for The Royal Tenenbaums, the 2001 family drama that cemented Wes Anderson’s distinctive style after Rushmore. Your genial host Norm Wilner regrets never having been a child prodigy.

As his unsettling first feature The Transfiguration rolls through theatres in the U.S. and Canada, writer-director Michael O’Shea drops by to discuss Peter Jackson’s piercing Heavenly Creatures, the unforgettable 1994 psychodrama that put Jackson and Fran Walsh on the world-cinema map and introduced audiences to Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey. Your genial host Norm Wilner is awfully happy about this choice, even if he knows it won’t end well.

Is Up the perfect Pixar movie? Comedian and actor Ryan Dillon thinks so, and he’s here this week to make his case for Pete Docter’s spectacular tale of unlikely adventure. Your genial host Norm Wilner finds it hard to argue against any movie with a talking dog.

As the world prepares to mark the 30th anniversary of Predator next month, actor Tom Bennett — who delighted audiences as Sir James Martin in Whit Stillman’s Love & Friendship — gets to the chopper to celebrate John McTiernan’s first perfect action movie. Your genial host Norm Wilner recorded this one high above London, which may explain the echo.

With his latest feature Tommy’s Honour set to open in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal on Friday, actor-turned-filmmaker Jason Connery girds himself to explore the mystery of

It’s a special Friday bonus episode! Director Lewis Bennett — whose documentary The Sandwich Nazi opens today in Toronto — stops by to share his love for Ross Sutherland’s remarkable Stand By for Tape Back-Up, which you can stream for free at standbyfortapebackup.com . Your genial host Norm Wilner encourages you to do this.

Rachel Wilson, who stars opposite Dylan Bruce and Kristian Bruun in First Round Down (opening theatrically in Toronto this Friday), shares her love for James L. Brooks’ Oscar-winning 1983 dramedy Terms of Endearment. You know the one. Your genial host Norm Wilner promises to keep it together.

Tammy Gillis, who stars in the new drama Menorca — now playing theatrically in Toronto and Winnipeg, and coming to iTunes May 9th — takes some time to celebrate the chaotic joy of Bridesmaids, the 2011 comedy that vaulted Kristen Wiig from scene-stealer to A-lister (and Oscar-nominated screenwriter), gave director Paul Feig his first commercial hit and made Melissa McCarthy a household name. Your genial host Norm Wilner is all in.

With The Girl With All the Gifts now available on demand and coming to disc next week — and his new novel The Boy on the Bridge in stores next month — screenwriter and author Mike Carey digs into the muck of Curtis Hanson’s L.A. Confidential, which marks its 20th anniversary this year. Your genial host Norm Wilner recorded this episode in London, surrounded by crisps.

With his new documentary Black Code opening in Toronto and Vancouver on Friday, Nick de Pencier shines a light on another non-fiction narrative, Donald Brittain’s Oscar-nominated Volcano: An Inquiry Into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry. Your genial host Norm Wilner is feeling extra philosophical this week.

Recorded in a very high flat in London, actor, writer and producer Reece Shearsmith takes a break from shooting series four of Inside No. 9 to celebrate the delicious cruelties of Theatre of Blood, Douglas Hickox’ 1973 revenge picture starring Vincent Price as an actor who finds an ingenious way to strike back at his critics. Your genial host Norm Wilner assures you he’s never written an ill word about Reece Shearsmith.

He just dropped his comedy special Different Times and plays Mayor Tom Hogg in Filth City, so it’s the perfect time for Pat Thornton to sit down and discuss the existential and literal chaos of Joel and Ethan Coen’s 2009 comedy masterpiece A Serious Man. That’s right, your genial host Norm Wilner calls it a masterpiece. What, you’re going to argue?

With her first feature Never Eat Alone making its Toronto premiere at the TIFF Bell Lightbox this Saturday, March 25th, writer-director Sofia Bohdanowicz discusses the undeniable pull of Lars Von Trier’s 2000 misery musical Dancer in the Dark — yes, the one where Bjork goes to prison. Your genial host Norm Wilner is … conflicted.

Writer-director Kevan Funk, whose first feature Hello Destroyer is now playing in Toronto and Ottawa before rolling out across Canada in the coming weeks, digs into the context and commentary of Todd Haynes’ devastating 1995 drama Safe. Your genial host Norm Wilner had an immunity suit on hand in the studio.

With their powerhouse drama The Other Half arriving on VOD in Canada today and in American theatrical release this Friday, March 10th, co-stars Tatiana Maslany and Tom Cullen discuss a mutual favorite, Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2007 American epic There Will Be Blood. Your genial host Norm Wilner is the first to do the Daniel Plainview voice … but don’t worry, everyone gets a turn.

Revered Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin (Brand Upon the Brain!, My Winnipeg and most recently The Forbidden Room) dives into the muck and grime of Sam Peckinpah’s Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, the 1974 movie where Warren Oates drives around Mexico with a head in a sack and a thirst for bloody vengeance. Your genial host Norm Wilner is as surprised by this choice as you are.

Veteran stand-up comic and script supervisor (and nascent screenwriter) Daniela Saioni takes up the cause for Grosse Pointe Blank, the perpetually underrated 1997 action-comedy that may actually be John Cusack’s finest hour. Your genial host Norm Wilner will take any opportunity to put George Armitage’s name back into circulation, so that works out nicely.

You’ve seen her in everything from Sophie to The Strain, and now Natalie Brown — starring in The Box, Jovanka Vuckovic’s contribution to the horror anthology XX — puts on her dancing shoes for a spin through Baz Lurhmann’s 1992 debut Strictly Ballroom. Your genial host Norm Wilner just wants to learn the Bogo Pogo.

As Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival rolls onto Blu-ray and DVD — and rolls towards the Oscars later this month — actor Mark O’Brien drops in to talk about another tale of seductive, impenetrable mystery: David Fincher’s 1997 thriller The Game. Your genial host Norm Wilner may or may not be in on this.

As their charming comedy Almost Adults goes live on VOD platforms worldwide, writer Adrianna DiLonardo and director Sarah Rotella settle in to talk about Peter Jackson’s gargantuan adaptation of The Lord of the Rings and the whole Middle-Earth thing. Your genial host Norm Wilner recorded this between second breakfast and elevenses.

She’s in theaters in Miss Sloane and on TV screen in Mary Kills People, and now Grace Lynn Kung is in your ears to talk about Steven Spielberg’s 1989 blockbuster Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which turns out to be awfully relevant to the current political moment. Or maybe it’s just one of those movies that will always be relevant. Your genial host Norm Wilner is open to either interpretation.

As Dim the Fluorescents has its second screening at Slamdance, co-star Naomi Skwarna stands up for the complex, messy humanity of Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret — and all of Lonergan’s work, really, which is why this episode includes sweves into You Can Count on Me and Manchester By the Sea. Your genial host Norm Wilner is up for it.

You’ve been good and you deserve a special Friday episode, so here’s Dim the Fluorescents director Daniel Warth — who’ll be in Park City for its Slamdance world premiere tomorrow night — on John Cassavetes’ 1984 swan song Love Streams. Your genial host Norm Wilner can’t believe this is the show’s 100th episode. Where did the time go?

His new documentary The Skyjacker’s Tale opens in Toronto on Friday, January 20th, so what better excuse for filmmaker Jamie Kastner to spend an hour talking about Mel Brooks’ 1968 bad-taste masterpiece The Producers? That’s right! None better! Your genial host Norm Wilner promises not to sing “Prisoners of Love”, even though he knows the whole song by heart.

With Michael: Every Day returning to CBC this Sunday, January 15th, actor and writer Matt Watts sits down to talk about his love for — and fascination with — Elaine May’s excruciating 1972 comedy The Heartbreak Kid. Your genial host Norm Wilner still has the scars from the Farrelly Brothers remake.

As Sleepy Hollow starts up its fourth season this Friday on Fox, co-creator and executive producer Phillip Iscove drops in to burnish the reputation of Curtis Hanson’s underrated character comedy Wonder Boys. Your genial host Norm Wilner wishes you all a happy 2017.

It’s the last episode of 2016, and actor Aaron Costa Ganis — who co-stars in the new drama Lazy Eye — sees this grim year out with Terry Gilliam’s The Fisher King, which remains distressingly relevant a quarter-century after its release. Your genial host Norm Wilner is always up for a Gilliam picture.

As Antoine Fuqua’s remake arrives on disc, writer and CaseFiles of Columbo co-host Kevin Seccia reminds us why John Sturges’ first run at The Magnificent Seven remains so satisfying — and it’s not just because Steve McQueen is so damn magnetic. Your genial host Norm Wilner apologizes for telling the “Gus Van Sant’s Psycho” story again.

Oscar-nominated screenwriter and director Whit Stillman reaches across the decades to program an RKO Studios double feature: Mark Sandrich’s 1934 Astaire-Rogers musical The Gay Divorcee and John Ford’s 1950 Western Wagon Master. Your genial host Norm Wilner went all the way to the Upper East Side to secure this holiday treat.

He shares the screen in Miss Sloane with Jessica Chastain, Michael Stuhlbarg and Sam Waterston, but right now Raoul Bhaneja just wants to gaze at the majesty of David Lean’s essential 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia. Your genial host Norm Wilner cannot blame him.

Before his new drama The Other Half opens in Toronto and Vancouver this Friday, writer-director Joey Klein drops in to talk about his admiration for James White, Josh Mond’s harrowing 2015 character study starring Christopher Abbott as a disintegrating New Yorker doing his best to care for his dying mother. Your genial host Norm Wilner is ready to go deep on this one.

Actor and improviser Becky Johnson, currently onstage in Toronto’s Second City revue Come What Mayhem, celebrates the seductive pull of Terrence Malick’s Badlands in an episode that winds through philosophy, grace and the human fascination of violence. Your genial host Norm Wilner couldn’t be happier with that.

What’s this? A special Friday bonus episode? And it features living legend Douglas Trumbull on how the experience of seeing How the West Was Won in glorious Cinerama led him to dedicate his life to expanding our conception of cinema? Your genial host Norm Wilner hopes you don’t mind.

She stars in CBC’s family drama This Life and can be seen this Friday in the theatrical release The History of Love, but right now actor Torri Higginson wants to share her love for Wim Wenders’ compassionate masterwork Wings of Desire. And you should listen to her, because your genial host Norm Wilner is feeling like love and compassion are in pretty short supply these days.

You saw him under several pounds of makeup in Star Trek Beyond as Enterprise security guard Wadjet, but this week actor Dan Payne is just his ordinary, enthusiastic self as he discusses Martin McDonagh’s 2012 caper comedy Seven Psychopaths. Your genial host Norm Wilner really hopes there’s an America left to enjoy this episode.

The U.S. election is just a week away, so it’s the ideal time for actor Lucas Neff (Fear, Inc., I Love You Both, ABC’s upcoming Downward Dog) to discuss the still sadly relevant All the President’s Men. And if you’re in Toronto on Thursday November 3rd, come see your genial host Norm Wilner introduce a screening of Alan J. Pakula’s perfect political procedural at the Revue Cinema with Brendan Canning!

Recorded live in New York City, actor Mark Gagliardi — whom you may know as Croach the Tracker on The Thrilling Adventure Hour, or as himself on Drunk History and We Got This With Mark and Hal — shares his entirely genuine love for Nicholas Hytner’s 2000 theater-kid melodrama Center Stage. Your genial host Norm Wilner can see the appeal.

In the first of two episodes recorded earlier this month in New York City, Jean Grae drops by the show to discuss Fight Club, and how she finds inspiration from David Fincher’s rebellious counterculture comedy, which really puts the “cult” in “cult cinema”. Your genial host Norm Wilner is Jack’s intense curiosity.

Somebody finally picked Jaws! And it’s actor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, who stars in the new CBC comedy Kim’s Convenience! The result is a journey through Steven Spielberg’s 1975 blockbuster — you know, the one with the shark — with a full appreciation for its thrilling energy, thoughtful character work and timeless power. This is the episode your genial host Norm Wilner has been waiting for.

His excellent new documentary The Stairs opens this Friday at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto, and Hugh Gibson marks the occasion by talking about Nicholas Meyer’s Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, the last big-screen adventure of the original series cast. No, Generations doesn’t count. Your genial host Norm Wilner will explain why.

At TIFF for the North American premiere of his new film BrOTHERHOOD, actor, screenwriter and director Noel Clarke goes deep on Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 indie blockbuster Pulp Fiction – the film that changed the face of American cinema, made Samuel L. Jackson a movie star and made John Travolta great again. Your genial host Norm Wilner has no complaints about this.

Actor-writer-producer Kristin Wallace — whose new film Moments of Clarity opens theatrically in Toronto this Friday — takes advantage of the post-TIFF lull to revisit Ridley Scott’s 1991 buddy movie Thelma & Louise. Your genial host Norm Wilner is riding shotgun.