Jess Lomas was very nearly our guest a few episodes ago. Quite a few episodes ago. In fact, she was nearly one of our very first guests back in 2010 when we started the show. It was conflicting schedules on all sides that thwarted it from happening back then, and we're not entirely sure why it took us four-and-a-half years to sort our diaries out, but we're just delighted that we finally stuck a pin in the calendar. Such is the advantage of a never-ending show!

Jess is an author, editor and film critic, who is probably best known to film fans as a contributor to Quickflix, writing on both new and classic films. She also writes about pop culture, health, diet and lifestyle for various publications, and has penned many titles primarily covering topics such as music and food.

Which filmmaker has Jess opted to discuss on the show?

None other than Hollywood Golden Age director Vincente Minnelli!

Minnelli is mainly known for his deft hand with some of the greatest musicals of cinema history, directing the likes of Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse and Howard Keel in films such as Meet Me In St Louis, Ziegfeld Follies, The Pirate, The Band Wagon, Kismet, Brigadoon, and the all-time classic An American In Paris.

But he was also a consummate filmmaker when it came to dramas, thrillers and comedies, with films such as the Katharine Hepburn noir Undercurrent, the Gustave Flaubert melodrama Madame Bovary, the Spencer Tracy comedy Father of the Bride, the Lucille Ball/Desi Arnaz vehicle The Long, Long Trailer, the Vincent Van Gogh biopic Lust For Life, and many, many more.

What is it about Minnelli in particular that Jess so loves? And how did he become one of cinema's most groundbreaking innovators? Check back in when the episode is released on January 31 to find out!