Liz Metzger : NPR

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Twisters' has us spiraling

July 19, 2024 • Twister was one of the biggest disaster movies of the '90s. Now, it's finally got a sequel — one with an all-new cast, state-of-the-art effects, and a whole lot of tornadoes. The new film stars Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones as rival storm-chasers who have a habit of running into tornadoes while everyone else is fleeing. Twisters was directed by Lee Isaac Chung, who also directed the Oscar-nominated Minari.

'Twisters' has us spiraling

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'Exploding Kittens' turns a simple card game into a wild cartoon

Tom Ellis as Godcat and Ally Maki as Greta in Netflix's Exploding Kittens. Netflix hide caption

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Exploding Kittens' turns a simple card game into a wild cartoon

July 16, 2024 • The best-selling card game Exploding Kittens has been adapted into a new Netflix animated series. It does plenty of its own world-building: God (Tom Ellis) and the devil (Sasheer Zamata) are sent to earth, where they take the form of talking cats — and meddle in the lives of a struggling family.

'Exploding Kittens' turns a simple card game into a wild cartoon

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'Fly Me to the Moon' soft launches Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum

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'Fly Me to the Moon' soft launches Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum

July 12, 2024 • The cheeky new romantic dramedy Fly Me to the Moon stars Scarlett Johansson as a NASA publicist at the height of the space race. She must stage a top-secret fake version of the moon landing as backup, just in case the real attempt fails. No one else at NASA can know about it — especially the upstanding launch director, played by Channing Tatum. The pair clash (and flirt) as they prepare for Apollo 11 to launch.

'Fly Me to the Moon' soft launches Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum

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In 'A Quiet Place: Day One', Lupita Nyong'o makes silence golden

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

In 'A Quiet Place: Day One', Lupita Nyong'o makes silence golden

July 1, 2024 • In the post-apocalyptic world of A Quiet Place, aliens kill anyone who makes a sound, forcing humans into a near-silent existence. The new movie A Quiet Place: Day One takes us back to the beginning, but this time through the eyes of a terminally ill cancer patient played by the excellent Lupita Nyong'o.

In 'A Quiet Place: Day One', Lupita Nyong'o makes silence golden

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Lily Gladstone's 'Fancy Dance' is a road trip worth taking

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Lily Gladstone's 'Fancy Dance' is a road trip worth taking

June 27, 2024 • The new film Fancy Dance offers something all-too-rare on screen: contemporary Indigenous perspectives, front and center. Lily Gladstone plays a woman trying to keep it together under stressful circumstances. Her sister's gone missing, and she steps in to look after her young niece (Isabel Deroy-Olson). The pair take what turns out to be a rocky road trip and a unique bonding experience.

Lily Gladstone's 'Fancy Dance' is a road trip worth taking

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Will they or won't they? Unpacking TV's eternal question

Ayo Edebiri and Jeremy Allen White in season two of The Bear. Chuck Hodes/FX hide caption

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Will they or won't they? Unpacking TV's eternal question

June 25, 2024 • Jim and Pam. Mulder and Scully. Janine and Gregory. Carmy and Sydney. Meredith and McDreamy. You know how it goes: two television characters with obvious chemistry who fight or look at each other longingly. You know that there's only one question: will they, or won't they? Today, we break down the different types of will-they-won't-they couples and discuss some of the best and worst couples in television, including Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Cheers, Grey's Anatomy, Dawson's Creek, and more.

Will they or won't they? Unpacking TV's eternal question

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June Squibb's 'Thelma' is the wrong grandma to mess with

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

June Squibb's 'Thelma' is the wrong grandma to mess with

June 21, 2024 • Financial scams are an unfortunate phenomenon, but what happens when a fraudster messes with the wrong grandma? The very fun action-comedy Thelma imagines exactly this scenario. The movie stars June Squibb as a woman scammed by someone pretending to be her grandson. She then enlists her old friend (the late Richard Roundtree) to help get her money back.

June Squibb's 'Thelma' is the wrong grandma to mess with

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HBO's 'Fantasmas' is new and different and uniquely itself

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

HBO's 'Fantasmas' is new and different and uniquely itself

June 20, 2024 • The brilliant and idiosyncratic new HBO series Fantasmas has a simple plot. Creator and star Julio Torres searches New York City for an earring he lost at a club. In the execution, that quest gets transformed into something epic and surreal and queer in every sense of the word. He keeps bumping into random New Yorkers whose stories play out in a series of sketch-like vignettes. They are played by actors including Emma Stone, Bowen Yang, and Tilda Swinton.

HBO's 'Fantasmas' is new and different and uniquely itself

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Jake Gyllenhaal's 'Presumed Innocent' updates a legal thriller

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Jake Gyllenhaal's 'Presumed Innocent' updates a legal thriller

June 13, 2024 • Presumed Innocent was a blockbuster legal thriller as a novel, and then a hit movie starring Harrison Ford. Now, Apple TV+ brings back the story of the accuser turned defendant as a limited series. Jake Gyllenhaal plays the lead this time, as a prosecutor who is accused of the murder of the colleague he'd had an affair with. David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies, The Practice, Ally McBeal) created the show.

Jake Gyllenhaal's 'Presumed Innocent' updates a legal thriller

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'Am I OK?' is a coming-out movie for adults

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'Am I OK?' is a coming-out movie for adults

June 10, 2024 • Am I OK? is a about what happens when you finally come to accept your sexuality much later in life than many do. It stars Dakota Johnson and Sonoya Mizuno as two women in their 30s who have been best friends a long time. But Johnson's character is grappling with the possibility that she's queer – and with the fact that her most treasured friendship is in trouble. Directed by Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne, it's streaming on Max.

'Am I OK?' is a coming-out movie for adults

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Glen Powell's 'Hit Man' won't kill you, but he may seduce you

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Glen Powell's 'Hit Man' won't kill you, but he may seduce you

June 7, 2024 • Netflix's entertaining dark comedy Hit Man is not about a hired killer. It's about a guy who pretends to be a hired killer. Director Richard Linklater co-wrote this film with movie star of the moment, Glen Powell. Based very loosely on a real guy, Powell plays a mild-mannered professor who also works undercover for the police as a fake hitman.

Glen Powell's 'Hit Man' won't kill you, but he may seduce you

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Rosario Dawson, Tara Reid, and Rachael Leigh Cook in Josie and the Pussycats. Moviestore Collection Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo hide caption

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

We debate the best fictional bands

May 31, 2024 • Sometimes, our favorite musical artists are too good to be true because they're sprung from the imaginations of Hollywood screenwriters. But what makes a fake band great? Today, we are debating the best fictional bands in TV and film — including from Mamma Mia!, Josie and the Pussycats, It's Your Move, and Miami Connection.

We debate the best fictional bands

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Does 'IF' capture the magic of its Pixar inspiration?

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Does 'IF' capture the magic of its Pixar inspiration?

May 22, 2024 • In the new movie IF, a 12-year-old girl (Cailey Fleming) discovers she can see other people's imaginary friends. It stars Ryan Reynolds, and directed by John Krasinski. It mixes the real world and animation, but does it capture the heart of the Pixar movies that inspired it?

Does 'IF' capture the magic of its Pixar inspiration?

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'Back to Black' misses Amy Winehouse's point of view

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Back to Black' misses Amy Winehouse's point of view

May 17, 2024 • The new music biopic Back to Black chronicles the life of singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse. The film stars Marisa Abela, and follows Winehouse as she records her breakthrough album, gets married, and struggles with addiction. But does the movie do justice to the singer and her music?

'Back to Black' misses Amy Winehouse's point of view

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'I Saw the TV Glow' is weird and transfixing

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A24

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'I Saw the TV Glow' is weird and transfixing

May 14, 2024 • I Saw the TV Glow is a strange and pleasantly unsettling new film from writer and director Jane Schoenbrun. It's about two teenagers (Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine) who bond so strongly over a cult monster-of-the-week TV show that it becomes their entire identities. When the show gets canceled, their bond dissolves – until years later, when one of the teens sweeps back into the other's life, bearing secret knowledge that could change everything.

'I Saw the TV Glow' is weird and transfixing

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Dua Lipa's 'Radical Optimism' is loaded with hyper-catchy bangers

Radical Optimism is the latest album from Dua Lipa. Tyrone Lebon/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Dua Lipa's 'Radical Optimism' is loaded with hyper-catchy bangers

May 8, 2024 • The British singer Dua Lipa has become one of the world's biggest pop stars. Now, she's back with Radical Optimism, a sort of concept record about moving through life with a more mature and constructive attitude. But it's also a pretty straightforward collection of grievance-free, hyper-catchy bangers.

Dua Lipa's 'Radical Optimism' is loaded with hyper-catchy bangers

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Is Jerry Seinfeld's 'Unfrosted' a tasty treat, or just a stale old standby?

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Is Jerry Seinfeld's 'Unfrosted' a tasty treat, or just a stale old standby?

May 7, 2024 • The new Netflix film Unfrosted tells a fanciful invented version of the Pop-Tart's origin. The film was directed and co-written by Jerry Seinfeld, who also stars as a Kellogg's executive who's in a race to release a new breakfast idea before their rival beats them to it. Seinfeld is joined by a big cast of funny people including Melissa McCarthy, Amy Schumer, Jim Gaffigan, and Hugh Grant. But is the movie as satisfying as the Pop-Tart itself?

Is Jerry Seinfeld's 'Unfrosted' a tasty treat, or just a stale old standby?

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'Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show' exploits pain for good

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show' exploits pain for good

May 6, 2024 • In Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show, the comedian doubles down on the uncomfortable intimacy of his stand up special Rothaniel, where he came out publicly as gay for the first time. Jerrod Carmichael gets a film crew to follow him around as he bares his soul to the camera as he cheats on his boyfriend and forces his parents into deeply uncomfortable conversations. The HBO series is funny and poignant. But it isn't a spotless, media-managed facade. It's a portrait of a man who absolutely delights in letting us know just how flawed and selfish he is.

'Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show' exploits pain for good

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Fall for 'The Fall Guy' and its truly amazing stunts

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Eric Laciste/Universal Pictures

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Fall for 'The Fall Guy' and its truly amazing stunts

May 3, 2024 • In the entertaining new film The Fall Guy, Ryan Gosling plays a down-on-his-luck stunt performer who gets a big new opportunity to get his career on track. And maybe get back the woman (Emily Blunt) whose heart he broke. Directed by David Leitch, it's a knowing comedy about action movies, and a character study of a man who likes to think he's invincible. And the movie has amazing stunts.

Fall for 'The Fall Guy' and its truly amazing stunts

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Anne Hathaway finds love with a pop star in 'The Idea of You'

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Prime Video

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Anne Hathaway finds love with a pop star in 'The Idea of You'

May 2, 2024 • The new movie The Idea Of You tells the story of a boy band star (Nicholas Galitzine) who falls in love with an older divorced mother (Anne Hathaway). It's based on a hit novel that's at least partially inspired by Harry Styles' life and career.

Anne Hathaway finds love with a pop star in 'The Idea of You'

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'Baby Reindeer' has got everyone talking, including us

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'Baby Reindeer' has got everyone talking, including us

May 1, 2024 • The new Netflix series Baby Reindeer has a lot of people talking, including us. It tells the haunting semi-autobiographical story of a man (Richard Gadd) who becomes the romantic obsession of a mentally ill woman (Jessica Gunning) who proceeds to stalk him. Eventually, her threatening actions force him to address a past trauma in his own life that leaves him shaken and confused.

'Baby Reindeer' has got everyone talking, including us

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In 'Dead Boy Detectives,' two best mates reject their deadly fates

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

In 'Dead Boy Detectives,' two best mates reject their deadly fates

April 29, 2024 • The new show Dead Boy Detectives is a spinoff of Neil Gaiman's beloved series The Sandman – both the comic and the Netflix series. It's about a pair of detective ghosts (played by George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri) who refuse to move on to the afterlife. Aided by a young psychic (Kassius Nelson), they stick around and solve mysteries that will resolve the unfinished business of other ghosts.

In 'Dead Boy Detectives,' two best mates reject their deadly fates

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Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon star in the 1996 film Bound. Alamy hide caption

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Alamy

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

What makes a good sex scene?

April 25, 2024 • It's easy to notice when a sex scene is bad. But what makes a sex scene good? Today, we are recommending films with good sex scenes, including Bound, Love & Basketball, Magic Mike's Last Dance, and Oppenheimer.

What makes a good sex scene?

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'Mary & George' is full of schemes, schisms, corsets, and collars

Julianne Moore and Nicholas Galitzine in Starz series Mary & George. Rory Mulvey/Starz hide caption

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Mary & George' is full of schemes, schisms, corsets, and collars

April 24, 2024 • In the new Starz series Mary & George, Julianne Moore plays a low-born, scheming woman who recognizes that her handsome son George (Nicolas Galitztine) could seduce the king and become his favorite. Inspired by the true story of King James I, the series is packed with seduction, vicious dialogue, and ruthless political intrigue.

'Mary & George' is full of schemes, schisms, corsets, and collars

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Friday July 19, 2024

Review

'Twisters' has us spiraling

Tuesday July 16, 2024

Review

'Exploding Kittens' turns a simple card game into a wild cartoon

Friday July 12, 2024

Review

'Fly Me to the Moon' soft launches Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum

Monday July 1, 2024

Review

In 'A Quiet Place: Day One', Lupita Nyong'o makes silence golden

Thursday June 27, 2024

Review

Lily Gladstone's 'Fancy Dance' is a road trip worth taking

Tuesday June 25, 2024

Review

Will they or won't they? Unpacking TV's eternal question

Friday June 21, 2024

Review

June Squibb's 'Thelma' is the wrong grandma to mess with

Thursday June 20, 2024

Review

HBO's 'Fantasmas' is new and different and uniquely itself

Thursday June 13, 2024

Review

Jake Gyllenhaal's 'Presumed Innocent' updates a legal thriller

Monday June 10, 2024

Review

'Am I OK?' is a coming-out movie for adults

Friday June 7, 2024

Review

Glen Powell's 'Hit Man' won't kill you, but he may seduce you

Friday May 31, 2024

Review

We debate the best fictional bands

Wednesday May 22, 2024

Review

Does 'IF' capture the magic of its Pixar inspiration?

Friday May 17, 2024

Review

'Back to Black' misses Amy Winehouse's point of view

Tuesday May 14, 2024

Review

'I Saw the TV Glow' is weird and transfixing

Wednesday May 8, 2024

Review

Dua Lipa's 'Radical Optimism' is loaded with hyper-catchy bangers

Tuesday May 7, 2024

Review

Is Jerry Seinfeld's 'Unfrosted' a tasty treat, or just a stale old standby?

Monday May 6, 2024

Review

'Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show' exploits pain for good

Friday May 3, 2024

Review

Fall for 'The Fall Guy' and its truly amazing stunts

Thursday May 2, 2024

Review

Anne Hathaway finds love with a pop star in 'The Idea of You'

Wednesday May 1, 2024

Review

'Baby Reindeer' has got everyone talking, including us

Monday April 29, 2024

Review

In 'Dead Boy Detectives,' two best mates reject their deadly fates

Thursday April 25, 2024

Review

What makes a good sex scene?

Wednesday April 24, 2024

Review

'Mary & George' is full of schemes, schisms, corsets, and collars