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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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Neon

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Longlegs' is a (satanic) panic

July 15, 2024 • They're calling it the scariest movie of the year. The new horror film Longlegs follows FBI special agent Lee Harker (Mika Monroe) tracking a serial killer in the 1990s. If that sounds like familiar ground, consider this – the clues she follows hint at the involvement of the occult in general and Satanism in particular. And the killer in question: Nicolas Cage, uncaged.

'Longlegs' is a (satanic) panic

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We recommend three great sports documentaries

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

We recommend three great sports documentaries

July 11, 2024 • Sports aren't just games. They're intertwined with epic stories about struggle, human behavior, historic greatness and grand emotions. In other words, sports make for great documentaries. And if you're looking for some good ones, we've got recommendations: Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks, The Armstrong Lie, and Athlete A.

We recommend three great sports documentaries

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Megan Thee Stallion sheds her skin on 'Megan'

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Megan Thee Stallion sheds her skin on 'Megan'

July 3, 2024 • A lot has happened to rapper Megan Thee Stallion over the last couple of years including a highly publicized trial after being shot by a former friend, a messy breakup, and a feud with artist Nicki Minaj. She confronts all of that and more on her boastful and vulnerable new album Megan. But she also has fun on playful tracks like 'Down Stairs DJ' and 'Otaku Hot Girl' that are odes to self-pleasure and her anime nerddom.

Megan Thee Stallion sheds her skin on 'Megan'

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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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In 'Kinds of Kindness,' the cruelty is the point

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

In 'Kinds of Kindness,' the cruelty is the point

June 28, 2024 • Kinds of Kindness is a weird, dark, and bleak film. It's directed by Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things) and it re-teams him with Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe, along with Jesse Plemons. Each actor plays different characters in three different stories — which all involve someone going to extreme measures to regain something they've lost.

In 'Kinds of Kindness,' the cruelty is the point

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'Inside Out 2' is a Pixar sequel worth celebrating

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Pixar

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Inside Out 2' is a Pixar sequel worth celebrating

June 14, 2024 • Pixar's Inside Out introduced us to the core emotions inside an 11-year-old girl named Riley. We met Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), and Anger (Lewis Black). In Inside Out 2, Riley is experiencing puberty and a whole new crop of emotions have popped up. Most notably Anxiety (Maya Hawke) who has literally bottled up Riley's original core emotions and sent them hurtling into the back of her mind, where they plot to get back and set things right.

'Inside Out 2' is a Pixar sequel worth celebrating

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

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Emily Knecht/Max

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'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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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Terrible but bingeable TV shows

May 28, 2024 • What is it about a show that turns you into a bitter-ender, that keeps you dutifully watching every last episode, long after the train has jumped the tracks? Even when you know it's not good, but, for you anyway, it's just good enough to muddle through, all the way to the finale? Today, we're talking about terrible but bingeable TV shows.

Terrible but bingeable TV shows

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'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga' goes full throttle

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga' goes full throttle

May 24, 2024 • Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is packed with bone-crunching practical stunts and lots of gnarly, diesel-powered chase scenes. It also shows a commitment to worldbuilding that grapples with themes of feminism, environmentalism, and humanity. Directed by George Miller, the prequel film tells the story of a Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy), who was taken from her home as a girl, raised to be a warrior in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and now seeks revenge on an evil warlord (Chris Hemsworth).

'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga' goes full throttle

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'Babes' gives us a funny (and gross) portrait of parenthood

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Babes' gives us a funny (and gross) portrait of parenthood

May 16, 2024 • The new movie Babes stars Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau as longtime best friends who've made very different life choices. It's also about the inherent joys, stressors, and grossness of parenthood, and what it means to embrace your chosen family. It's the feature directorial debut of Pamela Adlon (Better Things).

'Babes' gives us a funny (and gross) portrait of parenthood

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Sink your teeth into 'Interview with the Vampire'

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Larry Horricks/AMC

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Sink your teeth into 'Interview with the Vampire'

May 13, 2024 • If you're familiar with Interview with the Vampire — because you read the Anne Rice novel or you saw the 1994 movie — the AMC series has some surprises. It revolves around a young man named Louis, his handsome vampire lover, and the creepy vampire child they adopt — but it's funnier, sexier and queerer than you remember. But this Louis isn't a white plantation owner — he's an ambitious and closeted Black man. The show just returned for a new season, so we're revisiting our conversation about the series.

Sink your teeth into 'Interview with the Vampire'

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'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' swings us back to a familiar franchise

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' swings us back to a familiar franchise

May 10, 2024 • Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes follows Noa (Owen Teague), an extraordinary chimpanzee whose clan is enslaved by a mercenary ape king named Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand). As he sets out to gets them back, he's joined by a sage orangutan (Peter Maykin) and a scavenging human (Freya Allan). The movie is set hundreds of years after the recent Planet of the Apes trilogy, but the spirit of Andy Serkis' revolutionary character Caeser still looms large over this new film.

'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' swings us back to a familiar franchise

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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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Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Books We Love: Love And Romance

April 15, 2024 • NPR's Books We Love is a roundup of favorite books of the year, sorted and tagged to help you find exactly what you're looking for. From the meet cutes to the happy endings and through all the ups and downs in between, we're recommending great books for people who love love and romance.

Books We Love: Love And Romance

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'Oppenheimer' looks at the building of the bomb, and its lingering fallout

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Oppenheimer' looks at the building of the bomb, and its lingering fallout

February 26, 2024 • Oppenheimer tells the story of the brilliant physicist (Cillian Murphy) who oversaw the construction of the first atomic bomb. It goes on to chart the dark, complicated legacy of what he made – a technology that has gone on to irrevocably change the world, and that retains the real possibility of ending it. Christopher Nolan's film was a blockbuster hit last summer, and it earned 13 Oscar nominations – including best picture and best director. Today, we are revisiting our conversation about the movie.

'Oppenheimer' looks at the building of the bomb, and its lingering fallout

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'Vanderpump Rules,' 'Scandoval' and a fight that never ends

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Vanderpump Rules,' 'Scandoval' and a fight that never ends

January 29, 2024 • For more than a decade, Vanderpump Rules has been a hit reality show on the Bravo network. The show reached new heights of tabloid infamy last season due to a much-discussed affair between two members of its cast. The whole thing was nicknamed "Scandoval" and led to record-breaking ratings and countless memes. Vanderpump Rules is about to return for its 11th season, and if you want to catch up on all the drama from last year, we've got you covered.

'Vanderpump Rules,' 'Scandoval' and a fight that never ends

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With 'Echo' Marvel returns to street level

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

With 'Echo' Marvel returns to street level

January 18, 2024 • The new Marvel series Echo spotlights Maya Lopez (played by Alaqua Cox), whom we first met as the stoic badass enforcer for the criminal Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio). She's now on the run, fleeing to her tiny Oklahoma hometown determined to nurse her wounds and make plans to take over Fisk's criminal empire. But her friends and family – including generations of her Choctaw ancestors – may have other plans. It's streaming on Disney + and Hulu.

With 'Echo' Marvel returns to street level

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'Bluey' is a kids show with lessons for everyone

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Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Bluey' is a kids show with lessons for everyone

January 17, 2024 • The TV cartoon Bluey is a hit with young children. But it's also found a devoted following among their parents, who've embraced the show's emotional depth – as well as its messages about creativity, collaboration, and learning through play. Bluey just returned with a batch of new episodes on Disney+, so today we're revisiting our conversation about the series.

'Bluey' is a kids show with lessons for everyone

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In 'Lift', Kevin Hart is out to steal your evening

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Netflix

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

In 'Lift', Kevin Hart is out to steal your evening

January 15, 2024 • In the new Netflix action-comedy-heist movie Lift, Kevin Hart plays an experienced thief and con man whose crew is backed into a corner and forced to work for the government. Their next theft will be their greatest, and it's all to avert an enormous disaster. They'll have to fly planes, use disguises, sneak around, beat the bad guys, and look great doing it.

In 'Lift', Kevin Hart is out to steal your evening

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In 'Night Swim,' the pool is well-fed... and WELL-FED

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Universal Pictures

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

In 'Night Swim,' the pool is well-fed... and WELL-FED

January 9, 2024 • In the new horror film Night Swim, Wyatt Russell plays a former baseball player who's been forced into retirement due to the early stages of MS. He and his wife, played by Kerry Condon, decide to buy an old house and refurbish its dilapidated swimming pool. But there is a catch: the pool is haunted.

In 'Night Swim,' the pool is well-fed... and WELL-FED

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In 'All Of Us Strangers,' coming home is bittersweet

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Parisa Taghizadeh/Searchlight Pictures

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

In 'All Of Us Strangers,' coming home is bittersweet

January 8, 2024 • The movie All of Us Strangers is a wistful fantasy drama that tells two intersecting stories about different kinds of love: One between a son and his long-deceased parents; the other of two lonely men and neighbors who long for connection. Directed by Andrew Haigh, the film stars Andrew Scott as Adam, a TV writer living a lonely existence in London, and Paul Mescal as his neighbor Harry. Adam's parents are played by Claire Foy and Jamie Bell.

In 'All Of Us Strangers,' coming home is bittersweet

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Are you there Greek gods? It's me, 'Percy Jackson'

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Disney+

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Are you there Greek gods? It's me, 'Percy Jackson'

January 3, 2024 • The delightful new Disney+ series Percy Jackson and The Olympians is a new adaptation of a beloved series of books by Rick Riordan. The series tells the story of how Percy (Walker Scobell) finds out the startling truth that his father is a Greek god. Percy soon discovers what that means, with the help of some faithful friends. The series also features Jason Mantzoukas and Megan Mullally.

Are you there Greek gods? It's me, 'Percy Jackson'

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Our 2024 pop culture predictions

December 29, 2023 • What do we do at the end of every year? We hope, we fear, and we make wild guesses. Today, we're checking-in on how we did making predictions for 2023, and then we boldly make new ones for 2024.

Our 2024 pop culture predictions

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Friday July 19, 2024

Review

'Twisters' has us spiraling

Monday July 15, 2024

Review

'Longlegs' is a (satanic) panic

Thursday July 11, 2024

Review

We recommend three great sports documentaries

Wednesday July 3, 2024

Review

Megan Thee Stallion sheds her skin on 'Megan'

Monday July 1, 2024

Review

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

Friday June 28, 2024

Review

In 'Kinds of Kindness,' the cruelty is the point

Friday June 14, 2024

Review

'Inside Out 2' is a Pixar sequel worth celebrating

Monday June 10, 2024

Review

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

Tuesday May 28, 2024

Review

Terrible but bingeable TV shows

Friday May 24, 2024

Review

'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga' goes full throttle

Thursday May 16, 2024

Review

'Babes' gives us a funny (and gross) portrait of parenthood

Monday May 13, 2024

Review

Sink your teeth into 'Interview with the Vampire'

Friday May 10, 2024

Review

'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' swings us back to a familiar franchise

Tuesday May 7, 2024

Review

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

Monday April 15, 2024

Review

Books We Love: Love And Romance

Monday February 26, 2024

Review

'Oppenheimer' looks at the building of the bomb, and its lingering fallout

Monday January 29, 2024

Review

'Vanderpump Rules,' 'Scandoval' and a fight that never ends

Thursday January 18, 2024

Review

With 'Echo' Marvel returns to street level

Wednesday January 17, 2024

Review

'Bluey' is a kids show with lessons for everyone

Monday January 15, 2024

Review

In 'Lift', Kevin Hart is out to steal your evening

Tuesday January 9, 2024

Review

In 'Night Swim,' the pool is well-fed... and WELL-FED

Monday January 8, 2024

Review

In 'All Of Us Strangers,' coming home is bittersweet

Wednesday January 3, 2024

Review

Are you there Greek gods? It's me, 'Percy Jackson'

Friday December 29, 2023

Our 2024 pop culture predictions