The dryly funny new Apple TV+ series Time Bandits reimagines the 1981 Terry Gilliam film of the same name. A squad of inept thieves — including their sort-of leader, played by Lisa Kudrow — have stolen a map of the universe. They use it to jump through portals to various time periods to steal stuff. One jump takes them into the bedroom of a British kid (Kal-El Tuck), who tags along as they're chased by Taika Waititi's Supreme Being and Jemaine Clement's Pure Evil. Learn more about sponsor messag...
Jul 31, 2024•22 min•Ep. 1902
Trying to declare the "official" song of the summer isn't a new sport. But this year feels like the first in a while where the field's been so crowded from the domination of pop girls like Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, and Chappell Roan to country twang with Post Malone, Morgan Wallen, and Shaboozey. Today, we discussing the songs and artists who seem to be everywhere this summer, and why they are so catchy and inescapable. Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour Lear...
Jul 30, 2024•27 min•Ep. 1901
In the highly meta Deadpool & Wolverine , Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman finally meet up for their own big movie. Deadpool is still smarmy, Wolverine is still tragic, and they have to get together to save the world. Along the way, Deadpool continues his usual routine of endless wisecracking. The movie is jam-packed with fan service and Easter eggs. But how will casual Marvel fans like the movie? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jul 26, 2024•24 min•Ep. 1900
In Netflix's weirdly compelling dark comedy The Decameron , the bubonic plague is ravaging Florence in 1348. A group of rich nobles and their servants decide to retreat to a picturesque villa in the country to wait it all out. The large ensemble includes Tony Hale and Zosia Mamet. Every character is hiding something, and those secrets get revealed — and more than a few uglies get bumped. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jul 25, 2024•18 min•Ep. 1899
What makes a good karaoke song? In this encore episode, we're suggesting three great songs to sing at karaoke night. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Jul 23, 2024•10 min•Ep. 1898
In the new Apple TV+ series Sunny , Rashida Jones stars as a woman living in Kyoto, whose husband and young son go missing in a plane crash. To help console her, her husband's electronics company gives her a robot companion. The show is an interesting mix of styles and genres – it's a buddy comedy, a crime thriller and a drama about loss. But at the center of it all is the mystery of what happened to her husband and son – and why. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adch...
Jul 22, 2024•15 min•Ep. 1897
Twiste r 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 . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy P...
Jul 19, 2024•27 min•Ep. 1896
The nominations the Emmy Awards were just announced, and it was a good day for The Bear , which set a new record in the comedy category. And plenty of our favorites also got Emmy nods, including Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Shōgun , Reservation Dogs and What We Do in the Shadows . We'll help you unpack this year's the notable nominees and snubs. Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jul 17, 2024•25 min•Ep. 1895
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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jul 16, 2024•16 min•Ep. 1894
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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jul 15, 2024•14 min•Ep. 1893
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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Po...
Jul 12, 2024•18 min•Ep. 1892
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 . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jul 11, 2024•10 min•Ep. 1891
Despicable Me 4 is the latest film in an animation franchise that made household names of reformed supervillain Gru (Steve Carrell) and his army of nattering Minions. The franchise has grossed billions of dollars, and the latest movie topped the weekend box office. But are these films growing up with their audience, or continuing to cater to young kids? And does that matter? Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoice...
Jul 10, 2024•17 min•Ep. 1890
It's summer, so we're talking all about road trips. Should you blast music that's familiar or unfamiliar? What makes for a good road trip audiobook? What are some road trip games we hate? Pop Culture Happy Hour talked all about how to entertain and amuse ourselves in the car way back in 2012. Today, in this encore episode, we're revisiting that conversation. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jul 08, 2024•12 min•Ep. 1889
The new movie MaXXXine stars Mia Goth as an adult-film actress who gets her big break in Hollywood, only to be revisited by horrors from her past. Set in 1985 Los Angeles, it's the final film in director Ti West's beloved horror trilogy that began with the movie X. MaXXXine also features performances from Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Debicki, and Giancarlo Esposito. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jul 05, 2024•21 min•Ep. 1888
The Pop Culture Happy Hour team is off today, so we're bringing you an episode of the NPR podcast Wild Card with Rachel Martin . This episode is an interview with Bowen Yang. He is the first Chinese American cast member on SNL, the co-host the podcast Las Culturistas , and he starred in the rom-com Fire Island. He talks to Rachel about living too much in the present, hard truths from Tina Fey, and why the afterlife should have a rollercoaster. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastcho...
Jul 04, 2024•28 min•Ep. 1887
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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR P...
Jul 03, 2024•20 min•Ep. 1886
The Bear just returned for its third season and it's still one of the most stressful and most interesting shows on TV. Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) and Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) are launching their new fine dining restaurant, but he's estranged from some of the people who are closest to him just as he sneaks up on a new level of success. The series is streaming now on Hulu. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jul 02, 2024•25 min•Ep. 1885
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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jul 01, 2024•17 min•Ep. 1884
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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jun 28, 2024•23 min•Ep. 1883
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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jun 27, 2024•17 min•Ep. 1882
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 mor...
Jun 25, 2024•23 min•Ep. 1881
The new Disney+ Star Wars series The Acolyte is a murder mystery. Someone is killing great Jedi masters, and while we learn the killer's identity early on, the real mystery driving the series is why they're doing it. It stars Amandla Stenberg as Force-sensitive twins Osha and Mae, and Squid Game's Lee Jung-jae as Osha's former Jedi master. By the time it's finished its eight-episode run, The Acolyte may shed new light on the nature of the Force, and the hidden history of the Jedi. Learn more abo...
Jun 24, 2024•23 min•Ep. 1880
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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jun 21, 2024•18 min•Ep. 1879
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. Learn more about sponsor message choices...
Jun 20, 2024•18 min•Ep. 1878
The second half of Bridgerton 's latest season just dropped on Netflix, and naturally the course of true love continues to not run smoothly. Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) may have finally declared their feelings for each other, but there's still a lot left to figure out. We previously talked about the first part of the third season in May, so today, we're diving in everything that happens in the conclusion. We want to hear your opinions about summer ...
Jun 18, 2024•19 min•Ep. 1877
Whether they're lightly perspiring, gently glowing, or soaked through from sweltering, people in the movies sweat a lot. But what movie has had people sweat the very most? With summer underway, we are debating what is the sweatiest movie of all time — including Do the Right Thing , Dog Day Afternoon , Y tu mamá también , and Body Heat . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jun 17, 2024•22 min•Ep. 1876
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. We want to hear your opinions about sum...
Jun 14, 2024•21 min•Ep. 1875
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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jun 13, 2024•23 min•Ep. 1874
This is the time of year when so many students graduate. Whether it's graduation episodes of our favorite TV series, high school songs, or movies about the last wild night of high school, we're revisiting our episode about the best moments about graduation in pop culture. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Jun 11, 2024•24 min•Ep. 1873
