The new film Joker: Folie à Deux is the sequel to 2019's Joker , which won Joaquin Phoenix an Oscar. This new film is a courtroom drama and a romance tossed into a musical blender set to liquefy, as the Joker goes on trial for the murders he committed in the last film and falls in love with a groupie played by Lady Gaga. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
The Wild Robot is a gorgeous and moving new animated movie from Dreamworks. It follows a helper robot named Roz (Lupita Nyong'o) who washes up on the beach of a remote island and learns to blend in with the wildlife. After an accident, Roz unexpectedly finds herself the caregiver of a baby gosling named Brightbill (Kit O'Connor) Soon, it's learning lessons about parenthood and sacrifice while teaching the animals to work together. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adch...
In the new Netflix series Nobody Wants This , Kristen Bell plays an agnostic podcaster, who meets a rabbi, played by Adam Brody. They like each other immediately, but there are some hurdles for them when it comes to being together. The show offers plenty of romantic comedy banter and good chemistry, as well as some pretty deep questions about faith and compatibility. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
The latest season of HBO's Industry was over the top. The drama is about backstabbing, morally compromised investment bankers. But it managed to make its characters even more backstabb-y and ethically dubious than ever before. Frenemies fought hard. Buried vices and addictions came to light. And death hovered over the entire season in shocking fashion. Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Pri...
Francis Ford Coppola, the legendary filmmaker behind The Godfather trilogy and Apocalypse Now , is back with his first new film in over a decade. It reimagines the fall of Rome through a futuristic American city, and has a lot of big and messy ideas about time and the fate of humanity. It's also jam-packed with stars like Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, and Aubrey Plaza. We try to make sense of it all. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Elizabeth Olsen, Carrie Coon, and Natasha Lyonne are often the best thing about their projects, and they're all together in the moving new Netflix film His Three Daughters . They play three sisters who are odds with one another, but must gather in their father's apartment when he's dying. As his illness progresses, their own sibling relationships are tested. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
The fun series Colin From Accounts is part raunchy comedy, part romantic comedy, part friendship story, and part very cute dog. It begins with a chance encounter between two strangers (played by Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall) who meet after accidentally injuring an adorable dog. They reluctantly decide to take joint responsibility for the pup, and form a strange bond. The show is about to return for a second season on Paramount+, so we are revisiting our conversation about the series. Learn ...
The Substance is a bloody, campy, fiercely feminist body horror film. Demi Moore plays a TV aerobics instructor desperate to stay in the spotlight. She learns of a mysterious drug she can inject that causes another, younger, entirely separate version of herself (Margaret Qualley) to splurt out of her back and assume her consciousness. They must switch back and forth or very bad bloody things will happen. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
The Transformers franchise has been around for decades, and it's brought us many toys, TV shows and movies. Now, in the new animated film Transformers One , the origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron finally gets told. With a voice cast that includes Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry, the movie hopes to offer a fresh entry point for the long-running franchise. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
What would you do if you met your future self, who's a couple of decades older and maybe a little wiser? Would you freak out? In the delightful new movie My Old Ass , a teenager named Elliott (Maisy Stella) faces this very scenario. Her older self is played by Aubrey Plaza, and she's got some advice to impart. But her younger self may or may not take it. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Fall is beginning, and it's the perfect time to talk about all the great things we're excited to watch and listen to between now and the end of the year. Today, we're offering up a guide to spotlight some of the movies, TV, and music we are looking forward to this fall. Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Last night's Primetime Emmy Awards included big wins for Hacks , The Bear , Shōgun , and Baby Reindeer . And if you're nostalgic for shows like Schitt's Creek or Happy Days , the telecast had you covered. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Never visit your weird new friends at their enormous isolated country estate. That's a basic rule that an American family fails to follow in the new horror thriller Speak No Evil starring James McAvoy. By the time they figure out they are in way over their heads, it's much much too late. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
In Netflix's new film Rebel Ridge , Aaron Pierre plays Terry, a young Black man who enters a small Southern town to post bail for his cousin. But when the local cops seize his money, he faces off against the corrupt chief of police (Don Johnson). Things escalate, and soon he uncovers a sinister conspiracy that threatens his life. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Maybe you think you've seen every scary mother-in-law fiction has to offer — you absolutely haven't. In the new movie The Front Room , a pregnant woman (Brandy Norwood) allows her mother-in-law (Kathryn Hunter) to move in. In a film that's part creepy and part very darkly funny, the two women square off for control of the house and the child on the way. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
We all love a fancy wedding. The music, the flowers — the body washing up on the beach. At least that's what happens in Netflix's fun new thriller The Perfect Couple . Based on the novel by Elin Hilderbrand, the series stars Nicole Kidman as the matriarch of a wealthy Nantucket family that suddenly finds itself in the middle of a whodunit. And in this family, it seems like almost anybody could be guilty. Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour Learn more about sponsor ...
There's a reason Beetlejuic e was a hit back in 1988: it delivered both the spectacle and big stars of a major studio film, and the hilarious, weird vision of director Tim Burton. Now he returns with the sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice — which stars Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, Michael Keaton, and Jenna Ortega. But does Beetlejuice Beetlejuice capture any of the original's silly, surreal, singular magic? Should it even try? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoice...
Maybe you're going up for a promotion, or just got out of a bad relationship. Whatever it is, your mood needs a boost. Today, we're recommending three songs that make for great motivators and pick-me-ups when you need them most. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
In the clever new Netflix series Kaos , the Greek Gods are a rich and powerful modern-day family. They're led by an impulsive and deeply insecure Zeus (Jeff Goldblum), who lives on Mount Olympus with his wife Hera (Janet McTeer). But there is a plan to overthrow Zeus that depends on a slew of gods, demigods and mortals working together, whether or not they are aware of the roles they each are playing. Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour Learn more about sponsor mes...
Some people may flinch at the genre of reality TV – it's full of tropes and manipulative editing and ridiculous premises. It's been referred to as a funhouse mirror of our culture. But it can reflect back to us new ways of understanding what we accept as a society – especially when it comes to things like gender, sexuality, class and race. Today we're bringing you an episode of NPR's Code Switch that zeroes in on the The Bachelor and Love Island. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcast...
The new movie Afraid is latest in the well-established genre of "the computer is alive" stories. John Cho plays a dad who has a chance to try out a very advanced AI system at his home — and it does a lot more than talk back. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
In the new film The Crow , Bill Skarsgård plays a man who gets brutally murdered alongside his soulmate (FKA twigs). He returns to life as an unstoppable figure of vengeance, hunting down their killers. It's not a remake of the 1994 cult classic; the filmmakers are pitching it as a brand new reimagining of the comic book series that inspired the original film. But how does this new movie stack up? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Sabrina Carpenter has had two of the year's biggest hits with "Espresso" and "Please Please Please." Now, she's released a new full-length album called Short n' Sweet, which serves up more catchy silliness and high drama. But does the album keep that "Espresso" magic alive? Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
It's practically a tradition for famous people to portray a really offbeat version of themselves in TV and movies. The latest season of Only Murders in the Building features Eugene Levy, Zach Galifianakis, and Eva Longoria all playing fictional versions of themselves. So we thought it would be the perfect time to talk about about the many ways actors portray themselves on screen, and why it does and doesn't work. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy ...
In the new psychological thriller Blink Twice , Naomi Ackie plays a woman who is invited to the private island of a tech billionaire, played by Channing Tatum. He's recently re-entered public life after a scandal and has gathered his friends for a long party. But as the party stretches on, it's clear that something is seriously amiss. Blink Twice is the directorial debut of Zoë Kravitz, and the vibes are definitely pretty weird. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoi...
Part of the fun of reality TV is putting yourself in the shoes of the people you're watching. Maybe you'd make a great Real Housewife. Maybe you could win The Amazing Race . Maybe you could even win the fickle hand of The Bachelor . We're not here to make friends, but we are here to pick the reality shows that we think could thrive on. Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
In the new Apple TV+ series Bad Monkey, a fishing boat in the Florida Keys pulls in a human arm, and a suspended detective is the only one who can crack the case. Created by Bill Lawrence ( Ted Lasso ) and starring Vince Vaughn, the series is a beachy, sun-drenched comedy-mystery with plenty of twists and turns as well as, yes, a monkey. But does it successfully capture the vibe of Carl Hiaasen's book that it's based on? Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour Learn mo...
The vinyl record, the CD, the DVD, the VHS tape — even the paper book has been the subject of debate and concern over its future. But we haven't given up our collections just yet. Today, we're revisiting our conversation about the physical media we still treasure. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Alien: Romulus is the latest entry in the venerable Alien sci-fi/horror film franchise, and it leans hard into the horror. The new movie stars Cailee Spaeney as one of a young crew of space miners, along with David Jonsson as her android brother. You'll never guess what species of slimy extraterrestrial evil they encounter. Faces get hugged, chests get burst, and acid blood eats through everything. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
The movie Didi is a vibrant coming-of-age dramedy and was a Sundance film festival favorite. It stars Izaac Wang as a 13-year-old just trying to survive the awkwardness of puberty as a Taiwanese-American kid living in the Bay Area. He's got a crush to impress, complicated friendships to navigate, and family members who are sooooo embarrassing. Didi was directed by Sean Wang, who earned an Oscar nomination earlier this year for his documentary short Nai Nai & Wai Po . Subscribe to Pop Culture Hap...
