Popcorn Culture

Spoiler alert - we really like Clue! Based on the board game of the same-ish name and directed by Jonathan Lynn, 1985's Clue is a murder-mystery-comedy that gathers six blackmail victims in an isolated mansion in a race against time against a secret killer. With a plot that fully acknowledges its Cluedo roots, Clue is one of those movies that's always ripe for a rewatch. We discuss the ways the fi...

Long stares, detailed monologues, anger that you can't take your eyes off of - all hallmarks of Intense Actors. After a week of discussing both Ralph Fiennes and Christian Bale, we're dedicating this week's Supercut to actors that never turn that dial down, and what makes them so compelling. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gruesome murders with hearts ripped from chests, Edgar Allan Poe as an eager young cadet helping to investigate, Christian Bale... all this makes up the scaffolding of mystery thriller The Pale Blue Eye. But does the film (and its central case) hold up to closer scrutiny? We weigh in. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Variously described as a dark comedy horror and a psychological thriller, The Menu features Ralph Fiennes as a celebrity chef, and Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, Hong Chau (among others in a large ensemble cast) as diners who attend his exclusive restaurant where unexpected, unsettling things ensue. A sleeper hit in 2022, we discuss the experience of watching this movie, and whether it lives up...

Many movies and TV shows are enjoyable, but only a select few transcend that to being rewatchable. Whether it's reruns of FRIENDS, annual viewings of Die Hard, or repeat watches of Anchorman, what makes some things so good, you want to experience them over and over again? We discuss what makes some content so much fun to revisit.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Noah Baumbach's first attempt at an adaptation (White Noise was originally a novel written in 1985 by Don DeLillo), he takes on the story of a suburban family forced to evacuate their home following a chemical leak nearby that causes toxic black cloud over the region. Starring Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, and Don Cheadle, the film has been getting praise for its performances and darkly comedic to...

The old In Bruges gang is back! Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, and director Martin McDonagh reunite in this 2022 tragicomedy, where Padraic (Farrell) is left devastated when his lifelong friend Colm (Gleeson) suddenly ends their relationship. The film follows Padraic's attempts to repair the friendship, which lead to shocking results. We review the movie.  See omnystudio.com/listener for...

There's no denying that Matilda, the 1996 film directed by Danny DeVito, is a classic in every sense of the word. So, in order to justify a remake, Netflix threw a lot of money at a lot of stellar performers and got them together to make Matilda the Musical. Emma Thompson is unrecognisable as Miss Trunchbill, and Alisha Weir seems like a(nother) perfect Matilda, but does the movie work as a whole?...

Tech billionaires, beautiful Greek islands... and murder! Fortunately for the characters on this getaway, Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is on the case and will peel away at the layers of this mystery to uncover the truth. Glass Onion, the highly anticipated sequel-of-sorts to Rian Johnson's critically acclaimed Knives Out, lines up Kate Hudson, Jessica Henwick, Edward Norton, Kathryn Hahn,...

The much anticipated follow up to James Cameron's Avatar (still the highest-grossing movie of all time), Avatar: The Way of Water picks up the story more than a decade later, and boasts technology that aims to create a more immersive Pandora than ever. We discuss whether this sequel holds water (sorry), and the experience of watching it on the big screen.  See omnystudio.com/listener for priv...

Robert Eggers' The Northman made a number of headlines when it came out earlier this year: for its dedication to realism and detail, on-screen violence, and the promise of a retelling of Hamlet, set in the Viking period, and influenced by Norse mythology. We explore whether it lived up to the hype, and whether it fares as well on the small screen as it would have in a theatre.  See omnystudio...

The pandemic and lockdowns haven't been kind to the film industry over the last few years, which has resulted in a real mixed bag of releases this year when it comes to movies. And while not every heavily promoted release ended up making the mark, there were some major winners as well, whether unexpected oddball hits like Everything Everywhere All At Once, blockbusters like Top Gun: Maverick,...

A new Guillermo del Toro film is generally cause for celebration amongst film fans, and what more when it's his take on the beloved classic fairy tale Pinocchio. The stop-motion animated musical was co-directed by Del Toro and Mark Gustafson, and features a voice cast of luminaries, including Ewan McGregor, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Christoph Waltz, and John Turturro. We review the movie, and...

Inspired by historical photographs from the 1860s of an enslaved man's heavily scourged back, thereby providing evidence of the cruelty of American slavery, Emancipation tells the story of Peter (played by Will Smith), who flees a plantation in Louisiana. Inescapably, the film is also Smith's first release since the infamous slap at the 2022 Oscars. We review the movie and talk about Smith's perfo...

Let's face it, we watched a LOT of TV in 2022. Game Of Thrones returned with fire and blood in House of the Dragon. Apple TV+ put out prestige award-bait like Severance. The Disney-Marvel machine churned out Miss Marvels and Moon Knights. And Netflix gave us more content than we could handle. Some shows were good, some were bad, and others were fun yet forgettable. As 2022 comes to a close, we loo...

They're creepy and they're kooky/ Mysterious and spooky/ They're all together ooky/The Addams family. If you sang along to that, Wednesday might be the show for you. Part-YA coming-of-age, part whodunit, part dark comedy, Wednesday explores what happens when Wednesday, this child of woe, goes away to a boarding school where mysterious events keep happening. It features Jenna Ortega in a pitch...

On this episode, we review one of the most ambitious, and most highly anticipated Star Wars shows on Disney+ Hotstar - Andor. Directed by veteran filmmaker Tony Gilroy and starring Diego Luna, the first season of Andor takes place a few years before the catalytic events of Rogue One, and long before Cassian Andor found himself fighting in the Rebellion against the Empire. We discuss Andor's restra...

It's a simple fact of being a movie and TV buff in 2022, that there's simply a deluge of content to watch: from old to new, episodic to full season drops, cinema to streaming. So how do you decide what to watch? What's the most reliable path towards a good watching decision and experience? We try to unpack that in this episode of Supercut.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

By the time it premiered at the Venice Film Festival, rumours around Don't Worry Darling had been swirling for months: on-set romances and fights, a star and director who didn't get along, infidelities. So much so that the drama of it all almost eclipsed the film itself. In this episode, we review this Olivia Wilde-directed psychological thriller and talk about whether the hype helped or hindered...

An Irish girl stops eating, yet remains alive and well for months. An English nurse is sent to observe her, and to see if it is in fact a miracle. That's the starting point for this Florence Pugh-led psychological period drama. In the first of our Pugh double-header this week, we review The Wonder and assess whether it's worth a watch. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The death of Chadwick Boseman has left an irreplaceable void at the centre of this Black Panther sequel, and the film addresses it through a collective process of grieving and paying tribute - both in and outside of the world of the movie. We review the movie and talk about how familiar characters like Shuri (Letitia Wright), Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), and Okoye (Danai Gurira) are expanded an...

Often celebrated as the first black superhero film adaptation, this 1998 film brought one of Marvel’s darker characters to life, and features a charisma-loaded main cast: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, and Kris Kristofferson. While it received middling reviews, the movie has gone on to gain cult classic status and spawn an entire franchise. We revisit the movie and talk about whether time has been...

We've all heard of the famous roles that almost had another very famous face playing them: Leonardo DiCaprio as Patrick Bateman, Sean Connery as Gandalf (and Russell Crowe as Aragorn), Emily Blunt as Black Widow. In this episode of Supercut, we talk about what could've been, and whether the movies and shows in question would have been improved - or made immeasurably worse.  See omnystudio.com...

Following on 2020's Enola Holmes, this sequel follows our eponymous heroine as she works on her first case as a detective, looking for a missing girl (with an assist from her famous brother, Sherlock). We discuss whether Enola Holmes 2 lives up to the success of the first film, and if it's worth catching.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The latest installment in the MCU, Werewolf By Night is a lean, standalone take, exploring what happens when hunters gather in the wake of Ulysses Bloodstone's death, to participate in a hunt to see who will earn the right to hold the Bloodstone - but there are other players in the game, who have very different motivations. Directed by Michael Giacchino, and starring Gael Garcia Bernal, Laura Donn...