Popcorn Culture

Strange dimensions. Bizarre technology. Futuristic architecture. Science fiction as a genre is home to some of the most influential movies and TV shows of all time. Its imaginative concepts like parallel universes, time travel, and extraterrestrial life have been used throughout the decades to give us shows like Star Trek, The Matrix, and most recently, Tenet. On this Supercut, we geek out about o...

Fashioned after sci-fi landmarks such as Cowboy Bebop and inspired by cult favorites like Firefly, Space Sweepers is considered K-Cinema's first big space opera. In this episode, we join the ragtag crew on Victory, a spaceship tasked with, as the name implies, cleaning debris from space... only to stumble across a 7-year-old girl in a crashed space shuttle. We chat about what Space Sweepers means...

Fashioned after sci-fi landmarks such as Cowboy Bebop and inspired by cult favorites like Firefly, Space Sweepers is considered K-Cinema's first big space opera. In this episode, we join the ragtag crew on Victory, a spaceship tasked with, as the name implies, cleaning debris from space... only to stumble across a 7-year-old girl in a crashed space shuttle. We chat about what Space Sweepers means...

It's 2019 and we're in a technological hellscape. Overpopulated cities are made up of gargantuan structures that look both futuristic and archaic at the same time. Neon is everywhere. And replicants are running wild. Directed by Ridley Scott and based on the legendary works of Philip K. Dick, Blade Runner sees special agent Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) on a mission to hunt down a crew of rogue rep...

Jack and Rose, Riggs and Murtaugh, Han and Chewie, Thelma and Louise - there's no shortage of iconic on-screen pairings, whether romantic or otherwise. We explore some of our favourites and discuss what the magic formula is when it comes to putting two people together and letting the chemistry spark. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The first Hollywood production to be written, financed and produced during the pandemic, Malcolm and Marie stars John David Washington and Zendaya as a couple facing a test of their relationship as tensions come to the fore on the night of a big movie premiere. We talk about whether this self-contained romantic drama works, and whether it heralds a new way of making movies in this time of Covid-19...

"I want the truth!" "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!" This legendary line has been mimicked, memed, and parodied more times than we can count. But back in 1992, it set a new benchmark for courtroom drama and became one of the most powerful performances that year. On this Throwback Tuesday, we revisit 'A Few Good Men', and discuss how this early-90s classic elevated the unaging Tom Cruise and the ever-...

One of the great romantic comedies, Roman Holiday stars Audrey Hepburn (in a role that she won an Academy Award for) as a princess on an anonymous jaunt, accompanied by Gregory Peck as a journalist on the hunt for a story. In this episode of Throwback Tuesday, we look back at this tender, bittersweet and very funny film. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A mouthful of Ratatouille. A Chef’s perfectly grilled cheese sandwich. The perfect Chinese dinner as we Eat Drink Man Woman. Food on screen often transcends the mere act of eating, and becomes instead a metaphor, a motif, or even a plot point. In this Supercut, we chew on the ways in which food and eating are used in film and TV, and digest our favourite scenes involving meals. See omnystudi...

With Chinese New Year around the corner in 2021, we could all use some cheering up. So we’re throwing back to a festive staple: All’s Well, End’s Well from 1992. The tale of three brothers going to hilarious lengths to win their parents’ approval for their romances offers both wholesome family fare, as well as a star-studded cast featuring Leslie Cheung, Stephen Chow, Raymo...

For legions of fans around the world, Christopher Plummer is inseparable from Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music. However, Plummer already had an acclaimed stage career before the movie, and went on to play a impressive variety of roles on screen - including an Oscar-winning performance in Beginners in 2010 at the age of 82. In this episode, we pay tribute to Christopher Plummer and his body...

It may not have its own category at the Oscars, but watching a comedy is one of the most communal experiences one can have at the movies. From Buster Keaton's pioneering pratfalls and Jim Carrey's outlandish antics, to Tina Fey's whip-smart dialogue and Eddie Murphy's trailblazing sense of humor, there's no genre that has transformed through the years much like comedy. We discuss who and what make...

Seth Rogen plays Herschel Greenbaum, an Eastern European immigrant who gets preserved in a vat of pickles, as you do, only to wake up generations later in modern-day New York. In this episode, we review Brandon Trost's An American Pickle, based on writer Simon Rich's 2013 short film, Sell Out. We also discuss the film's place on a streaming service, and how a plot like this is a throwback to much...

If you could trace the careers of comedy heavyweights Judd Apatow, Steve Carell, and Seth Rogen to a single turning point in their lives, you'd find yourself watching The 40-Year-Old Virgin. In Apatow's directorial debut, a fresh-off-Anchorman Carell plays Andy, an electronic goods store employee, whose well-meaning yet incompetent friends try to help him lose his virginity. We discuss not only th...

An adaptation of Aravind Adiga's Man Booker Prize-winning novel, this tale of class, caste, loyalty and corruption is being brought to screen by Ramin Bahrani, starring Rajkummar Rao, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Adarsh Gourav. We discuss whether this film successfully captures the spirit and dark humour of its source material. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A gritty drama shot in a neorealist style, Chop Shop (2007) is a slice of life look at Ale, a 12 year old street orphan living and surviving in Queens, New York. Critically acclaimed at the time of its release, it's also the second film of Ramin Bahrani whose latest film has just hit screening services. In this episode, we dive into the style of the movie, particularly its heartwarming yet difficu...

When it comes to film and television, families - whether good, bad, or plain dysfunctional - are a mainstay. We look at our favourite screen relatives from the Addams to the Corleones, and discuss why fraught familial ties provide so much fodder for onscreen drama. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When it comes to film and television, families - whether good, bad, or plain dysfunctional - are a mainstay. We look at our favourite screen relatives from the Addams to the Corleones, and discuss why fraught familial ties provide so much fodder for onscreen drama. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With release schedules being what they are these days (interrupted and uncertain), we're taking the opportunity to review some recent movies and shows that we missed the first time round. In our first installment - Succession! They’re filthy rich, appallingly entitled, and hopelessly manipulative - yet we somehow can’t get enough of the Roys. And the critics apparently agree, because s...

The name Hannibal Lecter might be almost synonymous with Sir Anthony Hopkins, but the credit of first bringing the iconic character to life onscreen actually belongs to Brian Cox. Based on Thomas Harris’ novel Red Dragon (the one that came before The Silence of the Lambs), this 1986 Michael Mann-directed psychological thriller is often overlooked; so we throwback to it and see if there&rsquo...

The name Hannibal Lecter might be almost synonymous with Sir Anthony Hopkins, but the credit of first bringing the iconic character to life onscreen actually belongs to Brian Cox. Based on Thomas Harris’ novel Red Dragon (the one that came before The Silence of the Lambs), this 1986 Michael Mann-directed psychological thriller is often overlooked; so we throwback to it and see if there&rsquo...

From Nora Ephron's 'When Harry Met Sally' to Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's 'Good Will Hunting', good screenplays are arguably the first step at defining a great film. It doesn't always translate well, but a well-adapted script is something to be celebrated... which is why they have awards for the effort. On this Supercut, we praise, pick apart, and even nitpick some of our favorite screenplays, the...

Based on August Wilson's play and produced by Denzel Washington, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom assembles a star-studded cast to bring one of the titular trailblazer's particularly tense recording sessions to life. On this episode, we discuss Viola Davis' portrayal as one of the most influential, yet underrated, blues singers in history, the timeliness of a film set in 1927, and the late Chadwick Bosema...

We're throwing it back to 1996's The Birdcage - a film about a duo named Armand (Robin Williams) and Albert (Nathan Lane), their trendy Miami nightclub, and how their sense of paradise is rattled when Armand's son decides to marry the daughter of one Senator Keele (Gene Hackman). We discuss the riskiness of The Birdcage for its time, its on-brand flashiness, and its over-the-top humor that make it...

Beginning with Woody and Buzz, through the adventures of Nemo, Marlin and Dory, to the jazz dreams of Joe Gardner, Pixar movies have always set a high water mark for animated films (and films as a whole). In this episode of Supercut, we talk about Pixar’s evolution, and gush over our favourites. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.