Pulp Friction

You’ve waited. You’ve begged. You’ve cried. And now your prayers have finally been answered. This year, Rochel and Claire reflect on 2024’s music in over 20 categories, from country to jazz, from Brats to Brits, from Sabrina to femtanyl. Pulp Friction is available wherever pods are cast. Subscribe and share to support the show. Send riddles to pulpfrictioncast@gmail.com. Stay tuned for Rochel’s 20...

As 2024 draws to a close, Rocky and Rose return to the Twilight saga once again to reflect on the peak of Team Edward vs. Team Jacob: Eclipse . Chris Weitz is out! David Slade is in! Bella must make the ultimate choice that she already pretty much made two movies ago. Is it better than New Moon ? You bet! Is it good? It’s complicated. Persons of interest include Stonewall Jackson, Bree Tanner, and...

2016 seems so long ago, and yet, it increasingly feels like we didn’t learn as many lessons from it as we once thought. What are we, some kind of Thunderbolts*—er, Suicide Squad? Rocky and Blurry break down the good, the bad, and the deeply ugly of a film truly emblematic of its time… and maybe, just maybe, of ours. Persons of interest include Ryan Gosling, Zack Snyder, and the vibrant nation of A...

For this year’s Pulp Friction Halloween Spec-Dracular, a massive Sawhead takes Rocky on the ride of a lifetime, starting where it all began: Saw (2004). This tightly-wound thriller bears little resemblance to the “torture porn” label often applied to the series—if anything, it’s more like gay porn. Halloween ghouls of interest include Hawk Tuah, Art the Clown, and Taika Waititi. Pulp Friction is a...

When you’re having a dialogue about what kind of movie you want to see, that is Megalopolis. Sam and Rocky are here to break down the most polarizing and endlessly fascinating film in theaters right now. Persons of interest include Paul Newman, Jon Hamm, and Spike Lee. Pulp Friction is available wherever pods are cast. Subscribe and share to support the show. Send riddles to pulpfrictioncast@gmail...

Yes, that’s “hundred” with an “H”. Thanks to listeners like you, we’ve hit a huge milestone, and we’re celebrating the only way we know how: by being unfettered haters. Annas will be Invented, Jacobs will be Defended, we’ll find out which forgotten MCU property outlasted Endgame , and we’ll spend the length of an Avengers movie complaining. There may even be a post-credits scene? Persons of intere...

On-set feuds. Studios collapsing. Tragic celebrity deaths. Real-life vampirism. The story of how AMC’s Anne Rice’s Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire came to be is undoubtedly one of the most harrowing we’ve ever covered. But what about the end result? Myles says yay, Rocky says… fine. Persons of interest include Cher, Bryan Fuller, and #JaredLeto. Pulp Friction is available wherever pods are...

Let’s look back on a time when superhero comedies could be, y’know, funny. First-time guest Lily joins Rocky to talk about a modern animated classic that may or may not stand in the shadow of another modern animated classic. Is it the big screen’s best Batman? Was it the death knell for the super-serious era of capeshit? Persons of interest include Ryan Reynolds, Michael Jackson, and Gob Bluth. Se...

This week on Pulp Friction, Rocky and Ruth are cancelling themselves before Gen Z gets a chance as they look at the latest record from hip-hop’s incorrigible clown prince, Eminem. The rapper has spent the better part of the past 15 years trying to relive his old glory, but has he finally managed it here? Persons of interest include Spider-Man, Caitlyn Jenner, and Juvenile. Pulp Friction is availab...

We asked for your riddles, and you failed to deliver. Now, our intrepid heroes (Rocky, Sam, and Leon) find themselves at their lowest point, playing skiffle for scraps on the Universal Studios backlot. That won’t stop them in their quest to solve the Beatles’ riddle once and for all as they look at the band’s 4th studio album, Beatles for Sale . Persons of interest include Berry Gordy and his beam...

Rocky and Alex come together once again to discuss Pixar in the A.D. (After Death) (of Steve Jobs) era. In some ways, it’s the depressing and slow death of a once-cherished creative force in American culture. In other ways, it’s an inevitable and much-deserved reckoning with the Great Man theory. In other ways, maybe things are on the right track? Persons of interest include John Lithgow. Pulp Fri...

Turns out, it takes way more than 90 minutes to talk about all the epic highs and lows of Pixar. That’s why it’s getting 2. This time, Rocky and Alex cover the legacy of Pixar in the B.C. (Before Cars 2) era. Persons of interest include Michael Eisner, Francis Ford Coppola, and Shrek. Pulp Friction is available wherever pods are cast. Subscribe and share to support the show. Send riddles to pulpfr...

Hey, did you guys know there was a Met Gala last week? We did, and we’re giving you a primer on some of the night’s best and worst fits, from lettuce to chips and princesses to pince-nezes. Who popped, who flopped, and what was the theme anyway? Persons of interest include Taylor Swift, Ice Spice, and Katy Perry, none of whom were in attendance for obvious reasons. Pulp Friction is available where...

A few years ago, Taylor Swift said everybody was a sexy baby. Today, she says everyone smells like either weed or little babies. What is the truth, TayTay? This week, Rocky is joined by resident Swiftie Brig to discuss what may be Taylor’s least defensible album to date. Is she bad? Is she mad? Is she… wise? Persons of interest include Katy Perry, Lana Del Rey, and DRAAAKE??? Intro (0:00) Fortnigh...

Noted Brit Alex Garland makes a film about American politics. What could go wrong? This week, Rocky (she/her) and Ruth (he/him) are fresh out of the theater to address the elephant in the room: Civil War is kinda interesting? Persons of interest include Jean-Claude Van Damme, Andy Ngo, and Brian De Palma. Pulp Friction is available wherever pods are cast. Subscribe and share to support the show. S...

Niche internet celebrity Natalie Wynn is back in the niche internet news, and Rocky is joined by Cody, our resident expert on the online left (and right), to tell Contra’s side of the story. If her screen name leaves a bad taste in your mouth, this episode invites you to ask, “Why?” Persons of interest include Rian Johnson, Hillary Clinton, and the Westboro Baptist Church. Pulp Friction is availab...

This is the big one, folks. Rocky and Blurry are talking about Zoomer Nickelback themselves, the band everyone loves to hate, Imagine Dragons. Were they always this bad? Were they lightning before the thunder? Is there actually something of value in their catalog? And most importantly, are they still Mormon or what? Persons of interest include Brendon Urie, Jesus, and Spider-Man. Pulp Friction is...

What if you could watch a whole movie… on a screen ? The screenlife films of Timur Bekmambetov imagine this twisted world, and Rocky is joined by Violet this week to look at the likes of Unfriended, Unfriended: Dark Web, Searching, and Missing. Persons of interest include Justin Bieber, Drake, and Roger Corman. Pulp Friction is available wherever pods are cast. Subscribe and share to support the s...

Each year, dozens of teens all over the world are driven mad with beguilement by the Beatles’ riddle. Rocky, Sam, and Leon are within a country mile of cracking it, and we need your help to continue our Beatle studies. For just riddles a day, you can promote this vital academic work. Pledge a recurring riddle donation, or simply share whatever riddles you have, by reaching out to Rocky, the Pulp F...

[CORRECTION: The song featured in Anatomy of a Fall is 50 Cent’s “P.I.M.P.,” not Jay-Z’s “Big Pimpin’”.] The movies are back in a big way this year, and Rocky (she/her) and Ruth (he/him) are looking back at a great year for cinema. Superheroes will die! Beau will be afraid! Canada will be nominated for Best International Feature! Check out the full list of winners below, or listen to the episode i...

We’re baaaack! 2023 is over, Rocky’s moved in to her new place, and she and Claire are breaking down the past year in music. There will be live changes! There will be bad opinions! Rocky will misremember the name of a Kesha album! Claire will mistakenly refer to Flyana Boss as one person! Slowthai! Check out the full list of winners below, or listen to the episode if you don’t want it spoiled. Pul...

It’s the last podcast of 2023, but Rocky (she/her) and Brig (she/he) couldn’t make it too easy on themselves. We covered Taylor Swift’s most seminal album to date, 1989 , plus its recent rerecording. Is it as good as music journalists from roughly 2016-2019 said it was? How does Taylor’s version hold up with Max Martin on the ones and twos? Persons of interest include Mariska Hargitay, Welvin Da G...

We all remember where we were when Fall Out Boy dropped their first-ever hip hop remix album, Make America Psycho Again . And if you don’t, Rocky, Sam, and Emily are here to jog your memory. The ill-fated album is a who’s who—and in some cases, a who’s that?—of 2015’s famous-but-not-too-famous rappers. Is it terrible? Take a wild guess. Persons of interest include two guys named Gabe, the extended...

Halloween is over, but Holly wood is here to stay! This episode, Rocky takes a look at one of the most beloved and divisive Best Picture losers in recent memory, La La Land, with the help of Flop Soup’s own Cassandra Kyriazis! You hate it, Cassandra loves it, Rocky’s ambivalent about it, but hey… that’s showbiz, baby! Persons of interest include Channing Tatum, Max Martin, and Lyle, Lyle Crocodile...

Who was Bobby “Boris” Pickett? How do you actually do the Monster Mash? Is Dracula a dad, or a daddy? We’ll try to answer all this and more as Rocky (she/her), Claire (she/her), and Nico (they/he) dive into the surprisingly rich text of “Monster Mash.” Persons of interest include Joe Manganiello, J Dilla, and Cloris Leachman. Pulp Friction is available wherever pods are cast. Check out Claire’s ba...