Did You Do Your Homework? | A Pop Culture Podcast

For a bit o'luck this year, Martha and Maren take a dip to someone's approximation of Ireland in the 2010 rom com, Leap Year. Currently streaming on Netflix, directed by Anand Tucker, starring Amy Adams and Matthew Goode (and Adam Scott...allegedly).

It's a special bonus episode! Martha and Pete break down the 95th Academy Awards, including snubs, surprises, and the stuff that just makes us really happy.

It's another crossover event with our very good friends, Catching Up David! We sit down to survey Dracula in his many forms, going back to his roots with DRACULA (1931, dir. Tod Browning) and continuing through to DRACULA: UNTOLD (2014, dir. Gary Shore). Also discussed: DRACULA (1958, dir. Terence Fisher) and BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA (192, dir. Francis Ford Coppola). Check out Catching Up David at ht...

Romance is in the air! Maren and Martha are back on the air with Netflix's fresh off the presses Your Place or Mine (2023, dir. Aline Brosh McKenna). We stan an age appropriate pairing, but is this movie charming or does it fall short? Listen and find out...

In the year 2023, two millennials decided that what the internet really needed was yet another episode about STAR WARS. Come along with us and hear our hot takes, our histories, and our experiences with the STAR WARS universe and what it means to us as two nerds growing up in the early aughts.

Look, we said we were taking a summer break, and sometimes summer breaks become accidental hiatuses. We're sorry! But much like the dinosaurs in the 1991 animated classic, WE'RE BACK! Pete, Maren and Martha sit down together to hash out the best of 2022. Not everyone agrees, and that's okay! What made your best of the year awards? Find us on social media: Martha: @magicalmartha Pete: @piko3000 Mar...

We missed Pride month by ONE DAY but frankly, Fire Island is eternal, so we're still timely in this case. Catch this delightful summer rom com and then listen to us dissect it in detail. May we all enjoy a beach vacation this wonderful this summer.

Somewhere in another universe, you got this episode sooner. In this universe, it's here now! Pete and Martha breakdown the concept of the multiverse and it's application in media, inspired by the recent spat of multiverse movies. Homework for the episode: Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022, dir. Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert); Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse (2018, dir. Bob Persichetti, Pete...

Maren and Martha are here on your feed to discuss the tooth-achingly adorable Netflix adaptation of HEARTSTOPPER! (2022, cr. Alice Oseman)

Today we're discussing a pop culture icon, the one, the only...Hannibal Lecter. We take time for all of his incarnations, touching on the source material as well as the myriad of adaptations, and bring it all back to: why do we love Hannibal the Cannibal so dang much? Homework for the episode: Manhunter (1986, dir. Michael Mann), Silence of the Lambs (1991, dir. Jonathan Demme), Hannibal (2001, di...

Maren and Martha spill the beans on the enemies to lovers tale, The Hating Game (2021, dir. Peter Hutchings).

Pete and Martha sure did read a book for this episode. We take a dip back into the early aughts, when conspiracy theories were fun and fake news was about the Illuminati hiding treasure in tombs and not about lizard people sex traffickers. Homework for the episode: The Da Vinci Code (2003, auth. Dan Brown) and National Treasure (2004, dir. Jon Turteltaub)

Maren and Martha skew a little younger today to discuss the Disney+ middle grade adaptation of Better Nate Than Ever (2022, dir. Tim Federle).

The world sucks, but maybe it can get better? Pete and Martha attempt to dispel some of the soul-sucking pessimism by looking at media that is inherently optimistic and forward thinking. Also there are giant robots involved. Homework for the episode: Pacific Rim (2013, dir. Guillermo del Toro) and The Ministry for the Future (2020, Kim Stanley Robinson).

Maren and Martha are back in your ears to discuss the brand new, Amazon Prime original I Want You Back (2022, dir. Jason Orley). The big takeaway? Put Charlie Day and Jenny Slate in more romances!

We're right under the wire with this one, but here are all our predictions for tomorrow's 94th Academy Awards!

Don't think of the episode as late, think of it as getting two episodes of content this week! (We're sorry!) Martha and Maren return to the deep well of teen summer romance movies, with the Kaitlyn Deaver vehicle from 2017, All Summers End (Tye Sheridan who?) Directed by Kyle Wilamowski.

Will Pete and Martha ever get tired of plumbing religion for discussion topics? Not likely. Today, we tackle depictions of faith in popular culture, both the serious reflections and the satire - and where those two things intersect. Homework for the episode: A Serious Man (2009, dir. The Coen Brothers), The Righteous Gemstones (2019-curent, cr. Danny McBride)

This one's hot off the presses - we get deep into romance and the readers that love it with our discussion of Amazon Prime's 2022 release, Book of Love (dir. Analeine Cal y Mayor). Do we fall in love with this bilingual tale of transcription? Listen to find out...

A few weeks ago, Martha made a list on Twitter, and Pete decided we needed a whole episode to hash out the fallout from that list. It's our Batman episode! We're talking about the archetypical hero, the Dark Knight himself, the world's greatest detective in his iconic cinematic incarnations. Homework for the episode: Batman (1989, dir. Tim Burton); Batman Forever (1995, dir. Joel Schumacher); Batm...

Maren and Martha move a little off their beaten path to break down Dear Evan Hansen, the Broadway sensation-turned cinematic flop. We discuss the movie's treatment of teen suicide, depression, and the musical talents of Amandla Stenberg.

It seems to happen every few years: two movies with strikingly similar stories get released in the same year. Typically, one emerges as the "winner," the film that sticks in the public's consciousness, while one fades away into pop culture obscurity. What determines these "winners" and "losers" in the world of dueling movies? We take a look at two twin pairs: Big Trouble in Little China (1986, dir...

We temporarily turn our attention from cinematic rom coms to tackle the extremely cute tv show, Starstruck (2021, created by Rose Matafeo). How does this very Millennial-oriented jaunt hit two mid-gen Millennials? About as well as you'd expect...

What happens when a story knows it's a story? What do you do when you realize you're just a character in someone's narrative? Our episode today is all about self-aware stories and the dawning realization that we may all just be side characters in someone else's book. Homework for the episode: The Neverending Story by Michael Ende (1979); In the Mouth of Madness (1994, dir. John Carpenter); Strange...

We're back! Did you miss us? We have a short and sweet episode for you on the Amazon Prime movie, Summer '03 (2018, dir. Becca Gleason) starring Love YA! star Joey King.