Pop This!

Summary:   "Not a real Grandma." This week we all feel a little emotional after watching Minari . Also discussed: Lucky Grandma , our best bathing practices, and the graphic novel Stone Fruit .     Show notes:   "Minari" Star Alan Kim Gave a Sweet, Emotional Critics Choice Award Speec h (Teen Vogue)   The Specificity of 'Minari' (The Ringer)   Make the Case: The Restraint of Steven Yeun in 'Minari...

Summary:   "You were there the whole time." This week we thoroughly enjoyed looking at the life and times of Tina Turner via her new documentary Tina . Also discussed: Audrey Hepburn, Hollywood Nights, and Jen Sookfong Lee's new book The Shadow List .      Show notes:   " Heartache Tonight " on Hollywood Nights with Olivia Newton-John, Tina Turner, Karen Carpenter, and Toni Tenille (Daily Motion)...

Summary:   "A wonderful waste of time." This week we've invited former big-box store employee Lisa Chen-Wing on the show to talk about the trials and tribulations of customer service and the hit show Superstore . Also discussed: Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong, the World Figure Skating Championships, and celebrity diving competitions.     Show notes:   Stars in Danger: The High Dive (The Daily D...

Summary: "I used to be a journalist." This week it's all about feathered bangs, Spanx, and second-wave feminism as Pop This! talks about the very popular friendship drama Firefly Lane. Also discussed; skincare, Superstore, and Jean-Paul Sartre.     Show notes:   Is Eye Cream Necessary? (The Skincare Edit)   Netflix's Firefly Lane gives Katherine Heigl her own Beaches (AV Club)   Recommendations: A...

Summary: "My new thing is crying." Sam Nock of Heavy Content joins us this week to talk about Amy Poehler's new movie Moxie , a movie about zines, riot grrrls and the '90s. Also discussed: Titanic , Hilary Duff, and TikTok.       Show notes:   Sam Nock on Instagram   Sam Nock on Twitter   Pop This! Episode 157: Misery live at the Rio Theatre with Sam Nock     Pop This! Episode 165: Dumplin' with S...

Summary: "Coming of middle-age story." This week we fall head-over-heels in love with The 40-Year Old Version, a comedy written, directed and starring Radha Blank. Also discussed: peanut butter eggs, Nadiya Bakes , and Nicole Byer's various shows.       Show notes:   Peanut Butter Eggs, pack of 3 (Purdy's)   Basque burnt cheesecakes from Mardy's Kitchen   Filmmaker Radha Blank Says Lena Waithe Was...

Summary: "It's possible." Disney finally added the 1997 made-for-TV version of Cinderella starring Brandy and Whitney Houston to its streaming service, and we are here for it. Also discussed: White Tiger , winter people, and napping in public.    Show notes:   Estimated Time Periods and Locations of the Disney Princesses (D_Princesses Livejournal)   It's Possible: An Oral History of 1997's "Cinder...

Summary: "Got a problem?" Pop This! gleefully dives into the first episode of Queen Latifah's new crime drama, The Equalizer. Also discussed: why we bother getting dressed every morning, The Sinner, and RHWOSLC     Show notes:   The Best Work-From-Home Bras, According to a Longtime Remote Worker (the Strategist)   Joyful Noise trailer (YouTube)   Queen Latifah Makes the Impossible: a CBS Cop Show...

Summary: "Everybody I know is desperate, except for you." Pop This! talks about Madonna's 1985 film debut, Desperately Seeking Susan . Also discussed: chicken and egg ramen, The Equalizer , and sleeping techniques.   Show notes:   Our favourite looks from Desperately Seeking Susan (Instagram)   Lisa's favourite Madonna look from Papa Don't Preach (Madonna In Pop Culture)   Rosanna Arquette Answers...

Summary: "Soap operas in capes." This week Lisa is off sick so the Andreas take the wheel and talk about the extremely romantic movie Sylvie's Love starring Tessa Thompson. Also discussed: wound care, Castle , and Saturday Night Fever.   Show notes:   Revisiting Saturday Night Fever, Disco's Dark B-Side (Pitchfork)   Review: "Sylvie's Love" Revives the Art of the Classic Hollywood Romance (New Yor...

Summary: "Pickle man." This week we are talking about the smart, endearing rom-com Crossing Delancey and look back on the career of trailblazing director Joan Micklin Silver.     Show notes:   Cucumber – refreshing and uplifting, setting your imagination free, sending you to lush green meadows, creating dreams of happiness and freedom (Fragrences.bg)   Types Of Lavender: Difference Between French...

Summary: This week we're watching one of the most powerful and moving films we've seen in recent memory: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. Also discussed: blues music, the plays of August Wilson, and Chani Nicholson's book, You Were Born For This .    Show notes:   You're Wrong About Podcast - Quarantine Deep Dive: Jessica Simpson's "Open Book "    Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and the Liberating Power of Musi...

Summary: "Love you for 10,000 years." This week The Cinematheque's Chelsea Birks joins us to talk about Wong Kar-Wai's offbeat crime thriller/rom-com Chungking Express . Also discussed: Into Thin Air , vision boards, and what it means to be disruptively cute.   Show notes:   Buy Chinese joss paper (KK Discount)   The Cinematheque/World of Wong Kar-Wai    Chelsea Birks at the Cinematheque   Chungki...

Summary:   "The DuVernay Test." This week Pop This! dives into the show everyone seems to be watching: Bridgerton . Also discussed: How To with John Wilson , Natalie Wood, and Andrea Warner's fresh-faced innocence.     Show notes:   Tator tot waffles (Damn Delicious)   Want to measure a film's diversity? Try "the DuVernay test. " (Vox)   Recommendations: Andrea W.:  Natalie Wood: What Remains Behi...

Summary:   "Unhinged and free." For our first episode of 2021, we discuss one of our favoruite TV shows from last year: The Flight Attendant. Also discussed: psychic powers, Palm Springs, and Lisa's New Year's Challenges.   Show notes:   Feed your soul: the 31-day literary diet for January (the Guardian)   A Hot Mess Caught in a Caper in "The Flight Attendant " (New Yorker)   'The Flight Attendant...

Summary:   "Freezer chips." It's the final Pop This! episode of 2020, and the Andreas and Lisa spend it talking about the most memorable pop culture moments of the year.   Show notes: Let's Eat (Netflix) Tokyo Stories : Midnight Diner (Netflix) Music credits: "Glockenspiel Beat" by Podington Bear From Free Music Archive CC BY 3.0   Theme song "Pyro Flow" by Kevin Macleod From Incompetch CC BY 3.0...

Summary:   "Who's looking after the dog?" In what has become a yearly tradition, Pop This! spends our sixth consecutive holiday season arguing about what is the better Christmas movie - Love Actually or The Holiday .       Show notes: Nancy Meyers week at Vulture   Episode 5: Love Actually vs. The Holiday 1     Episode 59: Love Actually vs. the Holiday, Round 2   Episode 109: Love Actually vs. the...

Summary:   "Orphan friend." We dive full-on into the festive season by watching this year's most buzzed-about holiday film, Happiest Season . Also discussed: Dead Eyes , movies we know we won't watch, and the music of Lu Kala.     Show notes:   How a Queer Icon Made the Holiday Film of the Year (Atlantic)   I Love Kirsten Stewart's Looks in Happiest Season (the Cut)     Recommendations: Andrea W.:...

Summary:   "Raindrops on roses." After over 40 years of denying herself the pleasure of watching the most successful musical of all time, Andrea Warner finally sits down to watch The Sound of Music .  Also discussed: Doctor Zhivago , puppeteering, and all the holiday parties we won't be going to this year.    Show notes:   Julie's Library (Julie Andrews podcast)   All these years later, The Sound...

Summary:   "There's no male equivalent of a diva." This week we watch Selena, the 1997 biographical musical drama about the life and career of the late singer Selena Quintanilla Perez. Also discussed: nightgowns, Grey Gardens , and Andrea Warner's predilection for imported soap from Seattle.   Show notes:   MAC's Selena collection   Documentary Now! Grey Gardens clip (YouTube)   Everything We Know...

Summary:   "My tranquility needs to be refurbished." This week we re-live Lisa's chess days and talk about enthralling drama The Queen's Gambit. Also discussed: the music of Molly Annelle, Emily in Paris , and our love of Northern Exposure .     Show notes:   "Emily in Paris" and the Rise of Ambient TV (New Yorker)   The Man Who Brought 'The Queen's Gambit' to Life (The Ringer)     Recommendations...

Summary:   "Mr. Noir-vember." This week our guest is Noir-vember's Very Own: Don English. He joins us to talk about Lured , the 1947 film noir starring Lucille Ball. Also discussed: fashion shows for pets, fetish foot modelling, and Lisa's grandmother's life as a dancer in 1930's London.     Show notes:   Pop This! EP 206: Leave Her to Heaven with Don English   Lisa's grandmother modeling in Engla...

Summary:   "It is a restless moment." This week we invite CBC Front Burner producer Elaine Chau on the podast to talk about one of her all-time favourite films, In the Mood For Love . Also discussed: train romances, the Queens's Gambit and Lisa's feelings about cake.     Show notes:   Cupcakes Were Never Over, Apparently (Food and Wine)   Elaine Chau on Twitter   Falling in Love trailer (Meryl Str...

Summary:   "No, Rory. This great man was not brought down by my vagina." We are celebrating our 5th anniversary this week by going back to where it all began: re-watching Gilmore Girls . Also discussed: the Teaches of Peaches , the Home Cooking podcast and the impact the pandemic has on our sense of style.      Show notes:   Gilmore Girls Fandom Wiki   Gilmore Girls' final words change everything...

Summary:   "I find out he's just a man." For the last film of our Gothic Horror  Month, we move away from horror and embrace a film classified as southern gothic supernatural: Eve's Bayou . Also discussed: MTV Cribs, the Who? Weekly podcast and Dolly Parton's new Netflix show.      Show notes:   Best of: MTV Cribs ft. Lil Wayne, 50 Cent & More! (YouTube)   Who? Weekly (podcast)   Step Inside Dakot...