Popcorn Culture

In this special episode of Popcorn Culture, we review the latest in James Cameron’s Na’vi epic, Avatar: Fire and Ash , and discuss whether the visual mastery on screen warrants a visit to the cinema. Image Credit: IMDB See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We wrap up the year by returning to the simultaneously murderous and cosy setting of Rian Johnson's Knives Out series, with the latest installment, Wake Up Dead Man, which sees Benoit Blanc return to investigate a murder at a small upstate New York church and the close-knit community there. And then since it’s the end of the year, we ask you what were the best series and movies of 2025. Image Cred...

Noah Baumbach directs Jay Kelly (2025), which stars Adam Sandler and George Clooney, and follows a famed but disillusioned actor and his loyal manager as they travel across Europe, confronting past mistakes and estranged relationships. We discuss whether this star-studded movie lives up to its promise, before turning our attention to the question of whether adult dramas, sans action or bombast, ha...

In this episode, it's all about the follow-up to 2016's wildly successful Zootopia, which sees the return of earnest bunny cop Judy Hopps and wily con artist fox Nick Wilde, and the continuation of their unlikely partnership as they go undercover to pursue a new and mysterious reptilian resident Gary De'Snake. And since so much of Zootopia's delights rest in its animal-centred world and setting, w...

In this episode of our podcast, we dive into the first four episodes of Vince Gilligan’s Pluribus, the much-hyped Apple TV+ sci-fi thriller that marks a major return for the Breaking Bad creator. With a near-perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes and buzz everywhere, the show follows Carol Sturka (played by Rhea Seehorn), one of the few immune to a mysterious contagion that has transformed humanity into...

It’s been a year since Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba and Ariana Grande’s Glinda were last on the big screen, finding themselves on opposite sides of a political and ethical divide in Oz. This year, we finally get to see director Jon M. Chu tackle the famously difficult and darker second act of Wicked - we discuss if it lives up to the hype and love that the first movie garnered. Then, as we did with Wic...

It's another double bill this week. First up, we review Edgar Wright's latest film, The Running Man, which is an adaptation of Stephen King's 1982 dystopian novel of the same name. It stars Glenn Powell, Katy O'Brian and Josh Brolin and is about a man forced to participate in a deadly state-sanctioned game show where contestants are hunted for entertainment. Following that, we discuss if Guillermo...

The latest in the Predator universe, Predator: Badlands sees the return of Dan Trachtenberg to the helm, following his two previous installments (Prey, and Predator: Killer of Killers). Promising to be a standalone film that’s a look at the Predator species and their culture, it also departs from previous movies by having the titular Predator as the protagonist rather than the antagonist. We talk...

In this episode, we review two new releases by some of the best filmmakers in the world. Kathryn Bigelow is back with another political thriller, A House of Dynamite. It stars Idris Elba and Rebecca Ferguson, and is about the aftermath of an unidentified missile launch that sends global powers scrambling to uncover who’s behind it before catastrophe strikes. Meanwhile, South Korean filmmaker Park...

Keanu Reeves and Sandra Oh as angels, Seth Rogen and Aziz Ansari in a bodyswap, bonus Keke Palmer - random disparate elements, or winning combo? We review Good Fortune (which is also Aziz Ansari’s directorial debut) and find out for ourselves, before turning our attention to the four-decade long career of the iconic Keanu Reeves, and discussing its highs, lows, and of course, whoas. Image Credit:...

It’s the week of Deepavali! This year, we revisit the 2018 film Vada Chennai by acclaimed director Vetrimaaran, which underperformed at the box office when it was first released but has since gained a cult following. It stars Dhanush and follows a skilled carrom player from North Chennai who becomes entangled in the city’s underworld and power struggles over several decades. We review the film, an...

We review One Battle After Another, Leonardo DiCaprio’s first collaboration with Paul Thomas Anderson, which draws on the paranoid humour and tangled conspiracies of Thomas Pynchon's Vineland. On Take 2, we revisit your favourite DiCaprio performances, and on B-Side, we dive into Jonny Greenwood’s soundtrack of tense rhythms that mirrors the film’s spiralling paranoia. Image Credit: IMDb See omnys...

Black Bag is a spy-drama by Steven Soderbergh available to stream on HBO. It follows two legendary intelligence agents, George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) and his wife Kathryn (Cate Blanchett), whose marriage is tested when Kathryn becomes a suspect in a national security leak. But really, it's a film that explores what relationships would look like if everyone in your circle were secret agents...

With Princess Mononoke back in theatres, we thought it would only be right to look back at one of Hayao Miyazaki’s early masterpieces the way it’s meant to be seen: On the biggest screen possible. We also review Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra, a Malayali superhero movie that’s making waves in Indian cinema. Then, we discuss your favourite female-led action movies and series, before deep diving into Joe...

Netflix’s hit gothic mystery series, Wednesday, is back for its highly anticipated second season. The stakes are higher, there are new mysteries to be solved and loads of wild teenage drama too! Meanwhile, Spike Lee and Denzel Washington reunite for Highest 2 Lowest, an English-language remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1963 film High and Low. So, in this episode of Popcorn Culture, we’ve got a double bi...

With Merdeka around the corner, Popcorn Culture celebrates local filmmaking with a review of three local short films: ' Pace ' by Ekin Kee Charles, ' The House of Brick and Stone ' by Ananth Subramaniam and ' Fasa ' by Syahmi Norsan. Then on Take 2, we discuss your favourite Malaysian movies, before hearing from our local filmmakers about the hopes thay have for Malaysian cinema. For this we hear...

Superstar Rajinikanth is back on the big screen with his 171st film, Coolie – a milestone that also marks his 50th year in cinema. Not only that, it’s also the first time he’s teamed up with Lokesh Kanagaraj, who’s arguably the most popular action-film director in India right now. There’s also the star-studded pan-Indian supporting cast – Nagarjuna, Soubin Shahir, Upendra, Shruti Haasan and a came...

This week, we’re reviewing the latest, much-anticipated entry into the Horror Canon of Creepy Children, in the form of Zach Cregger’s Weapons. In it, seventeen children from the same classroom mysteriously run out of their homes towards an unknown target in the middle of the night, going missing, with no reason why. We talk about the movie, and whether it lives up to the acclaim it’s been receivin...

The Police Squad is back in an all-new reboot of The Naked Gun, starring Liam Neeson as Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. - the one man who has the particular set of skills to save the world - and Pamela Anderson as femme fatale, Beth Davenport. So of course, we talk about whether old-timey slapstick comedy still lands in 2025. Then on Take 2, we ask you for your favourite comedies, before diving into Liam Nee...

We're halfway through 2025, so we're looking back at releases we didn’t get to review, beginning with the much-hyped return of Danny Boyle and Alex Garland's '28 Years Later'. We also review the Palestinian film, 'All That's Left of You' which won Best Film at MIFFest, and the beloved Tamil-language 'Tourist Family'. Then, we open up our phone lines and ask listeners for their selections! Image Cr...

The Fantastic Four finally arrive in the MCU in First Steps, a 1960s-set sci-fi adventure from director Matt Shakman. Pedro Pascal leads as the stretchy Reed Richards, alongside Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. After two previously failed attempts at launching these popular comic book characters on the big screen, will the third time finally be the charm? We review the film, an...

This week, we bring you a double-bill review of the 4-hour meditative epic, The Brutalist, in which Adrian Brody portrays a Hungarian architect’s postwar life in America, and Netflix's KPop Demon Hunters, a candy-coloured action romp where a girl group secretly fights demons. Then on Take 2, we ask: are movies just too long now — and which ones actually earn their runtime? Plus, on the B-side, we...

After putting us through the emotional wringer in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, James Gunn is back with another comic book adaptation — this time, not obscure misfits but arguably the most iconic superhero of all: Superman. Starring David Corenswet as the new Man of Steel, this marks the first chapter in Gunn’s ambitious reboot of the DC Universe. Could this be the film that finally sets the DCU...

We review F1, a high‑octane, Hollywood‑polished Formula 1 drama starring Brad Pitt as a washed-up racer turned mentor, and Jurassic World Rebirth, where Scarlett Johansson leads a team to a forbidden island to extract DNA from colossal, mutated dinosaurs for a miracle drug. And then on Take 2, inspired by the original wonder of turning the corner and seeing the brachiosaurus for the first time, we...

We bring you a double bill of Pixar's latest space-venture, Elio, and the live-action version of How to Train Your Dragon. In the former, Pixar bring us a socially alienated boy who's obsessed with aliens and finds himself abducted and having to navigate an intergalactic conflict. In the latter, we have Dean DeBlois, who directed the original animated trilogy, returning to bringing Hiccup and Toot...