The Cult Popcast

Back in Black... Mirror.

There and back again.

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 was such a delight. Man! I can't wait to see what James Gunn is gonna do next. 

Dave! What can you say about this show? It’s on Hulu. It’s funny, sad, inspiring, frustrating… and delightfully weird. Dave Burd is unapologetically himself - but can he learn from his mistakes? Can he grow the f up and find true love? Let’s find out together.

Ted Lasso premiered in 2020 right when the world needed it most. The spirited positivity and optimism of the titular soccer coach filled people with hope through the covid lockdown, and made AppleTV+ a must have service in its opening year. Now, three seasons later, Ted’s story is over, but his legacy will live on in our hearts.

A lot of great shows have wrapped in the last year, and here’s another one. After five successful seasons, Amazon Prime’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is taking a bow. Filled with charm, laughs, and a fantastic cast, showrunner Amy Sherman-Palladino’s comedic period piece will be missed.

Here’s a fun idea for a show: a ridiculous jury trial where everything is fake and everyone is an actor, except for one regular guy who’s not in on the joke. Freevee’s new original series Jury Duty is just that. It’s actually hilarious, and most people haven’t even heard of it. Check a look. (recorded before it  was nominated for any awards)

Oh wow. HBO’s quirky action-speckled dramedy Barry has come to curtain call, and show creator/writer/director/actor Bill Hader is ending it on his own terms. Love it or hate it, there’s really nothing on TV like it. Filled with surprising twists, surreal existentialism, and topical commentary, Barry’s final season is nothing if not creatively bold and original.

The Mandalorian Season 3 has dropped, and things are starting to heat up. But despite making some big moves in the story, Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau’s Disney+ Star Wars series is still prone to rambling and meandering. Let's get it together, guys! This show still has such huge potential…

Succession Season 4 is now over, and the Shakespearean saga of the Roy family has officially come to a close. With a story and setting that deftly satirize the turbulent sociopolitical times we’re living in, it’s no surprise that HBO’s hit show has captured the zeitgeist for several years now. It’s hilarious, it’s sad, and hopefully the people watching have learned something.

| Review | Holy Moses, Ari. You’ve really outdone yourself this time. Beau is Afraid is the third feature film from Ari Aster, the acclaimed A24 auteur who gave us Hereditary and Midsommar. This film is not like either of those, though. This is a batsh*t insane surrealist odyssey into the deeply troubled mind and memory of Beau Wassermann, played by Joaquin Phoenix. Strap in boys and girls. And pl...

| Review | The bad batch is back, and it’s looking like a much needed win for Disney+. We pick up with Omega and the squad as they’re running dangerous odd jobs just to make a living out in this new Imperial controlled galaxy. Meanwhile, illusive new threats are rising in dark corners of the Empire. I’m just going to say it: The Bad Batch Season 2 is some good Star Wars.

| Review | You’re a wizard, Steven! We’ve got another video game cast today to talk Hogwarts Legacy, the Wizarding World action RPG from Avalanche Software and Warner Bros Games released earlier this year. Set a hundred years before the events of Harry Potter, this carefully crafted open world experience has arrived amidst some controversy. But is it good? Special guest Matt Amick is here to help...

| Review | AppleTV+ continues to build up their growing catalog of uplifting dramadies with Shrinking, where Jason Segel plays a grieving therapist who throws caution to the wind and starts telling his clients what he really thinks. Hijinks ensue. Amd they got Harrison Ford in there too!

| Review | How do you like them Jordans? Benjamin Affleck and Matthew Damon are reunited once again in Air, the new historical bi-epic that chronicles the signing of young basketball prodigy Michael Jordan to a flailing running shoe company called Nike. Man the 80's were cool...

| Review | Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a movie that nobody expected to be as good as it was. It was hilarious, clever, and full of heart, all while wrapped in this vividly depicted fantasy world. Clearly John Francis Daley and Jon Goldstein love the source material. Hey, you guys wanna play DnD sometime?

| Review | Dread it, run from it, Nintendo arrives all the same. And now it's here: The Super Mario Bros. Movie has smashed records to become the second highest grossing animated film of all time. That's over a billion bucks, courtesy of Brooklyn's little red plumber turned multidimensional hero.

| Review | All this, for a dog? Almost a decade after Keanu's titular once-retired hitman took the world by storm, he's back to end his desperate crusade, once and for all. With the stunts and world-building as wonderfully ambitious as ever, John Wick: Chapter 4 shows this franchise still has gas in the tank. Rest in peace Lance <3

| Review | After over thirty years in the making, VFX legend Phil Tippet has finally completed his twisted stop motion passion project, Mad God. If you enjoy darkly macabre and generally insane art, then this one-way descent into dystopian hellscape is the fever dream for you.

| Review | Accomplished Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul is a master of the slow, meditative cinema. His latest film, Memoria, is no exception; it's a fascinating sensory experience that asks big questions and answers very little. Don't worry though, Tilda Swinton is here to hold your hand.

| Review | Korean cinema is back on the menu with Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave. Typically known for his stylish and provocative plots of sensual trysts and violent revenge, Park cools off just a little here to capture a more contemplative and intimate noir between an insomniac detective and his supposed femme fatale. From the camera play to the language dynamic - there are some pretty cool c...

| Review | Four years ago, Shazam! was a breath of fresh air in the messy DC superhero pipeline of the time. It’s sequel, Shazam! Fury of the Gods tries to capture that lightning in a bottle for a second time. Unfortunately, the movie seems doomed to failure because of massive delays, and then dropping shortly after the announcement of a hard James Gunn flavored reset for the entire Warner Brother...

| Review | Finally, a really good video game adaptation. You wouldn’t think it would be that hard to pull from years of highly successful IP, but here we are (looking at you, Halo). HBO gets it though. They’ve just created another cultural sensation with The Last of Us, a big budget television take on the classic Playstation action-adventure game of the same name. It’s been 10 years since this sto...

| Review | Apex predator, high on cocaine… yeah, this is cinema. Elizabeth Banks’ Cocaine Bear is a campy B-movie premise wrapped in Hollywood quality production - it’s a fun, bloody, hilarious, terrifying, and heart-warming romp with a great cast. In the words of that one kid, “It seems like the kinda thing that stays with a man forever.”

| Review | Ladies and gentlemen, the next era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has officially kicked off with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. While deeply flawed in many ways, the latest Peyton Reed flick does give us more of the fantastic actor Jonathan Majors. There’s also some fun quantum realm aliens and Paul Rudd. Everybody likes Paul Rudd!