The Cult Popcast

| Review | Time for some season’s beatings! Santa Claus comes to town in Violent Night, a jolly little Christmas action flick that takes itself just the right amount of seriously. With equal parts Die Hard, Home Alone, and Bad Santa, this might be another holiday staple. Merry Christmas you filthy animals.

| Review | In August 2020, Chadwick Boseman passed away. The Black Panther’s legacy was iconic, and director Ryan Coogler determined not to recast the character, but to continue his story through his family. While not a perfect film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is an inspired and bittersweet end to “Phase Four” of the MCU, and it introduces newcomer Tenoch Huerta as Namor, ruler of the underwat...

| Review | The dead speak! Tales of the Jedi is a short and sweet anthology of bonus Clone Wars episodes designed to fill out the lives of two beloved characters in particular: Count Dooku and Ahsoka Tano. We get more Qui-Gon, need I say more?

| Review | “I just don’t like ya no more.” What happens when your best friend suddenly stops wanting to have anything to do with you? Enter Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson in The Banshees of Inisherin, a darkly humorous drama from Martin McDonagh set in 1920’s coastal Ireland.

| Review | Game of Thrones is back, baby! Despite the profoundly terrible end to the original show, HBO has since invested a great deal of time and money into producing more stories from the mind of George R. R. Martin. House of the Dragon is the first of these to see the light of day. Set many generations before the Mad King was deposed by Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark, this story recounts a blo...

| Review | The pandemic was hard on everyone, especially celebrities. In his tragic boredom, movie star Ryan Reynolds teamed up with It’s Always Sunny’s Rob McElhenney to buy an old professional football club from Wales. Wales. FX/Hulu’s Welcome to Wrexham is the documentary series following their efforts to restore the ailing team to greatness, and revitalize the local community.

| Review | Well, well, bless my beard! There’s a new series based on Tolkien’s legendarium? And made by Amazon? Surely this won’t be divisive. Especially with it being the most expensive show in history at nearly half a billion dollars for just the first season! Today’s cast is regarding The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, and it tells the tale of the Second Age of Middle-earth.

| Review | Documenting the absurd voyage of an ill-fated luxury yacht, Triangle of Sadness is the new hilariously irreverent social satire from Ruben Östlund, complete with class warfare and political discourse. Warning: there be explosive sewage and projectile vomit.

| Review | Can you smell what The Rock is cooking? Hint: it’s another mediocre entry into a floundering DC cinematic universe. Black Adam isn’t a total waste - there is some cool CGI action, a fun peek at the Justice Society, and Pierce Brosnan chewing the scenery as Doctor Fate. Here’s to hoping James Gunn can fix DC now that he’s in charge.

| Review | She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is a show that is difficult to describe. It’s a clever sitcom with moments of genius, but ultimately it’s just another “Phase Four” Marvel Disney+ series. Think Ally McBeal, but green. And large.

| Review | If you want to dance the masque, you must service the composer. One of Gabe’s favorite movies of the year is Tár, the first feature from Todd Field after a 16 year hiatus.  It’s a complex look at the human condition - a tragic and topical story of ambition, ego, and lust in a time of awareness and accountability. Also, Cate Blanchett is a force of nature.

| Review | Happy Halloween! The Disney+ content machine churns on with a very special presentation for today’s cast. Werewolf by Night is a 50 minute homage to classic creature features and vintage horror cinema. Turns out Michael Giacchino is a pretty good director too.

| Analysis | What kind of name is “The Cult Popcast” anyway? It sounds ridiculous. Today’s cast is just a little catching up for Steven and Gabe, as they soberly celebrate two hundred episodes of subjectively high quality content, and discuss what the future may hold.

| Review | Death can have him, when it earns him. Grizzled warrior Kratos of Sparta returns in God of War: Ragnarök, the new action-adventure game from Santa Monica Studio and hotly anticipated sequel to 2018's critically acclaimed reboot of the legacied franchise. This epic tale finds our familiar cast of heroes contending with the end of the world as they know it. But can the God of War topple E...

| Review | Wow. So… Blonde is a heavily stylized depiction of the sensational life of Marilyn Monroe - the pulp culture icon and facade worn by troubled actress Norma Jeane. The cinematography on display here is gorgeous, and Ana de Armas gives everything she has to portray the tragic figure, but ultimately this film is kind of a wash. Andrew Dominik was clearly more interested in dwelling in the...

| Review | “Life is fantastic.” Those are the words of David Bowie, the larger than life musician and performer who captured the hearts and minds of young people many times over in the course of a long, prolific career. Moonage Daydream is his story; part archival biopic and part bombastic rock opera concert experience, this film takes us beyond the characters and eras of the iconic artist, to dis...

| Review | New Florence Pugh joint just dropped! Don’t Worry Darling is only Olivia Wilde’s second directorial feature, but it’s clear she has a keen eye and unique voice for the game. However - what would have otherwise been a surreal voyage into the mysterious and enigmatic Victory Project is unfortunately let down by a script that started strong but couldn’t fully satisfy in the end.

| Review | In 1994, an intimate little indie flick called Clerks launched the career and cult following of Kevin Smith. Now, a dozen feature films and a full generation later, Smith has returned to the Quick Stop to revisit and complete the tale of Randal and Dante. Clerks III is the capstone of a very personal journey for Smith, and, thankfully, it’s the rowdy, fun, and deeply emotional return to...

| Review | Every once in a while, a movie comes out of nowhere to shock and delight audiences with creative filmmaking and subversive storytelling. Barbarian is one of those. This incredibly suspenseful (and at times hilarious) horror-thriller from Zach Cregger is the dark horse screamer flick of 2022. Don’t watch any trailers, just go to the theater and watch it. If you dare.

| Analysis | Breaking Bad is a legendary TV show, but people weren’t exactly clamoring for a Saul Goodman spin-off ten years ago. Fast forward to 2022, and Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould have crafted a prequel that not only enriches the original series, but in some respects surpasses its predecessor. Better call Saul!

| Analysis | Today’s cast is a throwback to a better time - a simpler time. Steven Spielberg’s E.T. was released 40 years ago, but its mark on popular culture remains indelible. The boys recently had the chance to watch it in IMAX for its 40th Anniversary, so we’re going to talk about why it’s so good, both superficially and on a deeper level.

| Analysis | Wow, a rare music-type TCP podcast!? You know that’s right. After paying respects to the late Queen of England, the boys go over one of Gabe’s favorite LPs of the year: Jackpot Juicer from Dance Gavin Dance. Let’s pop off!

| Analysis | Neil Gaiman is one of the most beloved English authors to emerge from the tail end of the 20th century. He’s know for expansive, fantastical literary allusions and anthropomorphizing metaphysical forces. As you can imagine, such thematically lofty conceits can be difficult to translate to screen. Netflix heard that and said hold my beer, we’re adapting Gaiman’s massively popular DC co...

| Review | Big shocker here, A24 is back at it again with another banger! Halina Reijn’s ‘Bodies Bodies Bodies’ is a hilarious and suspenseful “whodunit” thriller that adeptly balances its familiar premise with a surprisingly shrewd commentary on the psychological state of Generation Z.

| Review | If it bleeds, we can kill it. And after the bloody mess that was Shane Black’s 'The Predator' in 2018, I thought the iconic action-adventure franchise might be done for. But alas! Dan Trachtenberg’s 'Prey' breathes new life into its mythology with a more intimate period piece following a young Comanche warrior on the Great Plains of colonial North America.