Pop Culture Happy Hour

@popculturehappyhour · Podcast

Latest segments

• Apatow's Bamford documentary, 2026-10-30
  Recommends the Bamford documentary warmly
  A What's Making Us Happy pick of the Apatow and Berkley documentary: Bamford's early violin act, her years as a Target spokesperson, and the affection of the interview subjects. Warm recommendation, no new reporting on the film.
• Wildwood opens, 2026-10-27
  Walks through the Portland texture and soundtrack
  Walks through the film's Portland texture - Powell's Books, Voodoo Donuts, a wagon labeled Malloy Flyer - and the tired-eyed character design, then weighs the Decemberists' soundtrack against Meloy's sensibility. Adds a few production details to the review.
• Wildwood opens, 2026-10-27
  Reviews the hand-built visuals and runtime
  Reviews Laika's Wildwood with critic Monica Castillo: the hand-built visuals, the dark stakes and the two-hour-plus runtime that makes it the longest stop-motion film ever made. Enthusiastic, but it stays inside the review.
• Clayface review, 2026-10-26
  Wraps the review with the romance subplot
  Wraps the review with the romance subplot, a baffled read of the screening crowd's cheering, and speculation about a Gotham built on organized crime and the Royal Flush Gang. Reaction and forecast, staying inside the film's release.
• Clayface review, 2026-10-26
  Digs into the film's vanity and aging themes
  Digs into the film's themes of vanity and aging, its heavy exposition and its Batman: The Animated Series Easter eggs, and notes it sits in the DCU rather than the Reeves-Pattinson universe. Analysis and reaction, staying inside the review conversation.
• Clayface review, 2026-10-26
  Debates whether the body horror works
  Reviews the film's plot and debates whether the body horror works, with one host wanting more of it and another recoiling from the stabbings. Stays inside the review, adding only Watkins' horror credits and the AI-nanotech premise.
• Wicker opens, 2026-10-23
  Debates the wicker husband's agency
  Long thematic debate on Wicker: the wicker husband's lack of agency, the fisherwoman's eventual acknowledgment that he belongs to himself, the village dance, the bar conversation, and the film's horniness. Interpretation and reaction, staying inside the review the panel already opened.
• Wicker opens, 2026-10-23
  Reviews the premise and Colman's grounding
  Reviews the film on its opening: the wicker-husband premise, the matrimonial collar, the unnamed villagers, and Colman's grounding of the broad satire. The panel lands on cozy fall watch, with Thompson wishing it had gone weirder.
• New Sense and Sensibility film, 2026-10-20
  Recaps the adaptation's Austen lineage
  Long segment on the new adaptation's Austen lineage: the 1970s TV first, the 1995 film, the pending Netflix Pride and Prejudice, age-fudging, and Fiona Shaw's Mrs. Jennings. It retells the earthy, tactile read the panel already put on the record.
• New Sense and Sensibility film, 2026-10-20
  Reviews the new film against the 1995 version
  Reviews the new Sense and Sensibility adaptation against the 1995 Ang Lee film, praising its muddy, earthy look and the sisters' relationship, and noting its emphasis on the Dashwood family's financial fall and the sisters' lack of agency.
• Fielder's Holmes documentary, 2026-10-16
  Debates whether the later scenes are scripted
  Debates whether the film's later scenes, especially those with Amanda Seyfried, are scripted or authentic, comparing it to Four Daughters and The Act of Killing. It stays inside the question of the film's form rather than adding to the record.
• Fielder's Holmes documentary, 2026-10-16
  Walks through the second half and Seyfried's role
  Walks through the film's second half: Billy Evans raising money for a new company, Fielder sensing Evans makes every decision himself, and Amanda Seyfried joining for reenactments of unfilmed moments. Adds the post-incarceration timeline and Seyfried's role, neither on the record.
• Fielder's Holmes documentary, 2026-10-16
  Reviews the first half and its missing explanation
  Reviews the first half of the Fielder-Holmes documentary: Linda Holmes, an Elizabeth Holmes completist, argues it never explains what Holmes was accused of, while the others defend its existential questions and style.
• Other Mommy opens, 2026-10-14
  Reviews Other Mommy and faults its lack of buildup
  Reviews the new horror film Other Mommy, covering its viral trailer, Jessica Chastain's performance, and the box office weekend, and faults the movie for having no skepticism or buildup.
• Netflix's East of Eden, 2026-10-07
  Reviews the casting and the Kathy backstory
  Reviews Netflix's East of Eden adaptation: the casting, the seven-hour sweep, and the script's habit of telling rather than showing. The panel splits on whether the expanded Kathy backstory deepens the novel's question about inherent evil or dodges it.
• Primetime film, 2026-09-25
  Reviews the film and Hansen's NDA
  Full review of the film: the stylized, claustrophobic approach, Pattinson's Hansen as an empty vessel, Weaver's kindergarten-teacher producer, and the unfavourable comparison to the documentary Predators. It puts on the record that Hansen was asked to sign an NDA and has spoken out against the film without seeing it.