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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Get obsessed with us. Four days a week, Pop Culture Happy Hour serves you recommendations and commentary on the buzziest movies, TV, music, books, videogames and more. Join arts journalists Linda Holmes, Glen Weldon, Stephen Thompson, and Aisha Harris - plus a rotating cast of guest pop culture aficionados. The Happy Hour team leaves room at the table for exploring a range of reactions and opinions on every bit of the pop universe. From lowbrow to highbrow to the stuff in between, they take it all with a shot of cheer.Make your happy hour even happier with Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus! Your subscription supports the podcast and unlocks a sponsor-free feed. Learn more at plus.npr.org/happyhour

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Episodes

Normal and What?s Making Us Happy

Bob Odenkirk has pivoted from sketch comedy to dramatic acting and, most recently, to late-middle-aged action star. In the new film Normal, he plays a small-town sheriff who finds out his small town isn?t so normal after all, which will of course require some sexagenarian butt-kicking. The cast includes Henry Winkler and Lena Headey, and was written by Derek Kolstad, the mind behind the John Wick franchise. 

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2026-04-17
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We Watch Classic Movies For The First Time

We've all been there. A major movie is mentioned, you shrug, sheepishly, and someone says, "I can't believe you've never seen that!" Today, in this encore episode, we make a dent in our own lists of classic films we somehow had not yet gotten to, including Erin Brockovich, Enter the Dragon, Raging Bull, and Flower Drum Song.

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2026-04-16
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Great TV We Missed

There?s a lot of TV worth recommending out there. So today we?re spotlighting some television we didn?t have time to talk about earlier this year, including Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat, Ponies, Blossoms Shanghai, and Deadloch.

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2026-04-14
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Big Mistakes

Dan Levy co-created and starred in the beloved Schitt?s Creek. And now he?s back with a new comedy on Netflix that?s got a very different vibe. In Big Mistakes, Levy and Taylor Ortega play dysfunctional siblings who get drawn deeper and deeper into the world of organized crime, even as their mom ? the great Laurie Metcalf ? runs for public office.

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2026-04-13
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You, Me & Tuscany and What?s Making Us Happy

?She came for the pasta, and got lost in the sauce.? That?s the brilliant tagline for the zesty new rom-com You, Me, & Tuscany. Halle Bailey stars as a broke twenty-something who decides to fulfill a dream and fly to Tuscany on a whim. There she meets a hot winemaker played by Regé-Jean Page. But this is an old-school movie with classic rom-com machinations, so it?ll take at least a three-course meal and a few vinos to get these two beautiful people together.

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2026-04-10
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How We Handle Spoilers

We?ve all been there: Maybe somebody tells you too much about the twist ending of a movie, or they tell you who dies at the end. In other words, you?ve run into a spoiler. The discourse around The Drama has us thinking: how should you handle spoilers, and what even counts as a spoiler? We talk about Star Wars, The Sixth Sense, and even the American Idol finale. 

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2026-04-09
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The Pitt

In HBO Max's The Pitt, an ER full of doctors, nurses and staff are put through tense, high-stakes shifts. The first season was a critical success and won the show a raft of Emmy Awards. Now the second season is close to an end, and while this shift has been less catastrophic in some ways, it's clear that everyone, including attending physician Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) is stretched very, very thin. 

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2026-04-08
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The Drama: Spoiler Episode

The Drama is a dark and twisty comedy starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson as a storybook couple preparing for their upcoming wedding. But just days before the big day, she reveals a horrifying truth about her past self that threatens to undo their nuptials, and their bond. In this spoiler-packed episode, we?re getting into that reveal, and all the surprising drama of the movie.

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2026-04-06
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The Drama and What?s Making Us Happy

In the dark comedy The Drama, Zendaya and Robert Pattinson are getting married, but maybe they shouldn?t? The stars play a couple in full-on prep mode for their upcoming wedding, though when a shocking secret is revealed, suddenly their love for one another doesn?t seem all that secure.

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2026-04-03
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The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is the ultimate piece of Nintendo fan service. Mario (Chris Pratt), Luigi (Charlie Day), Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) are on an outer space adventure to save Princess Rosalina (Brie Larson). The film features other beloved Nintendo characters like Bowser (Jack Black)  and Yoshi (Donald Glover) ? and a few surprises. It?s a sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which made more than a billion dollars worldwide.

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2026-04-02
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The Comeback

Lisa Kudrow is back in HBO?s beloved comedy The Comeback. It?s been more than a decade since we last saw sitcom star Valerie Cherish, and her present situation is bleak. The new show she?s starring in is being written by AI. But if we know anything about Val, it?s that she?ll always seize an opportunity, setbacks be damned.

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2026-04-01
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Hannah Montana

This year marks 20 years since Hannah Montana premiered on the Disney Channel. The show made a global phenomenon of star Miley Cyrus and her pop-star alter ego. It's been streamed millions of hours since going off the air, and influenced the next generation of pop stars like Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter. With the new Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special on Disney Plus, we figured it?s a good time to look back at the legacy of the show, and where it fits into Miley?s career.

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2026-03-31
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Bait and What?s Making Us Happy

In the whimsical Prime Video comedy series Bait, the great Riz Ahmed plays Shah, an actor in the middle of a career downturn who lands an audition to be the next James Bond. But when this leaks to the public, the social media reactions to the possibility of a brown 007 are unhinged. And one particularly disturbing response shakes Shah?s confidence and sends his personal life into a tailspin.

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2026-03-27
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BTS Arirang

BTS, one of the biggest groups in K-pop, is back. Arirang is the group?s first full-length album following a hiatus in which the members released solo projects and served in South Korea?s military. It?s a brash, catchy comeback, with a mix of hip-hop, pop, and R&B. And like their previous hits, Arirang is bound to make a mark on the Billboard charts. 

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2026-03-25
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The Reality TV Show We?d Actually Win

Part of the fun of reality TV is putting yourself in the shoes of the people you're watching. Maybe you'd make a great Real Housewife. Maybe you could win The Amazing Race. In this encore episode, we're not here to make friends. But we are here to pick the reality shows that we think could thrive on.

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2026-03-24
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Ready or Not 2: Here I Come

The cheeky horror comedy Ready Or Not starred Samara Weaving as a bride who?s forced to partake in her new family?s game of hide and seek, which turns quite deadly. Ready or Not 2: Here I Come picks up right where the previous story left off, but this time with more lore, more gore, and more stars like Elijah Wood, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Kathryn Newton.

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2026-03-23
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Project Hail Mary and What?s Making Us Happy

Ryan Gosling has teamed up with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The Lego Movie and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) for the new sci-fi movie Project Hail Mary. It?s based on a novel by Andy Weir (The Martian), and tells the story of a molecular biologist who winds up on a one-way mission into space to save Earth?s population. If that all sounds incredibly bleak, fear not: you can expect quirk, charm, and a cutesy alien creature.

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2026-03-20
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Rooster

Steve Carell is a writer of pulpy crime novels and a hapless new writing teacher at a small college in the HBO comedy series Rooster. His daughter (Charly Clive) is also a teacher, and she?s the subject of campus gossip because her husband just dumped her for a student. The show?s got a great cast, including Danielle Deadwyler and John C. McGinley, and one of its creators is Bill Lawrence of Scrubs, Shrinking and Ted Lasso.

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2026-03-18
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Scarpetta

In the Prime Video series Scarpetta, Nicole Kidman plays a tough, smart medical examiner whose latest murder case is entangled with a much earlier one. The show's got a big cast including Jamie Lee Curtis, Bobby Cannavale and Ariana DeBose. Scarpetta is based on a series of successful crime novels by Patricia Cornwell.


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2026-03-17
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Our 2026 Oscars Recap

At the Oscars, One Battle After Another took home six awards including best picture, Michael B. Jordan won for lead actor in Sinners, and the telecast had plenty of jokes at Timothée Chalamet?s expense. We?re recapping the highs and lows of the 2026 Oscars.

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2026-03-16
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2026 Oscars Guide and What's Making Us Happy

We've watched all the nominees in the major categories for the Oscars including Sinners, One Battle After Another, Hamnet, and Marty Supreme. So we?ve got opinions about what will win and what should win. (And yes, we?ll talk about Timothée Chalamet.)

For a list of our favorite Oscar nominated films, check out our list at Letterboxd ? at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture.

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2026-03-13
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What Makes A Great Cast?

This year, there's finally an Oscar being awarded for casting. The nominees are the casting directors for Sinners, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, and The Secret Agent. That got us thinking - what makes a great cast, anyway? Today, we spent some time talking about some of the nominees and casting generally.

For a list of films we discussed, check out our list at Letterboxd ? at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture.

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2026-03-12
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Harry Styles Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.

Harry Styles just released his new album Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. It?s his fourth solo album since leaving the boy band One Direction, and the follow-up to Harry?s House, which won album of the year at the Grammys. The new album is a fairly radical departure, inspired by dance floors and post-punk music. But it still swoons, as any Harry Styles record must.

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2026-03-11
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Hoppers

In Disney and Pixar?s delightful new film Hoppers, a young woman (Piper Curda) learns a beloved glade is under threat from the town?s slimy mayor (Jon Hamm). But luckily, she discovers that her college professor has developed technology that can let her live as one of the critters she loves ? by allowing her mind to ?hop? into an animatronic beaver. And it just might just allow her to help save the glade from serious risk of destruction.

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2026-03-09
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The Bride! and What's Making Us Happy

The Bride! goes way beyond a simple tale of literature?s most famous reanimated corpses. Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal and starring Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale, the film is a wild take on the bride of Frankenstein?s monster. It follows her origin story, her relationship with the big lug himself, and her pursuit of her own distinct identity. 

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2026-03-06
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Love Story

John F. Kennedy Jr. was an object of public fixation his entire life, and he?s now the subject of the FX series Love Story. It focuses on Kennedy?s (Paul Anthony Kelly) relationship with his wife, Carolyn Bessette (Sarah Pidgeon). The show follows their courtship, their marriage, and the great strain that she experienced as part of what was, for a time, one of the most closely watched couples in the world.

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2026-03-04
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The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins

The new comedy series The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins stars Tracy Morgan as a disgraced former football star and Daniel Radcliffe as a documentary filmmaker who team up to make a movie. I know what you?re saying - another mockumentary sitcom? What if I told you that the creators come from shows like 30 Rock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Girls5eva? And that the joke density bears that out? The NBC/Peacock series also stars Erika Alexander, Bobby Moynihan and Craig Robinson.


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2026-03-03
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Industry

HBO?s addictive drama Industry has never been afraid to wade in the muck, and the fourth season and finale was especially messy. The paths of frenemies Harper (Myha?la) and Yasmin (Marisa Abela) erratically converged and diverged, Sir Henry Muck (Kit Harington) lands at a fintech startup, and the parallels to real-life headlines became impossible not to notice. So after that harrowing season finale, we?re wondering what just happened, and where might the show go from here?

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2026-03-02
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Scream 7 and What's Making Us Happy

The OG Scream Queen Neve Campbell returns. Scream 7 re-centers the franchise back on Sidney Prescott. She has a new life, a family, and lots of baggage. You know the drill: Someone dressing up as the masked slasher Ghostface comes for her, her family and friends. There?s lots of stabbing and murder and so many red herrings it?s practically a smorgasbord.

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2026-02-27
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Our Favorite Movies On Tubi

The streaming service Tubi has become a repository for a wild assortment of movies, TV shows, and original properties. They?re all free to watch, provided you?re willing to sit through some ads. So we asked some Tubi-philes to recommend some great movies that you can find on the service: Hundreds of Beavers, Color Out of Space, Petey Wheatstraw, and Mambo Italiano.


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2026-02-26
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The Traitors

The Peacock reality show The Traitors has become weekly appointment television, as the always impeccably dressed Alan Cumming presides over an unfriendly game full of alliances, secrets, treachery and murder. This season has been rich with drama. Players like Love Island contestant Rob Rausch and former Real Housewife Lisa Rinna have created some truly memorable moments in Traitors history. Ahead of the finale, we convene in the turret to debrief on it all.

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2026-02-25
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Paradise

In Hulu's twisty drama series Paradise, Sterling K. Brown plays a Secret Service agent caught up in a web of intrigue after the president of the United States (James Marsden) is assassinated, with no suspect in sight. But at the end of the first episode, we learn this show is about way more than the murder of the head of state. From Dan Fogelman (This is Us), the series is back for a second season, so we?re revisiting our conversation about the show. 

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2026-02-23
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Winter Olympics and What?s Making Us Happy

The Winter Olympics are well underway, and we?ve got thoughts from an avid Olympics watcher and a reporter who?s covering the games in Italy. Whether it?s butt on the couch or feet on the ground ? we?ve got you covered.

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2026-02-20
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America?s Next Top Model

America?s Next Top Model has been rewatched in the years since its 2003 premiere, and its handling of race, body image, and other issues has been loudly and heavily criticized. A new Netflix docuseries Reality Check: Inside America?s Next Top Model interviews the major players including Tyra Banks, J. Alexander, Jay Manuel and Nigel Barker. And it doesn?t let Tyra off easy.

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2026-02-19
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How To Get To Heaven From Belfast

Netflix?s How To Get To Heaven From Belfast is the new series from the creator of the beloved show Derry Girls. It follows three very messy longtime friends working together to solve a mystery from their youth. Part mystery and part comedy, it?s a darkly funny adventure through Ireland and elsewhere, as they elude various pursuers, reopen old wounds, and try to find answers about what has happened to a friend they lost along the way.


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2026-02-17
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Pillion

In Pillion, a.k.a. the ?gay BDSM biker movie,? a meek young man named Colin (Harry Melling) meets a handsome, broody biker played by Alexander Skarsgård who brings out his submissive side. They enter into a sub/dom relationship, but the biker remains so mysterious and withholding that Colin starts to want more ? endangering the bond the two men share. 

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2026-02-16
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?Wuthering Heights? and What?s Making Us Happy

In the new film ?Wuthering Heights,? Margot Robbie stars as headstrong and horny Cathy, and Jacob Elordi as brooding and horny Heathcliff. Their love on the wild windswept moors is passionate, doomed and pretty bonkers. From writer and director Emerald Fennell, the film has love, lust, hatred, revenge, and lots of lusty looks in the soaking rain.


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2026-02-13
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Best Book to Movie Adaptations

What?s your favorite movie that started life as a book? And what makes for a great book to film adaptation, anyway? We?ve got some examples of beloved books that made the transition to the big screen, and we?re prepared to discuss and debate why each of them works ? and why we believe they?re the best of all time. We talk about: Blade Runner, Little Women, Nickel Boys, and Starship Troopers.

For even more of our favorite book to film adaptations, check out our list at Letterboxd ? at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture.


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2026-02-12
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The Pop Culture Hill I?ll Die On

We've all got that one argument we're always making: that non-negotiable stance, that immutable truth we're sticking to no matter what. Today, we're revisiting our conversation about the pop culture hills we'll die on. We discuss: Jacob Elordi, Timothée Chalamet, boss battles in video games, Bryan Adams, and attending concerts.

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2026-02-10
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Bad Bunny Super Bowl Halftime Show

At the Super Bowl halftime show, Bad Bunny put on an endlessly rewatchable performance. It featured Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin, and a real wedding. But it didn?t shy away from this political moment, and Bad Bunny?s place in the culture wars.

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2026-02-09
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Charli xcx, The Moment and What?s Making Us Happy

Remember Brat Summer? Charli xcx has turned the aftermath of her mainstream success into a movie called The Moment. It?s a hyperpop faux documentary commenting upon the intense response to her album, Brat, and Charli?s fickle relationship with stardom. Can Charli keep the Brat momentum going? Does she even want to? The film also features Alexander Skarsgård, Hailey Benton Gates, and Kylie Jenner.

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2026-02-06
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Wonder Man

Marvel?s new Disney+ series Wonder Man is a sensible buddy comedy where Yahya Abdul-Mateen II plays a down-on-his-luck actor (with incredible superpowers) trying to make it in Hollywood, and Ben Kingsley plays his new friend with a dark past. Safe to say it?s not what most Marvel fans are expecting ? and that?s a good thing.

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2026-02-04
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2026 Sundance Film Festival: Best Movies

We watched a ton of movies and we?re recommending some of the best things we saw at this year?s Sundance Film Festival. This includes a thrilling adventure starring Ethan Hawke, a quiet romance with Chris Pine, and quite possibly the best documentary we?ll see all year.
For a complete list of the movies we loved at Sundance, Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd

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2026-02-03
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2026 Grammys Recap

This year?s Grammy Awards featured historic wins for Bad Bunny and Kendrick Lamar, performances from Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, and occasional chaos. And it was a night of speeches that reflected this moment in America.


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2026-02-02
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Send Help and What?s Making Us Happy

In the new comic horror film Send Help, Rachel McAdams finds out the answer to the age-old hypothetical, ?what if you were stranded on a desert island?? ? except she?s stuck there with her terrible boss (Dylan O?Brien). The dynamic between them shifts and shifts again as they try to survive long enough to be rescued.

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2026-01-30
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Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

Star Trek fans are finally getting something they?ve wanted for a long time, and it doesn?t disappoint. The new series Star Trek: Starfleet Academy takes place at the college attended by kids who want to become officers in Starfleet. It stars Holly Hunter as the school?s chancellor, Paul Giamatti as a recurring bad guy, and a roster of hot young cadets who have classes to attend and lessons to learn.


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2026-01-29
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The Beauty

The Beauty stars familiar faces from the Ryan Murphy universe, including Evan Peters, as well as new collaborators like Ashton Kutcher. In the show, a genetic biotech serum has been engineered to transform people into ridiculously good-looking supermodels. But there?s at least one problem: Eventually, those supermodels are dying suddenly, horrifically and spectacularly. Is it astute commentary, crass exploitation, or maybe a bit of both? Well, it?s definitely a Ryan Murphy production, through and through.

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2026-01-27
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A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

The HBO series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms may be set in the same fantasy world as Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, but it?s a small, grounded story ? a kind of medieval buddy comedy. It follows a sweet but dim knight (Peter Claffey) and his wise-beyond-his-years young squire (Dexter Sol Ansell) trying to make their way in a tough world. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is based on a series of novellas by George R.R. Martin.


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2026-01-26
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One Battle After Another and What?s Making Us Happy

One Battle After Another earned 13 Oscar nominations - including best picture, best director and a lead actor nomination for Leonardo DiCaprio. In the action-thriller, DiCaprio plays a washed up ex-revolutionary searching for his missing daughter while raging against the machine. In this case, the machine is unabashedly racist, xenophobic, and corrupt. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, the ensemble also includes Sean Penn, Teyana Taylor and Benicio del Toro. Today, we?re revisiting our episode about the film that originally aired in September 2025.
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2026-01-23
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2026 Oscar Nominations

This year?s Oscars nominations are here, and we?re unpacking record-breaking nominations for Sinners, plus nominations for One Battle After Another and Hamnet. And as always, there?s an eclectic mix of heavy favorites, left-field surprises, and the dreaded snubs. We give a broad sense of this year?s major storylines, while also lamenting a few decisions we found baffling.

By the way, you can check out our episodes on the nominees here:

Bugonia

F1

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

The Secret Agent

Sentimental Value

Sinners

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2026-01-22
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