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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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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

Most Recent Episodes

Ethan Hawke as The Grabber in Black Phone 2.

Ethan Hawke as The Grabber in Black Phone 2. Sabrina Lantos/Universal Pictures and Blumhouse hide caption

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Sabrina Lantos/Universal Pictures and Blumhouse

In ‘Black Phone 2,’ The Grabber is dialed in

Grabbers gonna grab, even from beyond the grave. In Black Phone 2, Ethan Hawke returns from the dead as the serial killer who hides behind a demonic mask. It’s four years later, and the siblings (Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw) who survived the Grabber’s killing spree are having a hard time with things. They head off to camp to investigate Gwen's psychic nightmares of the Grabber's early victims.

Black Phone 2 And What’s Making Us Happy

Listen · 18:34
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Channing Tatum in Roofman.

Channing Tatum in Roofman. Paramount Pictures hide caption

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Paramount Pictures

Channing Tatum charms his way into big trouble in ‘Roofman’

In the new movie Roofman, Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst ooze with their signature charm and chemistry. Tatum plays an exceptionally savvy military veteran who robs fast food joints by entering through the rooftops. Eventually he gets caught and sent to prison, but he’s able to escape and hides out in a Toys “R” Us for several months undetected. Obviously, he can only survive on M&Ms and keep up the ruse for so long before the roof comes crashing down on him. Consequences!

Roofman

Listen · 17:44
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Andrew Garfield as Hank and Julia Roberts as Alma in After the Hunt.

Andrew Garfield as Hank and Julia Roberts as Alma in After the Hunt. Amazon MGM Studios hide caption

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Amazon MGM Studios

Julia Roberts shines in the muddled 'After the Hunt'

In the new movie After The Hunt, Julia Roberts plays a Yale professor who finds herself in a hard place when one of her star students (Ayo Edebiri) makes an allegation against another faculty member (Andrew Garfield). Who’s telling the truth? Who’s the victim? Is there a victim? Directed by Luca Guadagnino (Challengers, Call Me by Your Name) the film poses a lot of questions. But are any of them answered?

After the Hunt

Listen · 17:55
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Jennifer Lopez in Kiss of the Spider Woman.

Jennifer Lopez in Kiss of the Spider Woman. Roadside Attractions hide caption

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Roadside Attractions

'Kiss of the Spider Woman' features great drama and meh music

Jennifer Lopez stars in the new film adaptation of Kiss of the Spider Woman. Set in an Argentine prison, one man (Tonatiuh) tells his cellmate (Diego Luna) the story of his favorite old Hollywood musical, starring the silver screen goddess he worships – that’s J. Lo. The musical is packed with glitz, glamour and songs written by Kander and Ebb, the minds behind Cabaret and Chicago.

Kiss of the Spider Woman

Listen · 22:02
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Greta Lee in TRON: Ares.

Greta Lee in TRON: Ares. Leah Gallo/Disney hide caption

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Leah Gallo/Disney

Reality bytes in ‘TRON: Ares’

TRON: Ares is the third film in the franchise, and this time flips the script: Instead of humans entering the digital world, this movie sees human-shaped artificial intelligence programs entering our world. Starring Jared Leto, Greta Lee and Evan Peters, is TRON: Ares an upgrade from the previous movies?

TRON: Ares And What's Making Us Happy

Listen · 22:44
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An unknown number of people sitting in a dark theater. There is a projector screen in front of them with a man and woman at a conference.

What songs do you dread hearing while sitting in a movie theater, because they've become cliches? MediaProduction/Getty Images hide caption

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MediaProduction/Getty Images

Most overused songs in movies

Some great songs are so overused in movies, they’ve become cliches. Everyone’s mileage is bound to vary, but we’re rounding up a few songs we love that need to be retired and suggesting a few worthy replacements.

Most Overused Songs In Movies

Listen · 19:46
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America Ferrera and Matthew McConaughey in The Lost Bus.

America Ferrera and Matthew McConaughey in The Lost Bus. Apple TV+ hide caption

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Apple TV+

Matthew McConaughey drives ‘The Lost Bus’ through a raging fire

In the new movie The Lost Bus, Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera play a bus driver and a teacher who have to transport more than 20 kids to safety when evacuation orders roll in from a wildfire. Based on the 2018 Camp Fire in California, the movie is a harrowing drama, a climate warning, and a disaster film all in one. It’s streaming on Apple TV+.

The Lost Bus

Listen · 15:32
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Taylor Swift’s new album is The Life Of A Showgirl.

Taylor Swift's new album is The Life Of A Showgirl. Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott hide caption

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Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott

Taylor Swift re-enters her banger era in ‘The Life of a Showgirl’

Taylor Swift just dropped her new album The Life Of A Showgirl. It touches on her relationship with fiancé Travis Kelce while reflecting on fame, normalcy, the Internet, and a simmering beef with a fellow pop star. We’re unpacking the songs, including “Actually Romantic,” “Eldest Daughter,” “CANCELLED!”, and “Ruin The Friendship.”

Taylor Swift The Life Of A Showgirl

Listen · 22:43
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Dwayne Johnson in The Smashing Machine.

Dwayne Johnson in The Smashing Machine. Eric Zachanowich/A24 hide caption

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Eric Zachanowich/A24

‘The Smashing Machine’ lets ‘The Rock’ cook, and it smells like awards season catnip

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Emily Blunt star in the new sports biopic The Smashing Machine. Johnson plays Mark Kerr, a UFC champion who is reeling from his first major loss in the ring and confronting an addiction to painkillers. Directed by Benny Safdie (Uncut Gems), the wrestling drama pulls out all the classic moves in the awards season playbook. We can smell what The Rock is cooking – but is it a hearty meal?

The Smashing Machine And What's Making Us Happy

Listen · 24:21
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Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain.

Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain. Focus Features hide caption

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Focus Features

Looking back at ‘Brokeback Mountain’

This year marks 20 years since Brokeback Mountain hit theaters. The film starred Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as two sheep herders who fall in love in a place and time that keeps them apart. Before its release, Hollywood considered it a huge risk. It went on to be a critical and box office success, but it also made a lot of folks so uncomfortable they made cheap jokes about it for years. Today, its legacy is a tough one to untangle.

Brokeback Mountain 20th Anniversary

Listen · 26:49
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