Talking apes and Jedi Knights are cool, but how do they impact Hollywood as a whole? That's the kind of stuff we talk about on Popcorn Culture - a mixed-bag-exploration of the movies, TV shows, and pop culture buzz that we love, as well as the ones we love (slightly) less.
Subscribe:.rss.atom.json.md.m3u.pls
Live Last read · last published · next check
Saves to your Listen queue, to pick up on another day or another device.
We kick off this episode by reviewing DC, the fourth film by Arun Matheswaran, the acclaimed Tamil filmmaker behind Rocky (not the Sylvester Stallone film about boxing) and Saani Kaayidham. Like his other films, the film follows characters from the margins of society and centres around revenge and crime. This time, however, Matheswaran places that familiar brutality within a romance – specifically…
7 years after the last Spider-Man outing, we return to the world and story of Peter Parker, as he operates as the web-slinging superhero, but in a time where everyone’s forgotten that he exists. As he faces an evolution in his powers, he also faces one of the most powerful threats he’s ever encountered. This film sees the return of the familiar trio of Tom Holland, Zendaya and Jacob Batalon,…
In this episode, it's a double-bill of reviews! First, we review The Drama — Norwegian director Kristoffer Borgli's romantic black comedy starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson as a happily engaged couple whose relationship is thrown into crisis when an unexpected revelation surfaces during their wedding week. Meanwhile, Widow's Bay is a horror-comedy series on Apple TV+ set in a quaint New England…
Christopher Nolan is back after three years with The Odyssey, an epic mythological adventure adapted from Homer's ancient Greek poem. Nolan has always been incredibly passionate about the IMAX format, so it's no surprise he would be the one to deliver the first feature film ever shot entirely with IMAX cameras. It follows the legendary hero Odysseus (Matt Damon) on his perilous decade-long journey…
The Minions are back in the third instalment of their standalone franchise, and this time, the adorable, semi-gibberish-spouting yellow creatures are taking over Hollywood and unleashing monsters. Pierre Coffin pays tribute to multiple horror classics and tropes while also hewing to the well-established formula of Minion hijinks and physical comedy. We discuss whether this is the best film in the…
This week, we're looking at two films from opposite ends of the cinematic spectrum. First, we review The Furious, Kenji Tanigaki's bone-crunching Hong Kong action thriller about a father tearing through a criminal underworld to rescue his kidnapped daughter. Then, we switch gears with Dear You, the Teochew-language family drama that's become one of the year's biggest word-of-mouth sensations,…
In this episode, we have a double bill of reviews. Obsession is the second low-budget indie horror movie by a Gen-Z director that has taken the world by storm, after Backrooms. Directed by Curry Barker, the film centres around Bear (Michael Johnston), a hopeless romantic who uses a mystical “One Wish Willow” to make his crush Nikki (Inde Navarrette) love him, but as they say, be careful what you…
Woody and the gang are back once again, in the 5th installment of the Toy Story franchise. This time, the gang finds themselves facing a new threat: technology, in the form of a tablet, which has become Bonnie’s new favourite plaything. So how does the movie do in dealing with such a timely subject, and is it a worthy addition to Toy Story? We discuss that, before pivoting to discussing the best…
Steven Spielberg returns to one of his favourite subjects with Disclosure Day, an original sci-fi thriller about a meteorologist and whistleblower racing to expose years of government secrecy surrounding the existence of extraterrestrial life while powerful deep-state forces try to stop them. It's Spielberg's first alien film since War of the Worlds and has been billed as a spiritual companion to…
In this episode, we review two films that are vastly different. Masters of the Universe is a campy fantasy superhero adventure film based on the beloved 1980s He-Man animated series. Directed by Travis Knight, the film stars Nicholas Galitzine as He-Man/Prince Adam, Jared Leto as Skeletor, as well as, Alison Brie, Idris Elba and more. It follows Prince Adam's journey from Earth to the magical…
