Each week, Pop Culture Happy Hour guests and hosts share what's bringing them joy. This week: the 1980s movie Miami Connection, and the podcasts Blank Check and Depresh Mode.
The 1989 movie Road House starred Patrick Swayze as a no-nonsense bouncer who saves a honky-tonk bar from a local toughs. Now, in the new remake, Jake Gyllenhaal plays a former UFC fighter who accepts a job to clean up a seaside bar in the Florida Keys that's being terrorized by a motorcycle gang. There's still plenty of fighting and plenty of brooding, but how does it hold up to the original cult classic?
In the new movie Immaculate, Sydney Sweeney plays Cecelia, an American woman who joins a convent in Italy. But after she arrives, she encounters strange occurrences and mysteriously winds up pregnant. Almost everyone in the convent touts it as a miracle, but Cecelia isn't so sure. Horror, of course, ensues. Immaculate was directed by Michael Mohan – who previously collaborated with Sweeney on the Hitchcock-esque thriller The Voyeurs.
If there is a spot in your heart-shaped like a rom-com, we've got some good news for you. You can stream a few playful love stories from your couch, whether you're a fan of Lindsay Lohan's red hair shining in Irish sunlight, Glen Powell's gleaming chest, or Camila Mendes navigating the glamorous art world. Today, we're rounding up three recent romantic comedies: Irish Wish,Anyone But You, and Upgraded.
In the very funny and gently surreal new film Problemista, Julio Torres plays Alejandro, a young man from El Salvador scraping by in New York City as he pursues his dreams. But those dreams – and his immigration status – become imperiled. He must turn to a frazzled, fire-breathing art critic played by Tilda Swinton for emotional and financial support, which proves very fraught.
Each week, Pop Culture Happy Hour guests and hosts share what's bringing them joy. This week: Season 6 of Love Is Blind, Season 3 of Girls5Eva, and a fun online game called Movie Grid.
The film is convinced Black people on screen and in real life are, by and large, contending with the same stereotypes and barriers that we were 20 years ago.
The movie Love Lies Bleeding is a fun and weird erotic thriller. It's set in the late 1980s and stars Kristen Stewart as a brooding gym manager who falls in love with a hitchhiking bodybuilder, played by Katy O'Brian. Directed by Rose Glass (Saint Maud), the film's got a killer electronic soundtrack, and cinematic references of everything from John Waters to Showgirls.
The bingeable comedy series Girls5eva is a silly parody of the music industry. It's about four down-on-their-luck members of a 90s girl group who reunite to stage a comeback, and find that a lot has changed. The show features a stacked cast, including Sara Bareilles, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Busy Philipps, and Paula Pell. Girls5Eva recently moved to Netflix and just returned for a new season, so today, we revisit our conversation about the series.
Kung Fu Panda 4 is the latest movie in the popular and surprisingly thoughtful animated film franchise. Jack Black returns to voice Po, a gigantic, adorable panda who becomes the highly unlikely Dragon Warrior. He embarks on a quest alongside a devious fox, played by Awkwafina, to face a new villain, the Chameleon, played by Viola Davis. You got your hero's journey and training montages and some pretty stellar voice acting.
The release of the Mother's Day photo was not meant as a proof of life. However, any clever communications person should have known it would be taken that way and closely scrutinized by the public.
Netflix's Love is Blind is like a bad relationship that's hard to give up. We've had doubts. We've had fights. And now, in its sixth season, we just can't seem to call it quits. This season has more strange proposals, more fights between people who obviously should not get married, and more moments when we find ourselves saying, "Really, Love Is Blind?"
For a night with relatively few surprises but some very enjoyable winners, it was a solid show that honored an awful lot of good movies, and movies that drew significant audiences.
At this year's Oscars, Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer won in most of the major categories, including best picture and best director. It was also a big night for Emma Stone, and Robert Downey Jr. Plus, Ryan Gosling brought the kenergy with a performance from Barbie.
Nolan took home the Oscar for best director for the sprawling biopic Oppenheimer; it was Nolan's second nomination for directing and first win in the category.