Pop Culture Happy Hour: "Superman"

David Corenswet is your new Last Son of Krypton. (Jessica Miglio)

One of my earliest Pop Culture Happy Hour appearances was to discuss 2013’s Man of Steel, a film I liked more than my pals Linda Holmes and Glen Weldon. My willingness to stick up for a movie that Looper, The Last Jedi and Knives Out writer/director Rian Johnson would later tell me was “the first film [he’d] ever paid to see in the theater,” became a big part of my identity on the show for several years thereafter. So it was only right that I’m back on this week to chop up the new Superman from writer/director James Gunn, which the three of us all liked a lot. But lest any opportunity for fake antagonism between Glen and me go untapped, let me say that my original greeting upon being introduced in this episode was “I like pink very much, Linda.” And so it would have stayed had Glen not ratted me out by pointing out that that line from Richard Donner’s 1978 Superman was in reference to… Lois Lanes underwear. (She invited Superman to look! Check the tape!)

And if that ain’t enough Glen-and-Chris-jaw-about-Kal action for you, FIimspotting just resurfaced our Top Five Batman/Superman Moments segment from nine years ago, tied to the release of 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice — the single film Gunn’s bright, buoyant new Superman is most intended to course-correct. My No. 1 was of course that selfsame pink-knickers balcony scene from Superman ‘78.

Pop Culture Happy Hour: "The Phoenician Scheme"

A new Wes Anderson joint is a cause for celebration if you’re me. I join pal-for-life Glen Weldon and Code Switch host B.A. Parker to scheme, Phoenician-style. My jokes about how Anderson never phoens it in have all been cut.

Pop Culture Happy Hour: "MIssion: Impossible — The Final Reckoning"

When you stare into The Abyss, etc., etc. (Paramount)

When you watch 2018’s Mission: Impossible — Fallout, you can see the shot wherein Tom Cruise breaks his ankle leaping across London rooftops.

When you listen to our new Pop Culture Happy Hour on Mission: Impossible — The Final Recknoning, you can hear the moment when I suffer an aneurysm. It’s when my friends Aisha Harris and Linda Holmes once again compare these films to the Fast & Furious movies. And they are like those, in the sense that the 1969 Rolling Stones and circa 2012 Aerosmith are both rock bands.

Pop Culture Happy Hour: "Dope Thief"

Wagner Moura and Brian Tyree-Henry in the Apple TV+ adaptation of Dennis Tafoya’s novel’s Dope Thief.

I was glad to join Aisha Harris and Cristina Escobar to talk about the new Apple TV+ adaptation of Dennis Tafoya’s crime novel Dope Thief.

Pop Culture Happy Hour: "Joker: Folie à Deux"

Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga need to talk. (Warner Bros.)

I saw The Silence of the Lambs again at the Alamo Drafthouse two nights before I saw Joker: Folie à Deux, which reminded me of author Thomas Harris’s Silence sequel novel (and Ridley Scott’s film adaptation, after Silence director Jonathan Demme declined to return) Hannibal in the way it wants to punish those who loved 2019’s Joker.

I didn’t. But I liked Folie à Deux even less. And I’m still higher on it than my conversation-mates Joelle Monique and Glen Weldon!

Pop Culture Happy Hour: "Megalopolis"

Adam Driver and Nathalie Emmanuel, above the fray. (Lionsgate)

Aisha, Glen, Bedatri and I recorded this dissection of Megalopolis a mere 12 hours after the screening ended, which we all acknowledged is not time enough to process an overstuffed epic that Coppola has been working on in some capacity for more than half his life. Fun conversation, though.

Pop Culture Happy Hour: "Alien: Romulus"

Cailee Spaeny, stompin' bugs. (20h Century Studios)

It’s a reunion of the unforgettable Silver Streak episode of A Degree Absolute! as I join pals Glen Weldon and Ronald Young, Jr. to dissect the latest Alien on Pop Culture Happy Hour. None of us recognizes the occasion by using the phrase “hug ‘n’ munch,” even though it would have been utterly appropriate to do so. Dang!

Pop Culture Happy Hour: "A Quiet Place: Day One"

Lupita Nyong'o is trying to die on her own terms in Michael Sarnoski’s A Quiet Place prequel.

Shhhh! I’m on PCHH today dissecting PIG auteur Michael Sarnoski’s A Quiet Place: Day One with Aisha Harris and Kirsten Meinzer. Aisha mentioned Thomasina, with no prompting from me, so you can also go find our A Degree Absolute! episode on that 60s Disney curiosity here.