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.

Pop Culture Happy Hour: "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One"

IMF lifers Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie always wanted to crash a train together. (Paramount)

it’s an honor and a privilege to dissect the latest entry in my favorite film franchise with Linda Holmes, Wailin Wong, and Roxanna Hadadi on today’s Pop Culture Happy Hour. My estimation of the film grew when I saw it a second time after we recorded this, but it’s an accurate reflection of my somewhat perplexed initial response.

Pop Culture Happy Hour: "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" and What's Making Us Happy

Harrison Ford is superannuated and super angry in Dial of Destiny. (Disney/Lucasfilm)

I’m destiny-dialin’ on Pop Culture Happy Hour this week with Glen Weldon and Kristen Meinzer.

Pop Culture Happy Hour: "Asteroid City" and What's Making Us Happy

Jason Schwartzman and Tom Hanks in Wes Anderson’s latest. (Pop. 87 Productions/Focus Features)

Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City is one of my favorite films of the almost-half-concluded year, an entirely predictable result given his track record with me. I was chuffed to discuss it with Pal-For-Life Glen Weldon and The Indicator host Wailin Wong.

POP CULTURE HAPPY HOUR: "Creed III" and What's Making Us Happy

Director/star Michael B. Jordan confers with Jonathan Majors on the set of Creed III. (Eli Ade/MGM)

I was glad to join Aisha Harris and Shamira Ibrahim — and to reunite with Gene Demby from the Creed II episode of PCHH back in 2018 — for this hard-hitting dissection of the disappointing-to-me Creed III.

My review of the film is here, and the Smithsonian piece I plugged in the Happy segment is here.