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.

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.