All Pop, No Culture

It's just Damsel, The Holdovers, and a quick brush up on Final Fantasy this week. Why is it such a short episode? Well, both Andrew and Lauren had last second things pop up so Kevin trudged the road alone. A.I. free this time, too! It's brief, but (hopefully) informative. To make this explanation short, Damsel is OK but not great and it won't break you if you watch it. The Holdovers is fantastic and definitely deserves your time, whether it's on Peacock or on a paid streamer.

As always, thank you for watching. If you haven't already, don't forget to Like & Subscribe. We love new viewers! Also, leave us comments and let is know how we are doing and what we can be doing better. Enjoy the episode and have a great week!

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Its a full episode this week, covering the fantastic Dune 2, American Fiction, An Enemy of the People, and Shogun. You may look at the length of the episode and wonder how thats all we covered, but I assure you, we hit Dune HARD before digging into all of the other great content. Yes there are some tangents in there, but they are actually pretty on point!

Both Sara and Lauren are back this week. Sara was on our last Dune episode and she is the resident APNC expert on such things, so she brings in the cold hard facts while Andrew brings an unexpected amount of excitement around this.

I know the show clearly states that there is "No Culture" on this show, but I guess Lauren classes up the joint. She led the guys to watch American Fiction which leads to a very thoughtful discussion on race in the publishing industry. Keeping it classy, she also saw the play, An Enemy of the People, which leads to an interesting discussion of moral dilemas!

When the girls decide it's time for bed, Kevin and Andrew finish the episode talking about Shogun through Episode 3. The show is still magnificent. Go watch it!!

As always, thank you for watching. If you haven't already, don't forget to Like & Subscribe. We love new viewers! Also, leave us comments and let is know how we are doing and what we can be doing better. Enjoy the episode and have a great week!

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This week, the guys chat about Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, James Gunn's Superman, Spaceman, (So many Men!), Shogun, Final fantasy VII Rebirth, and Beau is Afraid.

It's just Kevin and Andrew and they quickly jump into the tragic end of the DCEU, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. It's just... not good. But it does lead them into a good chat about Superman and where Gunn may take him, so it's not a total loss!

Next up, Kevin talks about Adam Sandler's mid-life crisis in space movie, Spaceman. It's a think-piece so if that's your jam, give it a shot. Generally speaking, though, mileage will vary based on the user. Pro tip: watch the trailer and if it doesn't excite you, the rest of the movie probably won't either.

The guys attempt to dodge the topic for a bit, but they still manage to stumble into talking about the VERY bizarre, Beau is Afraid. This is a weird psychological art piece that is definitely not for everyone, but if you enjoy the really bizarre, give it a watch. And if you enjoy it, for the love of god tell us why!!

The real meat of the show hits near the end when the guys talk about the new FX epic, Shogun. This show is legit, people. This is what all of you Game of Thrones junkies have been waiting for. Yes, you'll have to read, you uncultured swine, but it's totally worth it!!

Kevin finishes the show by talking video games, specifically the new release of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on the PS5. It's beautiful and fun so if RPG's are your jam or if you are a fan of the orginal game, check it out immediately!

As always, thank you for watching. If you haven't already, don't forget to Like & Subscribe. We love new viewers! Also, leave us comments and let is know how we are doing and what we can be doing better. Enjoy the episode and have a great week!

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It's another jam packed week! we have Avatar the Last Airbender, The Bad Batch, Poor Things, Fellow Travelers, Fleabag, Thanksgiving, Connecting Worlds, Alice in Borderland, and, of course, LOST.

Kevin jumps in quickly with a review for the kick off of the new live action Netflix series, Avatar the Last Airbender. He follows that up with discussion of the first few episodes of The Bad Batch, season 3, on Disney+.

Lauren then takes us away from our childish things and introduces us to Poor Things, the new Emma Stone, Frankenstein-esque film. She also talks about the excellent Prime series Fleabag and Fellow Travelers which is showing on Paramount+/Showtime.

Because Andrew is here strictly for the LOST talk, Kevin takes the baton again and discusses the horror film from 2023, Thanksgiving. He follows that up with the Hideo Kojima documentary on Hulu/Disney+, Connecting Worlds.

Next, all hell breaks loose as Kevin discusses Alice in Borderland, which was apparently the topic they should have been covering the entire time, as Lauren is VERY into the topic, too. It's a great discussion about a show everyone should give a chance to, especially if you like Squid Game.

After setting the conversation on fire, Lauren exits to the safety of her bed to leave Andrew and Kevin to discuss LOST, as Andrew has finally completed the series. The focus is, of course, on the end of season 6, but they cover a lot of Andrew's overall feelings about the show as well. If you've been following the LOST content, you won't want to miss this bit!

As always, thank you for watching. If you haven't already, don't forget to Like & Subscribe. We love new viewers! Also, leave us comments and let is know how we are doing and what we can be doing better. Enjoy the episode and have a great week!

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This week, Kevin and Andrew cover Madame Web, The Greatest Night in Pop, and LOST Season 5, with Players and The Last Voyage of the Demeter peppered in there for some extra seasoning.

The episode leads off with Kevin breaking down the good, the bad, and the ugly details of Madame Web. Is it as bad as everyone is saying? Maybe. Are there some redeeming parts? Also maybe. Just have a watch and see.

Andrew then jumps in to discuss the new documentary, The Greatest Night in Pop. It's a documentary about the frantic and almost magical creation of the 80's super hit, We Are the World. Andrew has a lot to say on the subject, as does Michael Jackson himself in a rare appearance on the APNC show after the credits.

Kevin quickly gives reviews for Players, a new RomCom on Netflix, and The Last Voyage of the Demeter, which is now streaming. Both reviews are generally favorable so go give both of those a watch if you are so inclined!

The episode closes with a lengthy breakdown of season 5 (and some of season 6) of LOST as Andrew continues on his journey. There is a ton to take in there so buckle up and enjoy!

As always, thank you for watching. If you haven't already, don't forget to Like & Subscribe. We love new viewers! Also, leave us comments and let is know how we are doing and what we can be doing better. Enjoy the episode and have a great week!

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Remember that one time someone left out a petri dish and it got all moldy and they ended up discovering penicillin? This episode is like that, but instead Kevin turned a great idea into moldy garbage... But, in an effort at full disclosure, he explains why it's garbage and why he did what he did. Bad Kevin...

Anyways, the idea behind this episode is a Valentines Day/RomCom recommendation episode. And so, in keeping with THAT part of the episode, Kevin asked the whole APNC team, including newcomer Lauren, what their favorite RomComs are. They came in as follows:

Andy - Say Anything Jen and Kim - Crazy Stupid Love Andrew - Just Friends Lauren - Bridget Jones Diary Kevin - Failure to Launch

If you take nothing else away from this episode, please take away that these are all fun movies. Great RomComs for you to watch whether you are spending V-Day alone or with someone you love (or hate?).

Now, for the episode itself... Let's be honest, it's a mess. But Kevin owns up to that in the introduction before the introduction. That will make sense if you watch... As it stands, Kevins regular hosting partner Andrew was out, funny enough, for an early Valentines Day celebration, leaving Kevin to himself. Rather than miss a week, he decided to record an episode and even polled the crew a few days prior to recording. That's called planning!

The day of recording, he came down very under the weather and, again, so as to not miss a week of the show, he scrambled to work the episode out. In his foggy brained state, he ended up asking AI to generate the script for the podcast episode, something he has railed against as long as AI has been brought up on the show.

Now, what he asked for was a witty 30 minute episode comparing and contrasting the 5 films listed above. What he got lacked wit almost entirely, didn't compare the films at all, and wasn't even close to 30 minutes in length. Now, as if to prove his own idiocy, he decided to double down on the AI and ask for another 8 minute segment on RomCom tropes. As you may guess, that was garbage, too.

As the episode goes on, he goes more and more "off book" in attempt to save the episode, but it's pretty bad overall. So this episode serves more as a cautionary tale than anything else. AI for anything creative is just bad. Don't do it. We here at APNC apologize for what was made here this week, but Andrew should be back to save the day next time.

As always, thank you for watching. If you haven't already, don't forget to Like & Subscribe. We love new viewers! Also, leave us comments and let is know how we are doing and what we can be doing better. Enjoy the episode and have a great week!

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Lauren is back this week to help Kevin and Andrew discuss, Scrambled, & Juliet, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Freelance, and Grounded II: The Making of The Last of Us Part II. The the guys are left to discuss LOST season 4!!

Lauren kicks off the show talking about the new film, Scrambled. You will quickly notice that this is probably not something that Andrew or Kevin would have had on their radar, so Lauren is immediately bringing some class to this one! It's about a woman's experience in the process of freezing her eggs. It sounds very interesting and comes highly recommended for anyone considering the process or for anyone that might know someone about to go through it!

Andrew then gets to close out the APNC Saltburn discussion now that he's actually seen the film! He has some interesting takes, especially about Felix. All in all, it is still coming highly recommended (though very weird) from the APNC team!

Next up, Lauren takes center stage again with her review of the new musical, & Juliet. It's a fun pop music extravaganza based on Shakespeare's Juliet as you've never seen her before. Rather than dying along side her bum of a boyfriend, Romeo, Juliet lives and this is the tale of what she may have done in a post-Romeo world. It sounds like an absolute blast.

Kevin then gives two very quick reviews after having started both Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Prime) and Freelance (Hulu) but not finishing either. One has a lot of potential and one doesn't. You'll have to watch to see which is which!

Andrew drops a quick remembrance of the late, great, actor Carl Weathers before Kevin remembers (see what i did there) that he watched the Last of Us Part II documentary, Grounded II. It's an enlightening look at the game making process and the power, and cruelty, of fandom. It comes highly recommended, assuming you don't want spoilers for the game itself or future seasons of The Last of Us on HBO.

As the guys shift to LOST, Lauren jumps ship to give them their space to blather on. And blather on they do! There is a lot to unpack in season 4 of LOST, including the most popular episode in the history of the show, The Constant. As expected, Andrew is loving the show and he should be done by his next appearance.

As always, thank you for watching. If you haven't already, don't forget to Like & Subscribe. We love new viewers! Also, leave us comments and let is know how we are doing and what we can be doing better. Enjoy the episode and have a great week!

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This week, Andrew and Kevin cover Saltburn, Monarch, Fool Me Once, and also gets back into LOST. But they won't do (some of) it alone! They are joined this week by a long time friend on Andrew's, Lauren. She's very sharp and is up on all of her pop culture goodness!

After a nice "getting to know you" session, Lauren and Kevin discuss the psychological thriller, Saltburn. It's an absolutely crazy film and has a lot of buzz around it and they both seemed to like it, so why not try to sell Andrew on it? They also discuss the hit TV series The Handmaids Tale among other things before Lauren hops off.

Left without Adult supervision, Kevin tells Andrew about the new Harlen Coben mystery on Netflix, Fool Me Once. It's a very solid mystery/thriller and it's a quick and easy watch and has a lot of twists and turns and is definitely worth the watch if mysteries are your jam.

Next up, the guys discuss the Apple TV Monsterverse series, Monarch. The guys definitely enjoyed it... mostly. They did have some issues and they discuss those at length, but ultimately they both liked it and are looking forward to a second season.

Finally, and I do mean FINALLY, Kevin and Andrew sit down and talk about LOST again. Andrew finally got back into it absolutely burned through the rest of season 2 and all of season 3 which, as you can imagine, leaves a lot to talk about. This is Kevin's dream come true, seeing Andrew absolutely sucked in by this show.

As always, thank you for watching. If you haven't already, don't forget to Like & Subscribe. We love new viewers! Also, leave us comments and let is know how we are doing and what we can be doing better. Enjoy the episode and have a great week!

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This week Kevin goes over American Nightmare on Netflix, Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Disney+, Death and Other Details on Hulu, Self Reliance (also on Hulu), and quickly talks about The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered.

The episode starts of with a bit of a history lesson with American Nightmare. It's a 3 part documentary about the infamous "Gone Girl" kidnapping in 2015 in California. Kevin doesn't usually do documentaries, but this one grabbed his attention because it was a story he thought he knew. As it turns out, he really didn't. It's a fascinating look into what can go wrong in a high profile case and is definitely worth a watch.

Next up he covers the new Percy Jackson series over on Disney+. It's an adaption of the popular book series and a more faithful version than the 2012 film. It's definitely targeted at the younger set, but Kevin gives it a thumbs up anyways. Just go in knowing that and it's pretty enjoyable.

After that family friendly fare he jumps into the more adult series Death and Other Details on Hulu. It's a weekly whodunit mystery series in the vein of Agatha Christie films like Murder on the Orient Express. Mandy Patinkin leads the cast as investigator Rufus Cotesworth and Violett Bean is Imogene, his reluctant partner. It's only a few episodes in, but very promising so far.

He shifts over from TV to film with Self Reliance on Hulu. It's a Jake Johnson led dark comedy and his directorial debut. Overall it's a decent film but not quite the romp Kevin had hoped for. The premise, a game where he's playing for his life, is very promising but it's a little more tame than it should have been, especially starring Jake Johnson and Anna Kendrick.

Before lowering the curtain on the episode, he gives a quick discussion on the Remaster of the The Last of Us Part II, now available for Playstation 5. There's nothing new in the main story itself, but there are some interesting new additions, including a rogue-like section that is sure to have people playing for a long time to come.

As always, thank you for watching. If you haven't already, don't forget to Like & Subscribe. We love new viewers! Also, leave us comments and let is know how we are doing and what we can be doing better. Enjoy the episode and have a great week!

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It's time to talk about Mean Girls, Echo, Lessons in Chemistry, Saltburn, Slow Horses, and superhero burnout. But Kevin can't do it alone so he's joined by Jen this week and our special "High School Experience" correspondent, Sydney.

The show starts right away with Jen and Sydney talking about the new Mean Girls Musical Movie. It's a great review and Sydney brings some fantastic insight, especially with regards to the music side of things. Both Jen and Sydney enjoyed the movie but they do differ on some parts so that sparks a lively conversation.

Before jumping into Echo, Kevin quickly drops some numbers on just why superhero burnout might be a thing at this point. The sheer amount of product in our face in the last decade is staggering. That being said, he really enjoyed Echo and wants everyone to give it a go!

Back to Jen and Sydney and they quickly cover Lessons in Chemistry starring Brie Larson. They really enjoyed that and even it's heavy early twist. They recommended it to Kevin who, at the time of this posting, has in fact started to watch it!

Next up, Kevin catches us up on a show that should have been on everyone's radar a few years ago, Slow Horses. It's a British spy series on Apple TV+ starring Gary Oldman and it's really a great watch. There are 3 seasons on Apple TV+ now and it's been renewed for seasons 4 and 5 so now is a great time to dig into it.

Kevin and Sydney take a walk on the animation side, really quick, covering the new Scott Pilgrim, One Piece, and Avatar the Last Airbender. Jen then starts to chat about Saltburn, only to have Sydney drop the bomb that she watched it, too!! But that's a good thing because we get two perspectives on it. This is another one that Kevin will have to get to ASAP.

As always, thank you for watching. If you haven't already, don't forget to Like & Subscribe. We love new viewers! Also, leave us comments and let is know how we are doing and what we can be doing better. Enjoy the episode and have a great week!

Facebook: @apncpodcast Twitter: @APNCPodcast Instagram: AllPopNoCulture