In the HBO new series The Penguin, an unrecognizable Colin Farrell reprises his role as Oswald Cobb from The Batman. This time though, the caped crusader is nowhere to be found. Instead, we've got an unexpectedly fresh take on Gotham, and a crackling turf war involving the vengeful daughter of a crime boss, played by Cristin Milioti.

Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

What if you spent eternity in one living room? That's the premise of Here, a new drama starring Tom Hanks and Robin Wright as a married couple whose lives unfold in that living room over the course of many decades. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the film also shows vignettes of other people who lived in the house, and moments throughout history.

Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

In the Netflix drama The Diplomat, Keri Russell plays an ambassador who's thrust into an international incident with massive stakes. She's also sorting through a tumultuous marriage with her husband, a hotshot veteran diplomat (Rufus Sewell). The series combines the tension of Homeland with the administrative drama of The West Wing. The Diplomat just returned for a new season, so in this encore episode, we revisit our conversation about the series.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

The new movie Conclave is a fun and twisty political thriller. Ralph Fiennes plays a cardinal tasked to managing the secretive process in which the pope is replaced. The film offers plenty of scandals, surprises, and dark horses, along with some strong commentary on the state of the Catholic church. Directed by Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front), the film also stars Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini.

Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture.

Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Agatha All Along is a darkly funny new Marvel show on Disney Plus. It stars the selfish, sardonic and hilariously petty witch Agatha Harkness, played by the great and good Kathryn Hahn. When a mysterious goth teen saves her from a spell she's been trapped in, she assembles a coven of witches so they can together undergo a series of trials that will grant them each what they most desire. The thing is – the other witches hate Agatha's guts, and there's more to this goth kid than meets the eye.

Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

In Venom: The Last Dance, Tom Hardy returns for a third time as a sad-sack loser with an alien symbiotic life-form bonded to him. This time out, it's a buddy comedy and road movie, as the two are hunted by another race of aliens. And along the way, they meet some hippies, hit the Vegas strip, and get in a quick dance number.

Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Netflix's Woman Of The Hour is not your conventional serial killer movie. It's based on the true story of a serial killer who appeared on The Dating Game in the 1970s. But it's also about the women who became — or almost became — his victims. Directed by and starring Anna Kendrick, it's a tense, thoughtful film that has much to say about the systems that make life easier for dangerous and otherwise crummy men.

Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

We've all been there. A major movie is mentioned, you shrug, sheepishly, and someone says, "I can't believe you've never seen that!" Today, we make a dent in our own lists of classic films we somehow had not yet gotten to, including Erin Brockovich, Flower Drum Song, Enter the Dragon and Raging Bull.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

The new movie Anora is a dark rom-dramedy about an enterprising sex worker (Mikey Madison) who links up with a very rich and very immature young man (Mark Eydelshteyn). Their transactional encounter turns into a quickie Vegas wedding. But her new in-laws are Russian oligarchs, and they'll do everything in their power to put an end to this whirlwind romance. Anora is the latest feature from writer and director Sean Baker (The Florida Project). Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

The horror movie Smile was a massive hit. Its flashy new sequel Smile 2 finds the franchise's terrifying entity infecting a new host: a pop star (Naomi Scott) who's about to head out on tour after experiencing a trauma. And the movie has a lot to say about the horrors of pop stardom.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy