Charlene and Jackie debrief on Opus, the A24 pop star multi murder thriller/comedy (?) starring Ayo Adebiri and John Malkovich, a movie that shot straight from Sundance 2025 to the common multiplex in a mere two months. 

Topics discussed include tracing the trope of cults in 21st century indie film, unhinged behavior at Williamsburg Cinemas, celebrity profiles where the journalist gets lost in the sauce, would Lady Gaga ever commit serial murder?, and how a film can suffer from use of the wrong dining chairs. 

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Time Stamped Show Notes:

2:01 Community and Family: The Cult Indoctrination Techniques of ‘Midsommar’

4:53 “She will never stop huffing paint” scene from Bottoms

5:38 The Hustlers At Scores: the article Hustlers was based off of

12:00 BFI: 10 Great Films About Cults 

12:14 Oneida: The Peculiar Truth About The Sex Cult that Made Silverware 

25:00 The Unconvincing Music of Vox Lux 

34:00 Chris Evans: American Marvel 

38:00 A Brief History of Rihanna’s Party Plane 

40:45 Ayo Edebiri in Theater Camp as a counselor that lied on her resume

42:40 Would you expect to find these chairs in a New Mexican cult compound? 

47:40 Sick of Myself: When Main Character Syndrome Runs Amok

54:22 Sound of My Voice: A Movie About Cults and Journalists That Is Good 

59:50 Lady Gaga at Coachella: She Would Never Act In This Way 

1:02:12 The Celebrity Profiles of Taffy Brodesser-Akner

1:02:57 Molly Lambert and her interview with/profile of Charli XCX

For complete episode notes and more: ticketssecuredpodcast.com