Pop Break Today

Hello and welcome to Bill vs the MCU! Each month your hosts⁠⁠ Pop Break Podcasting Director Alex Marcus⁠⁠ and⁠⁠ Pop Break Editor in Chief Bill Bodkin⁠⁠ are taking another step into the wider Marvel Multiverse as the MCU dives deeper into their Multiverse Saga.

Bill & Alex spent all of 2022 rewatching the first four phases of the MCU, and they just spent 2023 covering the first phase of Netflix’s The Defenders Saga and the first four seasons of ABC’s Agents of SHIELD. This season, they are journeying into Fox’s X-Verse with their X-Treme X-Watch as they prepare for Deadpool & Wolverine this July.

This month, they take a guided tour through an alternate universe of the 20th as they discuss the first three X-Men prequel films: and 2011’s X-Men: First Class, 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, and 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse. 

Watch along with us! Next month's titles are Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants (available to stream on⁠ ⁠Disney+⁠⁠).

Welcome to “Not Couple Goals” where co-hosts Allie Nelson and Tyler McCarthy do a deep dive into a different ridiculous romantic thriller from the vantage point of their long-term relationship.

Allie, a TV writer/producer and actress, has an affinity for romantic thrillers, the more salacious the better. Tyler, an entertainment reporter and critic, often finds himself drawn in despite his better judgment. Join them as they explore all the ways it’s possible to love too hard… like WAY too hard.

In this episode, Tyler and Allie cross an important threshold for the podcast, their first Lifetime (not original) movie! Join them as they discuss the made-for-TV movie “Lying Eyes” starring Cassidy Rae and Vincent Irizarry. Together they call Irizarry’s character out for the creep he is and Allie once again has to explain a somewhat obvious scene to Tyler (who still blames the director for the confusion). Will they figure out important questions like why this movie is titled “Lying Eyes” at all? Listen and find out!

Special thanks to Mallory Johns for the introduction music.

To see more of our hosts, check out Tyler’s writing at USA Insider, SYFY and NBC Insider. Find Allie’s work at Parade and Business Insider!

And don't forget to follow us on social media —

Allie: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok

Tyler: Twitter

Not Couple Goals: Instagram and Twitter

It’s Every Pod You Cast, a podcast dedicated to the British rock band The Police! Justin Mancini of TheCineMaverick.com & Cinema Joes is joined by Chris Mancini and Randy Allain of Media/Lit as they delve into the discography of the postpunk power trio, from 1978 to 1983.

In the second official episode of the season, Justin, Chris, and Randy look at The Police’s sophomore effort from 1979. They debate the power of the “groove,” relish Andy’s virtuoso riffs, and deal with PTSD from high school dating. And of course, they find time to discuss other artists they’ve been listening to apart from The Police.

Host Picks:

Loved You Since I Knew You (A Song We Think Is Underrated or Just Really Like)

Chris – Bring on the Night

Justin – The Bed’s Too Big Without You

Randy – On Any Other Day

King of Pain (A Song We Don’t Like So Much)

Chris – No Time This Time

Justin – On Any Other Day

Randy – The Bed’s Too Big Without You

De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da (A Favorite Lyric)

Chris – Does Everyone Stare

Justin – Does Everyone Stare

Randy – Does Everyone Stare

A Little Thing They Did Was Magic (A Favorite Musical Moment)

Chris – Walking on the Moon

Justin – Walking on the Moon

Randy – Does Everyone Stare / Message in a Bottle

Other Artists We’ve Been Listening To:

Chris – Van Halen

Justin – Al Green

Randy – St. Vincent

Aaron and Josh Sarnecky are back to talk about another movie. This time they’re chatting about Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for its 20th anniversary.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a sci-fi romance film directed by Michel Gondry, who co-wrote the film with Charlie Kaufman and Pierre Bismuth. It opened in theaters on March 19, 2004. 

In the movie, Joel (Jim Carrey) learns that his ex-girlfriend Clementine (Kate Winslet) had her memory of him erased through a medical procedure. Joel chooses to also undergo the operation before changing his mind midway through, fleeing into his other memories. Performing the procedure are Stan (Mark Ruffalo), Patrick (Elijah Wood), and Mary (Kirsten Dunst), led by Dr. Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson).

Eternal Sunshine grossed $73.3 million on an estimated $20 million budget. Kate Winslet earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actress while the film’s writers won Best Original Screenplay. Since then, critics have proclaimed the film as one of the greatest films of all time.

For another mind-bending movie, you can listed to Aaron and Josh’s Dark City retrospective.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is available on Peacock and Prime Video.

All Elite Wrestling’s Tony Khan met with the media to discuss the company’s upcoming pay-per-view Revolution which airs on Sunday, March 3rd live from the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro North Carolina. On the call, Tony Khan discusses Sting's final match, Daniel Garcia, Women’s Storylines, and more!

Welcome to “Not Couple Goals” where co-hosts Allie Nelson and Tyler McCarthy do a deep dive into a different ridiculous romantic thriller from the vantage point of their long-term relationship.

Allie, a TV writer/producer and actress, has an affinity for romantic thrillers, the more salacious the better. Tyler, an entertainment reporter and critic, often finds himself drawn in despite his better judgment. Join them as they explore all the ways it’s possible to love too hard… like WAY too hard.

In this episode, Allie and Tyler parse their way through the very enigmatic new release “Poor Things” starring Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo and Ramy Youssef. Join them as they discuss the futuristic Victorian-era society, Emma Stone’s jet-black hair and try to figure out just what was going on with that apple. 

Special thanks to Mallory Johns for the introduction music.

To see more of our hosts, check out Tyler’s writing at USA Insider, SYFY and NBC Insider. Find Allie’s work at Parade and Business Insider!

And don't forget to follow us on social media —

Allie: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok

Tyler: Twitter

Not Couple Goals: Instagram and Twitter

There’s arguably no superhero in existence that has been reimagined, redefined, or reinterpreted more than Batman.  No matter how many times he’s been rebooted, audiences are always willing to come back to Gotham City’s greatest defender.  With so much Bat content out there, there’s plenty to dissect, analyze, and of course, rank!  This podcast is dedicated to a surgical evaluation of Batman’s history, with a focus on ranking several topics in the world of Batman, among other classic Bat themes and characters.

Join host Daniel Cohen, Pop Break’s former Film Editor and Resident Bat-Maven, as he brings on several guests every month to share his passion for the one and only Dark Knight.  From Adam West to Robert Pattinson, no bat stone will be left unturned.  Bottom-line: If you’re a Batman fan, this is required listening.

This month, the bat crew stay in the animated world, but this time to cover the recent animated movie from earlier this year, part one of Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, adapted from the famed comic series that ran in the mid-eighties, Crisis on Infinite Earths.  Does the streak continue of Daniel being underwhelmed by DC animated movies?

Daniel is joined once again by podcast editor of the pop break, Alex Marcus, as the two discuss their thoughts on the comic book series from the eighties, its influence on superhero culture, as well as other adaptations of this story, most notably the miniseries from the Arrowverse.

The two then move their thoughts to the animated movie, and discuss whether this was a better Flash movie than the live action one we got, compare it to other galaxy ending comic stories, and divulge into a big discussion on what works and doesn’t work in a multiverse story.

Daniel also goes on several tangents, including the old NBC show Heroes, and the X-Men 97 trailer.  Why do these tangents come up?  You’ll have to listen here to find out!

ALSO, Daniel and Alex tease a BIG EPISODE for next month’s podcast…

Welcome to “Pop Break Goes to Washington” where host Allison Lips is joined by a special guest to discuss the historical significance and impact of a political film. Allison and her guests discuss how politics is portrayed in each film.

For this episode, Allison and Aaron Sarnecky from The Anniversary Brothers podcast explore the continuing relevance of the film All the President’s Men and the book of the same name that inspired it. The film stars Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman as Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.

When the film was released, it was nominated for multiple Oscars and Golden Globes, but only won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (Jason Robards for his portrayal of Ben Bradlee. The film is so important to American history that the National Film Registry selected the film for preservation in 2010 because it is “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

Join Allison and Aaron as they reevaluate All the President’s Men and Nixon’s legacy.

Not Couple Goals: ‘Chloe’ (2009)

Welcome to “Not Couple Goals” where co-hosts Allie Nelson and Tyler McCarthy do a deep dive into a different ridiculous romantic thriller from the vantage point of their long-term relationship.

Allie, a TV writer/producer and actress, has an affinity for romantic thrillers, the more salacious the better. Tyler, an entertainment reporter and critic, often finds himself drawn in despite his better judgment. Join them as they explore all the ways it’s possible to love too hard… like WAY too hard.

In this episode, Allie and Tyler take on the 2009 movie “Chloe,” boasting a surprisingly stacked cast of Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfriend. Join them as they discuss getting older and the beauty standards that come with it for women as well as how very, very French this movie feels at times. Can a movie with this steamy of a lesbian sex scene be bad? Listen and find out!

Special thanks to Mallory Johns for the introduction music.

To see more of our hosts, check out Tyler’s writing at USA Insider, SYFY and NBC Insider. Find Allie’s work at Parade and Business Insider!

And don't forget to follow us on social media —

Allie: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok

Tyler: Twitter

Not Couple Goals: Instagram and Twitter

Bill vs. The MCU: X-Treme X-Watch Part I - The X-Men Trilogy

Hello and welcome to Bill vs the MCU! Each month your hosts⁠⁠ Pop Break Podcasting Director Alex Marcus⁠⁠ and⁠⁠ Pop Break Editor in Chief Bill Bodkin⁠⁠ are taking another step into the wider Marvel Multiverse as the MCU dives deeper into their Multiverse Saga.

Bill & Alex spent all of 2022 rewatching the first four phases of the MCU, and they just spent 2023 covering the first phase of Netflix’s The Defenders Saga and the first four seasons of ABC’s Agents of SHIELD.

This month, they are hopping on over to Fox’s X-Verse as they begin their X-Treme X-Watch series, which will cover every Fox X-Men film, culminating in the release of Deadpool 3 this July.

In Part I, they are taking it back to the dawn of the 21st Century and discussing 2000’s X-Men, 2003’s X2, and 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand. 
Watch along with us! Next month's titles are X-Men: First Class (available to stream on ⁠Hulu⁠), X-Men: Days of Future Past (available to stream on ⁠MAX⁠) & X-Men: Apocalypse (available to stream on⁠ ⁠Disney+⁠⁠).