Pop Culture Explorers Club

There are few things that stir the hearts of many like Star Trek does . . . well, except for Star Wars and Harry Potter and the Marvel Cinematic Universe and . . . okay, so there might be a few things BUT Star Trek is special amongst all of these!

Mike and Drew chat with Anne Rowsey. She is a old school fan of Star Trek:The Original Series and Trek in general.

A Condensed Guide to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
The Captains

In addition to attending film school, co-host Mike Celestino has years of experience as a film projectionist. As such, he is uniquely suited to chat about the topic of aspect ratios in film and home media.

During the recording of this episode, we were both shocked to learn that since we didn't see Raiders of the Lost Ark at the movie theater back in 1981 for one reason or another, we didn't REALLY see Raiders until we saw it in its original widescreen aspect ratio. Aspect ratios matter!! Seeing movies as filmmakers intend is important to both Mike and I and we explore this topic here.

The Last Days of Cinerama

No Film School - Guide to Aspect Ratios

What is the opposite of an episode with a guest host? Why - an episode with no guest hosts - a HOSTFUL episode if you will.

In this hostful episode of PCEC, Mike and Drew chat about the recent movies and TV shows that they've been watching. We have recommendations of things to watch as well as things to avoid. :)

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes (2001)
Inside Out 2
Atlas
Serenity
Secrets & Lies
Drive Away Dolls
Squid Game
Hacks
Presumed Innocent (1990)
The Beach Boys
Jim Henson Idea Man
I'm 'George Lucas': A Connor Ratliff Story
Longlegs
Alien: Romulus
Deadpool & Wolverine

We are joined this episode by Tony Betti of Laughingplace.com.

Tony is a long time fan of animation and especially Pixar. We discuss the history of Pixar, where the magic of Pixar comes from, and our individual favorite Pixar movies.

Tony's Instagram Page

Have you heard about the latest huge $100 million plus box office opening weekend? No? That's because there hasn't been one since last year. With the exception of the pandemic and its immediate aftermath, Hollywood and the theater business could count on a number of huge hit movies opening to $100 million plus weekends. This year - - nothing has hit that mark. Dune II and Godzilla/Kong hit $80 million plus but nothing has approached the hits like Barbie, The Super Mario Bros, or Guardians of the Galaxy 3. What is going on? Are we at a tipping point?

We were joined this week by Ryan Scott to discuss this interesting phenomenon. Ryan serves as both a writer and box office analyst at Slashfilm.com as well as writing for Fangoria.com. Each week at Slashfilm.com - and frequently on their daily podcast Slashfilm Daily - Ryan chats about this very subject so we were thrilled to have him join us!

Ryan Scott at Slashfilm.com
Ryan Scott at Fangoria.com
Slashfilm Daily

This week, we're talking about the Planet of the Apes franchise - from movies to TV and then back to movies and then . . . back to movies again.

We were joined in this episode by Richard Woloski. Richard is most notably one of the co-hosts of the long running 'Skywalking Through Neverland' podcast but has also hosted a podcast called 'Talking Apes' for the past ten years centered around the 'Planet of the Apes' franchise. Richard has a deep love for the subject and we had a great chat!

Skywalking Through Neverland
Talking Apes

Mike & Drew chat about Amazon's recent streaming hit 'Fallout' with Alex Trumbo. Nothing warms the heart like old time music, gooey comic book violence, amazing world building, and of course, a radioactive post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Alex Trumbo's Instagram page
Who’s the Bossk? – Episode 39: Holiday Special with Guest Alex Trumbo

In honor of Dev Patel's 'Monkey Man' releasing to theaters this weekend, Mike & Drew talked about their favorite action movies with Drew's friend and frequent film companion Dave Burrowes.

In honor of giant monsters everywhere, we spoke this week with Nick Tierce.

Mike and I have had the pleasure of chatting with Nick on our other podcasts.  Nick is a noted expert in immersive entertainment, Star Wars lore and knowledge, and to our surprise, about also the world of titans and monsters. He shared his knowledge about both Godzilla and Kong this week in honor of the release this week of Godzilla x Kong : The New Empire.

Nick Tierce on X
Nick Tierce on Instagram

This week marks the return of everyone's favorite professors-turned-working class paranormal spookterminators - the Ghostbusters!

In honor of the opening of "Ghostbusters:Frozen Empire", we were joined by entertainment journalist Brad Oman. Brad writes as Ethan Anderton and is a senior editor at Slashfilm.com as well as the co-host of two podcasts - "Go Flix Yourself" & "The Ten to One Podcast." He is a big Ghostbusters fan and it was pleasure to chat with him because what can we say - bustin' makes us feel good!

Ethan Anderton at Slashfilm
Go Flix Yourself
The Ten to One Podcast