Pop Screen

Pop Screen is 50 episodes old! To celebrate, we've got Gav Smith from the My Favourite Film podcast back in to cover one of the big names (in terms of profile, if not in height) that we haven't covered so far - Prince, and his blockbuster first movie Purple Rain. Gav is a Prince superfan, Graham a Prince ignoramus - can he be converted?

More a vehicle for the extraordinary album accompanying it than a narrative movie, Purple Rain nevertheless maintains a cult following, thanks in part to encapsulating the fascinating contradictions that Prince embodied. He could be macho and androgynous, collaborative and singular, spiritual and pervy - all of these aspects of the man are discussed on this week's show, along with digressions about Tipper Gore, the rival band in School of Rock and Morris Day's superb chat-up lines.

Sadly, we don't have Morris's silver tongue, so we're going to ask you straight up - donate to our Patreon. (Why, what did you think we meant?) You'll get a monthly bonus episode of this show, unrestricted access to our other movie podcast Directors Uncut, Graham's Doctor Who reviews and more. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for more information.

#popscreen #moviereviews #purplerain #prince #princeandtherevolution #morrisday #morrisdayandthetime #musicals #apollonia 

Pop Screen makes another foray into the documentary realm this week, with Aidan rejoining regular host Graham to look at Brett Morgen's Kurt Cobain documentary Montage of Heck. An ambitious film rooted as much in its subject's imagination as it is the facts of his life, it was highly acclaimed as a portrait of the late Kurt Cobain, even as its strict factual accuracy was debated.

As well as Morgen's film, we'll also be discussing Nirvana's legacy across the decades, and how Cobain and the wider grunge scene reacted to his sudden megastardom. There's also choice cuts about Cheap Trick and Eels, as well as the possible world-first of a nuanced perspective on Cobain's widow Courtney Love.

If you enjoyed this podcast and want to help us avoid selling out to The Man and accepting advertising, you can donate to our Patreon, where you'll get full access to our other podcast Directors Uncut, as well as an exclusive monthly episode of Pop Screen and written classic Doctor Who reviews from Graham. Don't forget to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, too.

#popscreen #montageofheck #kurtcobain #brettmorgen #documentary #hbo #nirvana #grunge #courtneylove

A pop movie is normally a chance to consolidate, rather than destroy, an image, which is why the Monkees' sole trip in front of the camera is such a strange affair. Produced by BBS Productions at the same time as they were making Easy Rider - and with the Dennis Hopper cameo to prove it - 1968's Head is a freeform collection of surrealist sketches, musical numbers and anti-war agitprop, shot through with a viciously sarcastic take on the band's status as a consumer product and co-written by Jack Nicholson. Yes, that Jack Nicholson.

It flopped hard before accruing a devoted cult following, but as The Dreaming Machine's Joe and Graham discover on this week's show, it isn't all that different to the Monkees' extremely meta television series. Along with the events of a film its director Bob Rafelson described as "fifty movies in one", there are detours to discuss how and when "manufactured" became pop's gravest slur, the extraordinary career of choreographer Toni Basil, and the film production career of the late Mike Nesmith.

Pop Screen, like the Monkees, is a meaningless consumer product designed to distract the youth from what's really going on with the military-industrial complex, and if you want to help us do that you can donate to our Patreon, where backers will receive a monthly bonus episode, Graham's Doctor Who reviews, extended cuts of our other movie show Directors Uncut and lots of other goodies that aren't available anywhere else. For more information, follow us on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.

#popscreen #head #moviereview #themonkees #mikenesmith #bobrafelson #petertork #davyjones #mickeydolenz #vietnamwar #jacknicholson #frankzappa #tonibasil #dennishopper

After making one of the definitive rock biopics with Sid & Nancy, Alex Cox was hired to document The Pogues, Joe Strummer and Elvis Costello as they toured Nicaragua. When it was decided that sending a bunch of rock stars to tour a country which had recently been at war was a bad idea, Cox made Straight to Hell instead, a spaghetti Western parody with Strummer as the leader of a group of bank robbers whose attempted getaway lands them in a sinister town ruled by a coffee-addicted bandit gang played by the Pogues.

It sounds like... well, it sounds like something, god knows what, and this week Mark Cunliffe of We Are Cult joins Graham to pick over the aftermath. As well as the surpassingly silly film that resulted from all this chaos, there's also room to talk about the hard-drinking British character actor Dudley Sutton, Kathy Burke's position as Greatest Living Englishwoman, and the changing fortunes of British film magazines as measured through the quality of their classified ads.

If you want to help us feed our debilitating coffee addiction, you can donate to our Patreon, where tomorrow we'll be releasing an exclusive follow-up to this episode, with Mark returning to review Julien Temple's documentary Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds With Shane MacGowan. Don't forget to follow us on social media too - we're on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

#popscreen #moviereview #straighttohell #alexcox #joestrummer #spaghettiwestern #thepogues #shanemacgowan #kathyburke #edwardtudorpole #courtneylove #elviscostello #gracejones

Cum on Feel the Podcazt! This week Pop Screen celebrates the festive period with a band who, without a sleigh bell in earshot, conjure up the spirit of Christmas. It can only be Slade, who got debutant director Richard Loncraine to make their one and only feature film, the oft-mistitled (not least by us) Flame, in 1975. Despite being released at the height of their popularity, it wasn't a hit - so much so that Mick, this week's co-host, heard the album a ridiculous 46 years prior to actually sitting down and watching the film.

Flame, though, has found plenty of keepers since that initially unsuccessful release, not least Mark Kermode, who described it as "the Citizen Kane of rock musicals". On this episode of Pop Screen, we discuss all aspects of the film, including its position as yet another unexpectedly downbeat 1970s British rock movie, Slade's relationship to glam rock as a movement, the fact that this was very nearly going to be a spoof of a classic science fiction franchise, the multiple comebacks Slade enjoyed in the 1980s and 1990s, and which of Loncraine's later films would be improved by Noddy Holder.

It's hard to credit it, but a podcast which frequently wanders off topic to ponder the idea of Noddy Holder in Wimbledon doesn't always pull in the sponsorship money. That's why we need YOU to donate to our Patreon, where you'll get monthly bonus episodes of Pop Screen, early access to our other movie podcast Director's Lottery, Graham's Doctor Who reviews and more. Don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

#popscreen #moviereviews #slade #noddyholder #davehill #flame #sladeinflame #richardloncraine #markkermode #donpowell #jimlea #tomconti #johnnyshannon #andrewbirkin

Pop Screen is going all topical this week, eschewing our usual cult classics and reviewing a film released this year - so be warned, there are spoilers! It's Annette, an extraordinary, divisive musical by extraordinary, divisive director Leos Carax, with a full original score by extraord... you get the picture, it's Sparks, the score is by Sparks.

Join Graham and Mark as they examine this surprisingly linear but deeply eccentric film from the director of Holy Motors. Among other issues, you'll hear about the time when Rihanna was going to be in this movie, the other Sparks movie of 2021, the Mael brothers' chances at the Oscars and the unexpected autobiographical elements that we also discussed when we last talked Carax. So - may we start?

If you don't want to see us reduced to managing a singing puppet baby in order to make ends meet, you can donate to our Patreon, where backers will get a monthly bonus episode of this very show, as well as our other movie podcast Director's Lottery, Graham's twice-weekly Doctor Who reviews, and more. Don't forget to check out our Instagram, Facebook and Twitter!

#popscreen #moviereviews #annette #leoscarax #musicals #adamdriver #marioncotillard #sparks #ronandrussellmael #maelbrothers 

We hope all our American listeners had a happy Life Day recently - if not, let this week's Pop Screen put you in the party mood. In 1978, just one year after A New Hope was released, the stars of George Lucas's original blockbuster reconvened for a bizarrely misconceived variety show that's never been officially re-released. They were joined by guests including Art Carney, Jefferson Starship and Bea Arthur in an officially licensed production that nevertheless has the same relationship to the main Star Wars universe as one of those knock-off toys you get from a dodgy market called something like Space War: Return of the Empire.

In this week's Pop Screen, glutton for punishment Archaeon returns to discuss with Graham such pressing matters as Carrie Fisher's somewhat medicated performance, the origins of the special's inexplicable focus on unsubtitled Wookie grunting, the unexpected connection to legendary country singer Gillian Welch and the justly notorious scene where Diahann Carroll turns up to provide some of what Adam and Joe once called "family-friendly erotica". We also talk a bit about the last season of Taskmaster, because, eh, we've earned a reward.

Did you enjoy listening to us suffer? If so, you're in luck - this month's bonus episode for Patreon backers is about Cats! You can get that at our Patreon, along with our other movie podcast Director's Lottery, Graham's twice-weekly reviews of classic Doctor Who, and more. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to keep up with the latest.

#popscreen #moviereview #thestarwarsholidayspecial #starwars #carriefisher #georgelucas #harrisonford #markhamill #bobafett #chewbacca #artcarney #beaarthur #jeffersonstarship #harveykorman #diahanncarroll

Shahid Mohammed, cut it with precision: this week Pop Screen is going back to the Daisy Age of hip-hop with Michael Rapaport's documentary Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest. Somewhat incredibly the first ever documentary about a hip-hop band, this warts-and-all look at Tribe's history annoyed Q-Tip by focusing on the tensions between him and the late Phife Dawg. But the film as a whole is fonder and more sensitive than Rapaport's career as a social media nuisance would have you believe.

This week, My Favourite Film's Gav Smith joins us for the first time to discuss Tribe's vast musical legacy, as well as the golden age of semi-legal sampling, the film's evocative portrait of East Coast hip-hop back when it was an underground scene, and Graham's slightly delusional belief that The Love Movement isn't that bad. There's also room for digressions on The Source magazine's fall from grace, Manic Street Preachers song titles and Spike Jonze's Beastie Boys documentary.

Podcasts to go: if you want more Pop Screen, our Patreon backers get a bonus episode every month. This month's launches tomorrow, and it's about Tom Hooper's Cats, so, y'know. You also get our other movie podcast Director's Lottery and Graham's twice-weekly classic Doctor Who reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to find out more.

#atribecalledquest #popscreen #moviereviews #hip-hop #q-tip #beatsrhymesandlife #documentary #phifedawg #michaelrapaport

Pop Screen is back, back, back with Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan (x2) as Cult Following's Ewan Gleadow rejoins Graham to talk about I'm Not There, Todd Haynes's surreal anti-biopic with six different stars embodying different aspects of Dylan's persona. There's Cate Blanchett as the controversially-electrified superstar Dylan, Christian Bale as protest-singer Dylan, Richard Gere as enigmatic roots weirdo Dylan, as well as Heath Ledger, Marcus Carl Franklin and Ben Whishaw as the other Bobs Dylan.

Graham and Ewan's first task is to unpick all this madness, as well as discuss Dylanological topics such as whether the Christian rock years are underrated or not, and why you should never, ever call him the Voice of a Generation. Somehow we still find time for digressions on Haynes's career from Poison to Dark Water, the legacy of Mike Myers and controversial opinions about Paddington Bear. Admit it, you've missed this.

If you really have missed this, you can get more of it by donating to our Patreon, where you'll find a monthly bonus Pop Screen episode, Graham's classic Doctor Who reviews, our other movie podcast Director's Lottery and even more things that aren't available anywhere else. Don't forget to follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook as well.

#popscreen #moviereview #imnotthere #toddhaynes #bobdylan #cateblanchett #benwhishaw #richardgere #marcuscarlfranklin #christianbale #heathledger #folkrock 

Hey you! It's time for Pop Screen to tackle one of the earliest, most expensive and most flamboyant product of the 1980s crossover between music video and cinema: Pink Floyd - The Wall. Based closely on Roger Waters's semi-autobiographical songs, director Alan Parker and animator Gerald Scarfe produced an epic fantasy of isolation, trauma, totalitarianism and grief that caused no less a figure than Steven Spielberg to mutter "what the f*** was that?" at its Cannes premiere.

This week, we're bringing the boys back home as Graham and Aidan reconvene to tackle this iconic and iconoclastic work. Topics include the album's original reception, Pink Floyd's status in the post-punk era, the unexpected cameos in the 'Young Lust' scene and the influence of Syd Barrett on the film's central character Pink, played by Bob Geldof. If you listen all the way through, there's even a cliffhanger ending...

Pop Screen is taking a fortnight's break from free episodes, but you can catch our next Patreon exclusive episode by donating here. Backers also get access to our other movie podcast Director's Lottery, which just dropped an episode about Nicholas Meyer. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to find out when we're back, and what we'll be doing...

#popscreen #moviereviews #pinkfloyd #thewall #rogerwaters #bobgeldof #geraldscarfe #alanparker #sydbarrett #conceptalbum #progrock