PopaHALLics

PopaHALLics #130 "The Witch, The Killer ... & Emily in Paris"
Kate muses on the appeal—and fashion—of the Netflix hit "Emily in Paris," recently named by The New York Times as one to "hatewatch." (You dislike the show so much that you still watch it so you can ridicule it.) First, we look at "American Murder: Laci Peterson" and talk about three novels. Also: "The Lost Kitchen."

Streaming:

• "Emily in Paris," Netflix. As the fourth season begins, marketing executive Emily (Lily Collins) has even more romantic and professional dilemmas! Golly! Part one of this season premiered in August and part two drops Sept. 12.
• "American Murder: Laci Peterson," Netflix. This true-crime docuseries delves into the 2002 disappearance and murder of Peterson, who was eight months pregnant at the time.
• "The Lost Kitchen" and "Getting Lost," Max, Discovery, Magnolia. In these reality shows, self-taught chef Erin French uses local crops to whip up tasty dishes and connections to the family cooks who went before.

Books:

• "The Road from Belhaven," by Margot Livesey. The gift of second sight complicates the life of a young woman in late 19th-century Scotland.
• "Gone," by Chelsea Cain. In this thriller, Kick, a survivor of child pornography, looks for an abducted boy with the help of the enigmatic John Bishop.
• "The Paying Guests," by Sarah Waters. This novel set in 1920s south London weaves together a love story and a crime drama as a family trying to make ends meet takes in lodgers.

Click through to watch and read what we're talking about.

PopaHALLics #129 "Girls, Girls, Girls"
Girls and women dominate our pop culture choices this week, from a British teen trying to solve a murder to a black woman struggling with racial tensions in 1960s America. Sometimes they're good "girls" and sometimes, like "Abigail," they're very, very bad.

Streaming:

• "A Good Girl's Guide to Murder," Netflix. For her school project, a 17-year-old British girl investigates the murder of a high school student five years before. The limited series is based on Holly Jackson's YA mystery bestseller.
• "Abigail," Peacock. The makers of "Ready or Not" return with another black comedy horror movie. A group of kidnappers kidnap the right young girl, but boy oh boy does it go wrong.
• "The Decameron," Netflix. A comedy about the Black Death? In this limited series, a group of Italians flee the plague to a remote estate, bringing their foibles, lusts and problems with them. Tony Hale stars.
• "Lady in the Lake," Apple +. This mystery thriller follows the lives of two women on a collision course in 1960s Baltimore. Natalie Portman is a Jewish housewife seeking to reinvent herself as an investigative journalist, and Cleo Johnson (Moses Ingram) is a black woman struggling to provide for her family.

Books:

• "Night Watching," by Tracy Sierra. In this suspense thriller, Sierra's debut, a woman and her two young children are menaced by a home invader during a snowstorm ... or are they?

Music:
The Mavericks are classified as "Americana"—a catdh-all term for this Miami band that blends country, rock, Tex-Mex twang, Cuban rhythms, even Jamaican ska. Steve saw a recent concert and thoroughly enjoyed it. Check out their music, as well as by similar artists, on our latest playlist!

Click through the links to watch, read, and listen to what we're talking about.

PopaHALLics #128 "Four on the Floor"
Our podcast is four years old! We celebrate with a funny, more-or-less-true movie about profanity-laced letters, an animated noir Batman, an Alice Hoffman novel about the power of reading, and an influential "sensation" novel first published in 1859-60. Once again, we're on the cutting edge! [Joke.]

Streaming:

• "Wicked Little Letters," streaming services and rental. When residents of a small seaside town begin receiving profanity-laced letters in this black comedy mystery, suspicion falls on a foul-mouthed Irishwoman (Jessie Buckley). But did she do it? Also starring Olivia Coleman and Ajana Vasan.
• "Shardlake," Hulu. In this 4-part series based on C.J. Sansom's novels, a lawyer and his sidekick (Arthur Hughes and Anthony Boyle) investigate, on the orders of Thomas Cromwell (Sean Bean), a horrific murder at a monastery. 
• "Batman: Caped Crusader," Prime. In this animated throwback noir series, Batman (voiced by Hamish Linklater) is a true detective using low-key methods and his fists to fight crime in Gotham City. More diversity and some interesting spins on Batman's longtime villains. 
• "My Spy," Prime. A hardened CIA agent (Dave Bautista) meets his most challenging adversary yet, a 9-year-old girl (Chloe Coleman), whom he's supposed to be discreetly surveilling. She has other ideas in this cute 2020 action comedy also starring Kristen Schaal and Daniel Kim. 
• "Leave No Trace," Disney+ and rental. In this slow-moving but involving drama from the Oscar-nominated writer and director of "Winter's Bone," a dad (Ben Foster) and his daughter (Thomasin McKenzie) live off the grid in Oregon until one small mistake tips them off to the authorities. 

Books:

• "The Invisible Hour," by Alice Hoffman. This novel from the "queen of magical realism" celebrates the power of reading. A copy of "The Scarlet Letter" causes a young girl to question she and her mother's involvement in an oppressive cult. 
• "The Woman in White," by Wilkie Collins. This story originally published in installments in 1859-1860 is often cited in 100-best-novels-of-all-time lists and was one of the first to use multiple narrators to advance the plot. Vivid characters, a mysterious woman in white, true love, scheming upper-crust types, involuntary confinement in an insane asylum—it's all here!

PopaHALLics #127 "Let's Do the Twist-er"
Despite her tornado fears, Kate gets sucked into the new disaster movie "Twisters." Steve goes samurai with "Shogun." Also: Murders! Mysteries! Monkeys! (Haven't you always wanted a mon-KEY?)

In Theaters:

• "Twisters." In this "stand-alone sequel" to the 1996 hit, a woman (Daisy Edgar-Jones) testing a new tornado tracking system in Oklahoma crosses paths with a reckless, charismatic storm chaser (Glen Powell). Things are about to get stormy!

Streaming:

• "Twister," Max, Prime, and other streaming services. In this 1996 Jan de Bront thriller, Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton play two storm chasers on the brink of divorce who put themselves in harm's way to test an advanced weather alert system. With Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alan Ruck, Jami Gertz, and Cary Elwes.
• "Shogun," FX, Hulu. Based on the James Clavell novel, this much-Emmy-nominated historical drama focuses on the collision/collusion of two ambitious men, an English sailor marooned in Japan (Cosmo Jarvis) and a Japanese lord (Hiroyuki Sanada) fighting for his survival.
• "Grantchester," PBS. Season 9 is one of change, as vicar Will (Tom Brittany) receives a surprise offer, DI Geordie (Robson Green) must learn to work with a new vicar (Rishi Nair) and Geordie's independent daughter Esme (Skye Degruttola) is out in the big wide world of 1961.
• "Man Up," Peacock, Prime, and other streaming services. In this 2015 British romantic comedy, a journalist (Lake Bell) whose life is a mess pretends to be the blind date a marketing manager (Simon Pegg) was expecting. Comedy ensues. With Sharon Horgan ("Bad Sisters") and Rory Kinnear.
• "Wild Target," Prime, Peacock, and other streaming services. In this 2010 romantic comedy, a reclusive, middle-aged hitman (Bill Nighe) is flummoxed by his latest assigned hit, a beautiful, impetuous art swindler (Emily Blunt). With Rupert Grint, Rupert Everett, and Martin Freeman.
• "Homicide Los Angeles," Netflix. This docuseries from the creators of "Law and Order" tells the stories of notorious murders from the viewpoints of the detectives and prosecutors who cracked them.
• "Hit Monkey," Disney +/Hulu. Just another animated mismatched buddy action drama in which a Japanese snow monkey and the ghost of a hit man  seek vengeance on bad guys. Bloody, bloody vengeance. With the voice talents of Olivia Munn, Jason Sudeikis, and George Takei. 

Books:

• "Killingly," by Katharine Beutner. Based on the real-life disappearance of a Mount Holyoke student in 1897, this "haunting" novel delves into academia, family trauma, and the risks faced by unconventional women in the late 19th century.
• "Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone," by Benjamin Stevenson. An Australian comic has written a fun, witty novel that cleverly—very cleverly—blends classic and modern murder mysteries.

Click through the links above to watch and read what we're talking about.

PopaHALLics #126 "Hit Man & Hitmakers"
Wouldn't it be nice to learn more about the Beach Boys and Neil Young? We enjoy a documentary and a biography giving new insights into these influential musicians and their place in pop culture. We also laugh at a sexy fake hit man, cheer on "The Bear" and "Sweeth Tooth," and are very glad Lady Jane Grey does not lose her head in the swashbuckling, dryly funny reimagining "My Lady Jane."

Streaming:

• "Hit Man," Netflix. In this action comedy directed by Richard Linklater, a dweeby college professor (Glen Powell, "Anyone But You") pretends to be a hit man for police investigations. What happens when he falls for a sexy suspect (Adria Arjona) who thinks he's a cool, confident killer?
• "My Lady Jane," Amazon Prime. Wait, Lady Jane Grey does NOT get "the chop" at the Tower of London? This reimagining of her life is like "The Princess Bride," with adventure, oodles and oodles of sex, and magic realism. As in people can turn into animals!
• "The Bear," Hulu. Season 3 finds tormented chef Carmie (Jeremy Allen White) continuing to chase a Michelin star, with lots more yelling in the kitchen and more emphasis on the characters around him.
• "Sweet Tooth," Netflix. The third and final season of this sweet, gentle drama finds Gus the deer boy and his friend Big Man trying to get to Alaska and hook up with Gus' mom, who's trying to stop the plague "the Sick."
• "The Beach Boys," Disney +. This fan-friendly documentary traces the history of the band known for surf anthems through "Pet Sounds," a revolutionary album in its time, and beyond. Tons of never-before-seen photos, great stories, and critical insights into the band's importance from the likes of Lindsey Buckingham, producer Don Was, and Janelle Monae.

Books:

• "Disobedient," by Elizabeth Fremantle. This novel based on the life of Artemisia Gentileschi—the greatest female painter of the Renaissance—finds her refusing to be silent about a rape and having "visual revenge" in the creation of her masterpiece, "Judith Beheading Holofernes."
• "Shakey: Neil Young's Biography," by Jimmy McDonough. This 2002 mammoth biography is the definitive look at the life and art of the enigmatic rocker. It was authorized by Young and yet still manages to hold his feet to the fire for questionable creative decisions and the many times he treated those closest to him badly. 

Music:
Since we talk about the Beach Boys and Neil Young, let's have fun, fun, fun with a playlist featuring lots of music from both! PopaHALLics #126 Playlist kicks off with a song by the Four Freshmen, who heavily influenced Beach Boys' leader Brian Wilson's ideas about harmonies.

Click through the links above to watch, read, and listen to what we're talking about.

PopaHALLics #125 "Who Are You, Who Who, Who Who?"
We review the new "Dr. Who" ... but the Halls are hearing a lot of other Whos, too. Who's zooming who in the comedy "Argylle" and the thriller novel "The Poison Bed"? Who am I, asks the daughter of a prisoner in the acclaimed memoir "Somebody's Daughter." And who's at fault in the creepy TikTok dance cult? It's enough to make a pop culture fan say "Who-eeee!"

Streaming:

• "Dr. Who," Disney +. The 15th Doctor (Nigerian-born, Scottish-raised Ncuti Gatwa, in photo above) and his companion Ruby Sunday (Millie GIbson) have adventures from dinosaur days to war-torn future worlds in this entertaining coproduction by Disney and the BBC.
• "Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult," Netflix. This 3-part documentary explores the unsettling details and "dark realities" that occur after TikTok dancers join a management company and its associated church.
• "Godzilla Minus One," Netflix. In this emotionally-driven Japanese film, an Academy Award winner for special effects, a failed kamikaze pilot seeks to protect his makeshift family and find redemption when Godzilla heads for Tokyo. One of the best Godzilla films ever.
• "Argylle," Apple+. In this spy spoof, a reclusive author (Bryce Dallas Howard) gets swept up into real-life espionage when one of her novels cuts too close to home. With Henry Cavill, Samuel L. Jackson, Sam Rockwell, Dua Lipa, John Cena, and more.
• "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World," Max, Prime, Hulu, & others. In this imaginative, clever 2010 comedy, a bass player (Michael Cera) must win the heart of the enigmatic Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) by video game-like duels with her 7 Evil Exes. Look at this supporting cast: Kieran Culkin, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Evans, Jason Schwartzman, Brie Larson, Anna Kendrick, and Bill Hader as "The Voice."

Books:

• "Somebody's Daughter: A Memoir," by Ashley C. Ford. A poor black girl in Indiana, the daughter of a man in prison, comes to question her environment and identity. "A classic in the making," says bestselling YA author John Green.
• "The Poison Bed," by Elizabeth Fremantle. In this thriller set in the Jacobean Court of 1615, a famed couple is imprisoned on suspicion of murder. Ah, but can we really trust Lord Robert or Lady Frances' separate accounts of what happened?
• "Romantic Comedy," by Curtis Sittenfeld. In this comic romance, a female writer for a SNL-style show invents a rule that ordinary, shlubby guys can wind up with beautiful, successful women, but the reverse is not true. Then a dreamy pop star hosts the show ... 

Click the links above to watch and read what we're talking about.

PopaHALLics #124 "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Pop, Love, & Understanding?
Multiverse mayhem, bodice-ripping romance, and female comedians! Dueling Joel Edgertons! Music by a rising young singer/songwriter and a crafty popsmith of old! Steve and Kate return with a little something for everyone.

Streaming:

• "The Boys in the Boat," Prime. George Clooney directed this fact-based movie about the University of Washington rowing team's quest to compete in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Joel Edgerton plays their coach.
• "Dark Matter," Apple TV+. A college professor (Edgerton again) finds himself abducted into an alternate version of his life in this sci-fi thriller. Can he find his way back to his family and save them from, in essence, himself?
• "Loot," Apple TV+. Season 2 finds Maya Rudolph's super-rich character still ineptly trying to do good. The comedy has more of a focus this time on side characters, who turn out to be weird in a funny way.
• "Hacks," Max. In this smart, blistering, yet intimate comedy, legendary Vegas comedian (Jean Smart) is paired with an entitled,  unemployable young writer (Hannah Einbinder) in the hopes of revitalizing both's careers.
• "Bridgerton," Netflix. Season 3 of Shonda Rimes' period bodice-ripper finds possible romance between dweeb-turned-hunk Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and secret gossip columnist Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan).

Books:

• "Night Train" and "All My Colors" by David Quantick. An Emmy-winning TV writer ("Veep") writes clever horror novels. "All My Colors" is like a great lost "Twilight Zone" episode: When no one else remembers a bestselling book, a writer with no talent churns it out—and bad things start happening. In the surreal, gory "Night Train," a woman wakes up on a train speeding through the darkness with no idea who she is or what she's doing there. She heads for the front of the train, with each railroad car more nightmarish than the last.

Music:
Our hosts are listening to very different pop artists. Kate's enjoying breakout singer/songwriter Chappel Roan ("Pink Pony Club," "Femininomenon"), while Steve's humming Nick Lowe tunes like "Cruel to Be Kind" and "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, & Understanding" thanks to a reissue of his 1979 LP "Labour of Lust." Both are on our latest playlist!

Click through the links to watch, read, and listen to what we're talking about.

PopaHALLics #123 "Pop Tarts & Pop Sweets"
What can we say about Jerry Seinfeld's new movie about Pop Tarts? How about: You'd be better off taking a bite of the Spanish Inquisition ("The Familiar"), teenage murder ("Under the Bridge"), a murderous con man ("Ripley"), the Ku Klux Klan ("A Fever in the Heartland"), even an apocalyptic wasteland ("Fallout").

Streaming:

• "Unfrosted," Netflix. Seinfeld's directorial debut is a relentlessly silly film about the creation of Pop Tarts. Seinfeld, Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, Amy Schumer, and many other comedians star in this tale of the early '60s race between the Kellogg's and Post companies to create a square gooey-filled pastry.
• "Fallout," Amazon Prime. Most of this drama based on the popular video game franchise takes place hundreds of years after a nuclear war. A perky vault dweller goes to the desolate surface in search of her abducted father; a squire becomes a "knight" in a motorized suit of armor; and a sentinent zombie who dresses and acts like a Clint Eastwood spaghetti Western creates havoc wherever he goes. Imaginative and violent, with an odd, goofy sense of humor.
• "Ripley," Netflix. In this limited series, Andrew Scott (the hot priest in "Fleabag," Moriarty in "Sherlock") plays the latest incarnation of Tom Ripley, Patricia Highsmith's scheming con man. Dakota Fanning and Johnny Flynn also star in this neo-noir psychological thriller.
• "Under the Bridge," Hulu. Eight teenagers are accused of murdering a 14-year-old girl in this "American true-crime" miniseries. Oscar nominee Lily Gladstone plays an investigator while Riley Keough plays Rebecca Godfrey, who wrote the book that inspired the miniseries.
• "Byzantium," for rental or various channels with ads. Gemma Atherton and Saiorse Ronan ("Brooklyn") play two nomadic female vampires surviving on their wiles in this visually stunning, atmospheric 2013 film. Director Neil Jordan ("The Crying Game") reinvigorated vampire movies with his version of Anne Rice's "Interview with a Vampire."

Books:

• "A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them," by Timothy Egan. This true story explores the second coming of the Klan in the 1920s and their leader, a grifter named D.C. Stephenson, who had so much power in Indiana at one time that he said "I am the law." He was undone by a trial that featured the dying testimony of a young woman he had abducted, raped and tortured.
• "The Familiar," by Leigh Bardugo. When a disgraced secretary tries to regain the favor of Spain's king, a scullion with a gift for "little miracles" becomes involved in an effort to defeat the hated English. Unfortunately, the Spanish Inquisition does not look kindly on her use of magic.

PopaHALLics #122 "Pop for the People"
Aliens headed for Earth! An amnesiac pursued by killers! Julia Roberts suffers the apocalypse! And did we mention Shakespeare's young son and John Wilkes Booth? We discuss pop culture offerings that are all over the place. In a good way.

Streaming:

• "3 Body Problem," Netflix. In a sci-fi series based on Chinese author Cixin Liu's novels, a group of friends try to prevent an invasion by aliens after a bitter astronomer invites them to Earth.  From the makers of "Game of Thrones."
• "The Tourist," Netflix. The Man (Jamie Dornan) wakes up in a hospital with no memory of who he is. Unfortunately, the bad guys remember all too well in this British series set in the Australian Outback.
• "Renegade Nell," Disney +.  A young woman (Louisa Harland) falsely accused of murder discovers she has unpredictable powers and becomes the most notorious outlaw in 18th-century England. Just don't call her "Nellie."
• "Manhunt," Apple +.  This miniseries, a conspiracy thriller, follows the first American presidential assassination and the fight to preserve and protect Lincoln's ideas for Reconstruction. With Anthony Boyle as Booth, Hamish Linklater as Lincoln, and Patton Oswalt as, well, kinda himself, playing a detective.
• "Leave the World Behind," Netflix. When the apocalypse begins happening in this foreboding drama, characters played by Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Mahershala Ali, Myha'la Herrold, and Kevin Bacon try to make sense of it.

Books:

• "Hamnet," by Maggie O'Farrell. This gorgeous bestseller uses William Shakespeare's son (a real person, who died young) to explore Shakespeare's family dynamics and the beginning of his writing career. 

Click the links to watch and read what we're talking about.

PopaHALLics #121 "This Ain't Texas"
Kate and Steve wrestle with existential questions: Is Beyonce country enough? Is Steve Martin a sad and lonely guy instead of a wild and crazy one? And why does James Taylor's biography start in Scotland hundreds of years ago?!

Streaming:

• "Steve (!) Martin, a Documentary in 2 Pieces," Apple +. Morgan Neville's documentary (180 minutes total) follows Martin's career from his days as a kid magician through rock-star standup to TV star/happy guy today.
• "The Gentlemen," Netflix. This action comedy from Guy Ritchie ("Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels," "Snatch")  follows a duke's second son who inherits his father's estate—and a whole heap of trouble.

Books:

• "What You Are Looking for is in the Library," by Michiko Aoyama. In this charming international bestseller from Japan, the perfect book recommendation can change the reader's life.
• "James Taylor: Long Ago and Far Away," by Timothy White. This authorized biography by a well-known music writer views the singer/songwriter's life and career through the prism of his family—immediate and ancestral, too.

Music:
Curious about Beyonce getting country with it? Check out our playlist with selections from "Cowboy Carter" and for good measure Taylor Swift too: "Tay Tay Bey Bey Yay Yay."