With Merdeka around the corner, Popcorn Culture celebrates local filmmaking with a review of three local short films: 'Pace' by Ekin Kee Charles, 'The House of Brick and Stone' by Ananth Subramaniam and 'Fasa' by Syahmi Norsan.

Then on Take 2, we discuss your favourite Malaysian movies, before hearing from our local filmmakers about the hopes thay have for Malaysian cinema. For this we hear from Adam Zainal, Ananth Subramaniam, Anwar Johari Ho, Gogularaajan Rajendran, Lee Yve Vonn, Mickey Lai and Putra Adib.

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Superstar Rajinikanth is back on the big screen with his 171st film, Coolie – a milestone that also marks his 50th year in cinema. Not only that, it’s also the first time he’s teamed up with Lokesh Kanagaraj, who’s arguably the most popular action-film director in India right now. There’s also the star-studded pan-Indian supporting cast – Nagarjuna, Soubin Shahir, Upendra, Shruti Haasan and a cameo by Aamir Khan. Naturally, expectations by fans have been through the roof, but does it live up to its hype? We review the film and then on Take Two, discuss the best signature moves/gestures by movie stars.

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This week, we’re reviewing the latest, much-anticipated entry into the Horror Canon of Creepy Children, in the form of Zach Cregger’s Weapons. In it, seventeen children from the same classroom mysteriously run out of their homes towards an unknown target in the middle of the night, going missing, with no reason why. We talk about the movie, and whether it lives up to the acclaim it’s been receiving, before going on to ask: when it comes to horror, what’s your flavour? Do you prefer ‘elevated’ takes on the genre, or do you go enjoy the reliable combination of ghosts and gore?

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The Police Squad is back in an all-new reboot of The Naked Gun, starring Liam Neeson as Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. - the one man who has the particular set of skills to save the world - and Pamela Anderson as femme fatale, Beth Davenport. So of course, we talk about whether old-timey slapstick comedy still lands in 2025. Then on Take 2, we ask you for your favourite comedies, before diving into Liam Neeson's love ballad 'My Sweet Beth' on the B-Side.

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We're halfway through 2025, so we're looking back at releases we didn’t get to review, beginning with the much-hyped return of Danny Boyle and Alex Garland's '28 Years Later'. We also review the Palestinian film, 'All That's Left of You' which won Best Film at MIFFest, and the beloved Tamil-language 'Tourist Family'. Then, we open up our phone lines and ask listeners for their selections!

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The Fantastic Four finally arrive in the MCU in First Steps, a 1960s-set sci-fi adventure from director Matt Shakman. Pedro Pascal leads as the stretchy Reed Richards, alongside Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. After two previously failed attempts at launching these popular comic book characters on the big screen, will the third time finally be the charm? We review the film, and then on Take Two, we discuss characters that have been played by multiple actors.

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This week, we bring you a double-bill review of the 4-hour meditative epic, The Brutalist, in which Adrian Brody portrays a Hungarian architect’s postwar life in America, and Netflix's KPop Demon Hunters, a candy-coloured action romp where a girl group secretly fights demons. Then on Take 2, we ask: are movies just too long now — and which ones actually earn their runtime? Plus, on the B-side, we spotlight the chart-topping soundtrack of KPop Demon Hunters with Huntrix' hit song, 'Golden'.

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After putting us through the emotional wringer in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, James Gunn is back with another comic book adaptation — this time, not obscure misfits but arguably the most iconic superhero of all: Superman. Starring David Corenswet as the new Man of Steel, this marks the first chapter in Gunn’s ambitious reboot of the DC Universe. Could this be the film that finally sets the DCU on the right track after years of false starts? We review the film and then on Take Two, talk about our favourite superheroes.

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We review F1, a high‑octane, Hollywood‑polished Formula 1 drama starring Brad Pitt as a washed-up racer turned mentor, and Jurassic World Rebirth, where Scarlett Johansson leads a team to a forbidden island to extract DNA from colossal, mutated dinosaurs for a miracle drug. And then on Take 2, inspired by the original wonder of turning the corner and seeing the brachiosaurus for the first time, we talk about movie moments that filled us with awe.

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We bring you a double bill of Pixar's latest space-venture, Elio, and the live-action version of How to Train Your Dragon. In the former, Pixar bring us a socially alienated boy who's obsessed with aliens and finds himself abducted and having to navigate an intergalactic conflict. In the latter, we have Dean DeBlois, who directed the original animated trilogy, returning to bringing Hiccup and Toothless’ story into a new visual era. Then on Take Two, we discuss children's movies we still love as adults.

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