POPeration!

It's that time of year again. The days are getting longer, the weather is getting warmer, and the blockbusters are just about to bloom! Join Eric and Stacey as they judge the upcoming summer movies based solely on their trailers. "What's a hit" and "what's a miss"? Well, POPeration will be the judge of that.

Gilbert Grape is turning 25 this year! Such a great milestone for this great little movie. After his father's death, Gilbert has to care for his mentally disabled brother and his morbidly obese mother, which is suddenly challenged when love walks into his life. Starring Johnny Depp as the title character, this movie is a character study of life in a sleepy Midwestern town, with several outstanding acting performances, including an Academy Award nomination for Leonardo DiCaprio! If you haven't seen this one yet, you're in for a real treat!

Welcome to the wizarding world of Harry Potter! Join Eric and Stacey and special guest super fan Sophia for a podcast filled with insight to the fandom of Harry Potter. From the mind of JK Rowling comes an epic story about a young boy who learns that he is a wizard and that, well, the school of magic is a dangerous place. Just the place to leave three teenagers unattended to get into all sorts of mischief. Stacey even gets in on the nerddom by participating in a "sorting ceremony" to determine if she belongs in the house of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin! Wands up!

Join Eric and Stacey this week as they talk about America's Sweetheart Patton Oswalt's soon to be classic, Ratatouille!  You won't want to miss it as they cut into what made this animated tale about a rat chef in France so good.  Yet another suggestion from the surgeons in this season of Stuff You Should Watch/Read/Listen to.

Boy, boy, crazy boy! Stay cool, boy, and Eric and Stacey do as they rap about the Academy award-winning musical classic West Side Story. Taking a deep dive into one of the most beloved shows, the pop surgeons discuss the highs and lows, the good and the bad and why people are a sucker for a sad ending.

In this week's episode, Eric and Stacey talk about "what ifs". What if, on a certain road, you took a left instead of a right. What if, on a certain day, you stopped for ice cream instead of going straight home. Sliding Doors, from 1997, looks at this very idea of how small decisions or small moments can change the future and our lives. Before GOOP, Gwyneth Paltrow was an actress, and this one was right in the middle of her heyday, highlighting her ability to do a good British accent.

Eric and Stacey take a look at the body of work of an actor we lost in 2016: the late Alan Rickman. A brilliant stage and TV actor, Alan Rickman burst into our hearts as the villain Hans Gruber in Die Hard in 1988, and until his untimely passing we have been able to see a man with the widest range in the most diverse of parts in any genre you can imagine. Whether he is playing a hero or a villain, you will most certainly be entertained by one of the greatest acting talents of our generation.

Eric and Stacey talk about the hugely binged The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Netflix, and why comedy is indeed very hard... for her... in the 1950s. If you haven't seen it yet, maybe this quick intro will spur you on. If you are one of the bingers... listen along and decide if you agree with them and their take on this award-winning show.

Eric and Stacey take a trip back in time to the 1930s to review one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) screwball comedies of all time: The Awful Truth. Listen in as they talk about soon-to-be-divorced Lucy (Irene Dunn) and Jerry (Cary Grant) who go to great lengths to try to ruin each other's romantic escapades. This movie, which opened in 1937, has stood the test of time as the benchmark of what a great screwball comedy is.

Hold on to your hospital gowns! POP surgeons Eric and Stacey are back and sicker than ever: THE BIG SICK, nominated for Best Original Screenplay for this year's Academy Awards. Our pop surgeons dissect one of this years Oscar darlings and talk about why it's struck a chord with its audience. Eric even includes a spoiler for another Oscar bait movie, so stay tuned at the end of the podcast for some additional insight.