The Pop Cult Podcast

We’re back from a summer hiatus to bring you one of the most exciting movies we’ve seen in a long time—Wonder Woman! Jeffrey and I have thoughts on thoughts about director Patty Jenkins’ treatment of the most famous female superhero, on Gal Gadot’s utterly charming performance as Diana Prince, and on how Robin Wright is truly a war general for our times. Dive in with us as we go deep on Wonder Woman!

Wonder Woman set records for box office performance by a solo female director, which made us very very happy. Jeff helpfully lays out a bit of history and context about the character of Wonder Woman and her “creator”, William Moulton Marston. His polyamorous partnership with two women certainly informed his creation of a feminist icon, and he shared credit for creating Wonder Woman with his partners Elizabeth Marston and Olivia Byrne. He also created a lie detector test (lasso of truth shout out!). Marston is a fascinating character unto himself, and it’s worth taking a look at his story.

There are definite parallels between Wonder Woman (the character) and Captain America, and further parallels between Captain America: The First Avenger and Wonder Woman. Both of these properties reflect worlds that are dealing with frightening wars, and the characters are two interesting examples of idealized men and women and their ability to shape the world they live in.

Gal Gadot’s performance is the heart of the film, and phew, does she ever nail it. She has the strength of her convictions, plus a strong physical presence that instantly communicates her self-confidence (even as she learns the ropes of being Wonder Woman). Chris Pine does good work as Diana’s love interest, and we appreciated that his character deferred to the actual God he was standing next to.

Robin Wright (!) stole all 7 minutes of screen time she had, because that is what she does. Jeff was particularly impressed with how Wonder Woman accumulated her powers, and the connection she had with her female role model, Antiope.  SHIELD!

A small shout out to Danny Huston’s performance, and an entry in Lauren’s Hollywood Dynasty corner to honour these eyebrows:

A few other actors round out our cast discussion, and we do spend a minute with Lucy Davis as Etta Candy. That character deserves her own show, and in the time since the taping of the podcast, I learned that Lucy Davis was Dawn Tinsley on the original UK version of The Office. Here. For. It.

Wonder Woman capitalizes on its fish-out-of-water premise, and the humour in the film reminded me of 3rd Rock from the Sun. I’M NOT WRONG ABOUT THAT SHOW.

We’re back! This week, we’re talking about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which was released back in May. In the follow up to 2014’s sleeper-success Guardians of the Galaxy, we continue our journey with Peter Quill and his rag tag group of friends in their space journey. Our whole show is dedicated to this bright and colourful sequel, and we end the show with Kool-Aid picks as usual. Spoiler alert time: we talk about everything in the movie including plot twists and reveals, so definitely check it out before listening.

The cast of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 impressed us with their more assured character performances. Chris Pratt continues his charm assault on us, and I’m enjoying the Peter Quill as beta male storyline. Zoe Saldana won me over forever with her use of That Big Fucking Gun™ as Gamora. She and Furiosa should hangout and watch crappy TV with cocktails, and I should get to join them. Make it happen, universe.

We also touch on the Amelia Bedelia of the MCU in Dave Bautista’s Drax, and the judicious use of adorable puppy Baby Groot (Vin Diesel). Bradley Cooper’s trash panda realness in Rocket Raccoon works for both of us as well. I was HERE for the star turn taken by Kurt Russell’s glorious wig. Let’s all take a moment to appreciate those resin statues that immortalized the wig within the movie. Amen.

Effects are up next, and this is a movie worth seeing in theatre because it’s a grand visual spectacle. Yondu’s arrow had a very beautiful scene, and Jeff really liked the wacky time jump sequence. The de-aging of 66 year old actor Kurt Russell was seamless and exemplary (I have scoured the internet for a photo of that scene and can’t find one. Please help me).

We touch specifically on the female characters in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and it’s a bit of mixed bag. I liked the further exploration of the sister relationship between Gamora and Nebula, but didn’t particularly enjoy anything Mantis got to say or do.

Post credits scenes garner their own section of our podcast because there were freakin’ 5 of them. Too many.

* Kirk in Space stabs Drax in the neck.

* Teenage Tween Groot. This solved a timeline problem that was bugging Jeff for the whole movie. I still don’t know that I get what happened, but I don’t super care.

* Stan Lee cameo scene. Stan Lee is a watcher. Marvel fans (apparently) loved this one.

* Sylvester Stallone does…something. This one was unnecessary.

This week, we’re all about media featuring the over-55 crowd, and we start with a look at Netflix’s Grace and Frankie. In the second half of the show, we talk about seniors on TV (Murder She Wrote features prominently, you’re welcome).

The third season of Grace and Frankie was released on Netflix at the end of March 2017, and by the very fact that it has two female leads who are in their 70s, it’s a revolutionary show. The show was created by Marta Kauffman (one of three creators of Friends) and Howard J. Morris (Home Improvement and According to Jim). 

Jeff and I are both fans of Grace and Frankie, and the work of Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda on it. The show overcomes a rather trite sitcom premise to do something subversive by telling a story for and about these two female septuagenarians. 

Lily Tomlin is a comedic legend, and her talents are on full display throughout Grace and Frankie. My absolute favourite lines in the series come out of her mouth, and it’s so often just the spin she puts on a small joke that turns into a gut-buster. Praise.

Jane Fonda brings a layer of depth and emotion to her performance as the uptight Grace, and it’s very easy to see why she is a two-time Oscar winner. Her ability to emote outside of any dialogue and to show a real journey of discovery at this later stage of life gives the show a real ground to stand on. Also, Jane Fonda seems kind of awesome. 

Jeff is excited about a depiction of two men who have lived the majority of their lives in secret, and choose to live it openly in their 70s. Sam Waterston does great work in showing us Sol’s emotional side, and Martin Sheen matches him by showing us Robert’s embrace of his newfound freedom. I appreciate that the show is choosing to focus on June Diane Raphael’s character, Brianna. Her work here reminded me how great she is, and I hope she gets more and more to do in future seasons.

We praise the show’s use of accomplished female actors as powerhouse guest stars, and for those of you playing along at home, I count 3 former Frasier guest stars:

Wendy Malick (Ronnie)

Marsha Mason (Sherry)

Millicent Martin (Mrs. Moon)

If you find others, PLEASE tweet at me.

The show also deserves praise for it’s frankness about sex and sexuality. It’s one more facet of a human life that the show is honest about, and it happens to revolve around 70 year old people.

In our second segment, we are talking about senior citizens on TV–a subject near and dear to my heart. We start with the Alpha and the Omega of seniors on TV, The Golden Girls. It always fascinates me that the great actors who played ...

This week, Jeffrey and I are chatting about the live action version of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, as well as live musicals on TV. Beauty and the Beast is up first, and both of us have good things to say about this remake. The source material, the Beauty and the Beast animated feature from 1991, is often cited as the high mark of the Disney renaissance, and for good reason. This remake may not hit that iconic high, but it’s still interesting.

The cast is pretty darn fantastic, and I would happily watch Hermione Granger (the great Emma Watson) do Belle cosplay for as long as she wants to. High marks also to Josh Gad for his crazy LeFou face and energy. We agree the additional backstory for both the Beast and Maurice fills out those characters, and that Professor Trelawney (Emma Thompson) brings significant heart and warmth to Mrs. Potts.

The music in this movie had a lot to live up to. We agree that Audra McDonald nailed it (no big surprise there), and that Emma Watson did a very passable job with her songs. We weren’t sure about Dan Stevens singing his little Beast heart out, but Oscars must be sought after, I guess. Emma Thompson does as well as anyone can do while trying to fill the shoes of the GREAT Angela Lansbury. Fun facto (maybe for me only): Emma Thompson is friends with Angela Lansbury and calls her Angie. Can I please be in your friend group, ladies? PLEASE.

We talk very briefly about the “gay moment” that occurs on screen for a fleeting few seconds. We’re glad that a gay character was shown interacting with a member of the same sex here, but that’s a laughably low bar to clear, so we don’t want to overpraise it. It is a step in the right direction from a really massive company that has huge cultural influence, if still the smallest step they could have taken.

The future of live action movies at Disney looks bright, with these already on the horizon:

Mary Poppins

Mulan

The Little Mermaid

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

The Lion King with Jon Favreau as the director

Cruella De Vil starring Emma Stone

Aladdin with Guy Ritchie as the director

Peter Pan

Tinker Bell starring Reese Witherspoon

Dumbo

Winnie the Pooh

Chernabourg

Pinocchio

In our second segment, we talk about live musicals on TV. This is hardly a new concept, but lately we’ve had a resurgence of this tradition. NBC has lead the charge to bring back these live musical events starting with The Sound of Music Live! in 2013.

It’s time for Jeff and I to discuss the pop culture phenomenon that is the great Lin-Manuel Miranda. We have previously talked about his work on Hamilton in our Tony Awards Chat. Now we’re bringing you a full hour on the man himself, and his ever-impressive catalog of musicals, movie soundtracks, and collaborations.

We start by talking about Hamilton, with the caveat that neither of us has actually seen it. The fact that we can talk about a musical in depth without having seen the show is a testament to the power of this cultural product. It’s also a testament to the talent and genius of Lin-Manuel Miranda himself. How lucky we are to be alive right now. The main way we’ve interacted with Hamilton is through the cast album. Have you listened to it yet? Of course you have, it’s awesome.

We also have “seen” Hamilton through various awards show performances, and pop culture moments. Jeff and I are Tonys fans, and have observed the relationship between Lin-Manuel Miranda and the Tonys broadcast evolve over time. Jeff and I choose favourites from the show, and it will come as a surprise to absolutely no one that we are HERE FOR the Schuyler Sisters. It’s almost tiresome how much we are here for these ladies. We also thoroughly enjoy the use of an anti-hero narrator through Leslie Odom Jr’s performance of Aaron Burr and “Wait For It”. I have a personal affinity for anger through courteous letter writing in “Your Obedient Servant”, and Jeff rightly points out that this song walks the line between high drama and comedy in a fascinating way.

We move on to our personal dream casting choices for the inevitable film version of Hamilton. Jeff has some Good Ideas™ to include The Pop Cult Podcast Fave Janelle Monáe in a film version of this musical. If she were to enact the role of Aaron Burr, I might die. My ideas are decidedly less good, but I’m here stumping for the great Anika Noni Rose, the iconic Lea Salonga, and the reliable Amber Riley. Neither of us has any great contribution to the dudes that should be in a Hamilton film, but Jeff does have two strong picks for a director.

It’s just occurred to me now, but I think it should be a woman of colour. Ava DuVernay or bust.

We move on to the music of Hamilton, and Jeff takes the lead in breaking down some of the many influences in the work. He speaks to the revelation that was the Hamilton Mixtape for him in bringing these influences to light...

This week it’s all about the Oscars 2017! The 89th Annual Academy Awards are this Sunday evening, and as usual, Jeff and I are all in to talk about the nominated films and creators. Can you believe it was just a year ago that Leo didn’t have an Oscar?  Were we ever so young? The 2017 Oscars are a very different beast than last year’s ceremony, with the #oscarssowhite controversy fading slightly (though still a major, systemic problem), and new controversies taking hold. Jeff and I get into all of that and more in the episode, so dive in with us for Oscars 2017!

In our first half, we’re talking about the less glamorous categories. For Best Adapted Screenplay, we have an interesting set of works where in 3 out of 5 cases, a person of colour’s story is being adapted by a white person. This is the case for Hidden Figures (original story Margot Lee Shetterly), Arrival (original story by Ted Chiang), and Lion (original story by Saroo Brierley and Larry Buttrose). The other two films are works of people of colour, adapted by those people (and one collaborator, who is also a person of colour). Those are Fences by August Wilson and Moonlight by Tarell Alvin McCraney and Barry Jenkins.

For Best Original Screenplay, we have 5 movies written by white men, and four of them are specifically about white men. This is boring. We’re bored now. I’ve heard good things about 20th Century Women, so I throw a little support that way, but would prefer to take a pass on this particular Scrabble hand and change out my tiles.

On to Best Animated Feature next, and Jeff is glad to see two such high quality (and popular) Disney movies in this category. He and I are both hoping for a win for Moana, which is really super. Hat tip as well to the craft of Kubo and the Two Strings, which we did a podcast episode on earlier in the year. 

We finish the first half with talk about music. In the Best Original Score category, we agree that the lock has to be La La Land. That score is a character in the movie, and an important facet of the story.

For Best Original Song, we’re both excited to see if Lin-Manuel Miranda can add an Oscar to his passel of Tonys that he won in the fall. Controversial opinion: that guy is going to need several display cabinets for awards before long here. It’s a bit of a shame that “You’re Welcome” isn’t the nominated song here. Jeff makes the super point that leaving that out of here means we won’t get to see WWE Monday Night RAW alum Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson perform a musical number at the Oscars. That would have been pretty great. If you are interested in being depressed by a song about a reporter who was beheaded, knock yourself out here. 

Welcome to season 2 of The Pop Cult Podcast! Thanks so much to those of you who’ve been with us from the beginning, and welcome to any new listeners out there. We have big plans for the second year of the podcast, including doubling down on talk about diversity, feminism, and story in all of the pop culture we love. The first episode of this season is a nice showcase of those things that we really do love speaking about. We’re talking about Hidden Figures and Moonlight, two Oscar-nominated films that we think you should seek out. The spoilers for this episode are minimal, as neither of these films has a spoiler-able plot, but we do talk in detail about both, so keep that in mind if you are a purist.

Hidden Figures is up for discussion first, and both Jeffrey Bryan and I loved it. This movie was kind of perfectly designed to make me love it. It’s a period piece about black lady scientists who break through racist systems and institutions while eating barbecue and drinking homemade hooch (and wearing 60s business clothing and HATS). This is everything I love in the world. It’s based on a book by Margot Lee Shetterly about three of the women who made huge contributions to the NASA space program that (white, male) history has not acknowledged in a significant way (until recently).

The story around the three main characters, Katherine G. Johnson (played by Taraji P. Henson), Mrs. Dorothy Vaughn (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) is very much based in fact, which helps the film pack a real narrative punch. You should check out interviews with the real Katherine Johnson, because she is smart and funny and inspiring.

We talk a little about the main cast in the movie, and found each of the women pretty darn delightful in the roles. We both hadn’t been exposed to Taraji P. Henson’s work before this, and she impressed us with her range. Jeff commented off-air how impressed he was at the many facets she is playing here (nerd, wife, genius, mother, scientist, black person, black woman), and it’s a great point. That is all contained in a confident performance, and her lack of an Oscar nomination is a little infuriating.

Janelle Monáe is having quite the year, and we were both here for her performance, and particularly the stand she takes in a courtroom. Trailblazing is an understatement here, and Monáe captures the magnitude of her character’s win with grace and joy. I’m stumping for Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis on a buddy cop show. Hollywood, you have my number if you need more super ideas.   

We talk further about the dangerous territory of “white man saves the world” that Hidden Figures flirts with, and the film’s joyous tone that lifts spirits in the new world we’re living in (#darkesttimeline). I could watch Monáe and Spencer flirt on behalf of their friend for hours on end, and the tone of this film struck a great chord with both me and Jeff.

Please note for this week’s episode: we recorded this podcast before Carrie Fisher’s death, so though we talk briefly about her role in this film, we don’t address this event or its impact on the series. Alright, with that out of the way, let’s dive into Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and our picks for the best pop culture of 2016. Spoilers for this episode: we’re talking about everything in Rogue One, so definitely check it out before listening here.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Rogue One is the first of the “Anthology” films being made by Disney, and it sits outside of the main “Saga” films that we have seen before (i.e. Episodes I – VII).  As a very casual fan of this series, I admit to being very lost in the positioning of this particular story, and it’s something I felt the movie didn’t help me out with at all. As Jeff points out, these Anthology films are the future of the franchise, so it behooves Disney to work out some of these kinks for more casual fans. Jeff liked the movie more than I did, and maybe other super fans of the franchise felt served by the movie. We’d love to hear your thoughts.

If you like war movies, I think this is also for you. I saw visual parallels to Saving Private Ryan and Apocalypse Now, and the work the movie does with those themes is strong. As Jeff points out, this is a darker film in both tone and visual spectacle, which makes it different than most of the other Star Wars films. Rogue One looks directly at themes of political activism, fascism, and the need for good people to take action. I was very impressed by the point the film makes that while some people have the luxury of discovering a political or social ill and choosing to take up the fight against it, for many many others, their life is that struggle, and always has been. If you find yourself on the lucky side of this equation, it is your absolute obligation to give everything you have to help those who don’t have the choice. Well said, Rogue One.

We talk a little about the casting of the film, and praise the diversity of the cast. It was great to see another woman at the front of a Star Wars story, and also great to see a (subtextual) gay relationship between a monk and his protector. Make it canon, people. We also talk about the CGI in this film, and both agree that on the whole, the effects in the film are super great. Neither of us cared for the CGI re-rendering of Peter Cushing (who died in 1994) and a remaking of a 1977 version of Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia. It was jarring in both cases. Overall, Jeff gives this entry into the Star Wars universe a solid B+. I’m probably closer to a C+, but, in keeping with the theme of the story, I’ll keep hope alive for future Anthology films that I might enjoy more.

Pre-2016 Best Pop Culture Picks

In our second half, we run down our picks for the best pop culture of 2016. We have two picks for each category. One that came out in 2016 and one that we discovered last year. Here’s a summary:

Books

Jeff had fiction and non-fiction picks because he luvs books. Non Fiction: Yes, Please By Amy Poehler and for Fiction: Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson.

Lauren: Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson and Illustrated by Adrian Alphona.

We’re glad to be back with you and delighted to be speaking about one of our favourite topics, the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This week we take on the visually impressive Doctor Strange and the ever-growing Marvel TV presence. The spoiler alert here is for all things, in all ways. We talk about major plot points for the full Doctor Strange movie, and also most of the Marvel TV properties (i.e. Agent Carter, Agents of SHIELD, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage).

We talk about Doctor Strange first. It’s an origin story for the character and our first full exploration of magic in this universe.  The use of magic is definitely a highlight in the movie, and the special effects are as good as everyone has said they are. The use of math and geometry to demonstrate magic in the world particularly delighted us. We also applaud the visual effects artists on their ability to ground the viewer amid world-bending effects.

We spend some time on the cast next, and Benedict Cumberbatch may have been a little on the nose for Jeff, but we both found him to be a serviceable Doctor Stephen Strange. Jeff’s fantasy pick for the role was Pedro Pascal (that’s Prince Oberyn Martell), and it would have been comforting to see him in another major role to know that his eyes still function after being squished like grapes. Talk turns to the Ancient One, played by a white actor, Tilda Swinton. We’ve talked about whitewashing before, and we’re going to keep bringing it up until it stops. We both agree that Tilda Swinton is great (hot take, that), but that the business decisions behind making a Tibetan character a Celtic lady suck eggs. I’m friendshipping Chiwetel Ejiofor and Benedict Wong because they’ve recently made two movies together, and we talk about how Rachel McAdams also appeared in the movie.

Jeff makes the great point that the whole film is an Iron Man retread, and the character of Christine sure did feel like Pepper Potts 2.0. The smart people over at The Next Picture Podcast would likely agree with this Iron Man theory—check out episodes #28 and #29 for more from them on how Iron Man became a template for all future Marvel movies.

Doctor Strange‘s place in the overall MCU is up for discussion next. Jeff and I agree that this movie stands apart from the others in a lot of ways. There are stylistic choices that echo the other films, and several direct references as well, but the strength of these properties are their ability to stand on their own, and this is no exception.

Our second segment is all about the television of the MCU, and we take a brief look at all of the shows that exist to this point. I don’t know if you know this, but I.

This week we’re talking about sports (YAY!), and specifically, we’re talking about baseball. That’s right, America’s (dullest) pastime. The World Series is happening right now, and the Chicago Cubs are trying to overcome a crazy-long drought. They haven’t won since 1908, which is rather nuts. We didn’t even have Facebook in 1908!! Jeff and I talk a little about Major League Baseball in general, and our perspectives on “Canada’s Team”, the Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays last won a World Series when we were in our prime fandom-incubating years, but that didn’t really stick on either of us. The fact that the Blue Jays are suddenly good at baseball again fits in with the nostalgia cycles that Hollywood is cashing in on right now.

We then talk a little about this year’s Blue Jays team and some notable heroes and villains that make for good television. We’re talking about Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, Kevin Pillar, and Rougned Odor. Side note: Dave Bautista did indeed appear in Guardians of the Galaxy. His massive physical form is really better suited to rugby than to baseball. Here is the Michael Shur (of Parks and Recreation) article on Jose Bautista’s epic batflip, and here is the promised GIF of Rougned Odor’s slo-motion punch.

We touch a little on the weird superstitions that baseball men take part in, and Jeff made a super observation about the overlapping habits of sports players and serious Bingo enthusiasts.

I have more tips about How to Watch Baseball if You are Forced to Do So, including watching out for super weird behaviors like extended handshake routines, and superstitious at-bat protocols.

In our second half, we’re talking baseball in pop culture. Both Jeff and I enjoyed baseball movies for kids when we were kids, including The Sandlot (which is legitimately great) and Rookie of the Year (which is not). I made the common mistake of confusing Nick Nolte and Gary Busey. It was Busey who starred in Rookie of the Year.

My recollection of sports movies of the time is flawed pretty much throughout the segment, as Patrick Renna (the kid from The Big Green wasn’t in any of the things I described, but was in The Sandlot). Talk then turns to Angels in the Outfield, which has a surprisingly strong cast (Danny Glover, Christopher Lloyd, Tony Danza, Brenda Fricker, Matthew McConaughey, and freakin’ Adrien Brody all star). Jeff schools me that it was the great Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a tyke in Angels in the Outfield, and that he isn’t half Asian as I wrongly assumed. I’m not usually that wrong about stuff, so please enjoy feeling superior to me for a while.