Pretty Much Pop: A Culture Podcast

A philosopher, an actor, and a sci-fi writer talk about media and how we consume it.

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PMP#230: Gettin’ Furious

To begin our new season, we’re up to the moment covering the first season of Elizabeth Meriwether’s Hulu crime drama Furious, about an abused detective pursuing, and ultimately relating to, an abused revenge killer. The first half is spoiler free!

How does this relate to other revenge fantasy films (e.g. Kill Bill) or other shows where we’re supposed to be attracted to a female killer (Killing Eve)? It it good in the manner of The Wire? We talk a lot about casting, the showrunner, and especially decisions made in ending the season. Would this have been much better as a mini-series than as something that will now have a second season that may well jump the shark?

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PMP#229: What’s Spider-Man Up To?

It’s been 2019 since our last Spider-Man episode, so what’s with the new film (Brand New Day), and the Spider-Verse, and Nicholas Cage being Spider Noir? Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn and Al discuss in this, our SEASON FINALE!

Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop.

PMP#228: Spielberg’s Alien Fetish

We discuss the various films Steven Spielberg has released about alien encounters: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1982), War of the Worlds (2005), and our inciting film, Disclosure Day. Featuring Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al.

How is the new film as “mature Spielberg”? Is it as fun as the older films? Is it too heavy handed? Do the older films hold up? Would YOU go with the aliens? Are we as a society too jaded at this point for the Spielberg magic to fully work?

Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop.

Sponsor: Get started with Claude AI at claude.ai/pmp.

PMP#227: The Odyssey: Epic Film

We discuss the already over-discussed Christopher Nolan adaptation of Homer’s classic poem. Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn and Al discuss their cinema-going experiences, Ludwig Göransson’s soundtrack, choices re. the book-to-film transition, the various performances, the Emily Wilson connection, and more.

Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop.

Sponsor: Get 15% off OneSkin with the code PMP at oneskin.co/PMP.

PMP#226: Toy Story Played Out

In light of Toy Story 5, the gang (Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn and Al) consider the Pixar franchise that started in 1995. We consider the premise whereby your toys are loyal slaves that come to life whenever unobserved, the critique of screen-play in the new film, the use of nostalgia in the films, the repetition and/or escalation throughout the series, the horror-adjacency of living dolls, the emotional manipulation, and whether enough is enough.

Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop.

Sponsors: Get 15% off OneSkin with the code PMP at oneskin.co/PMP. Get started with Claude AI at claude.ai/pmp.

PMP#225: Survivor the Constant (with Wes!)

Survivor has remained a top-rated show since its debut in 2000, and some of us (Sarahlyn and our guest Wes Alwan) have stuck with it throughout, Mark just watched when it came out and had to catch up, and some of us (Lawrence and Al) had not previously been on board at all.

We talk through the evolution of the show, from torture exhibitionism to now lore-drenched soap-operatic beach games. Is this show designed to be watched in the background? What makes for a good player? What criteria to the jury members use to vote for a winner? What is the target audience for the show? Are the games well designed? How does the show deal with racism?

Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop.

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