Pop Culture Podcast
Posts by Ryan
Popspotting #66: Robin Burdge of Media Junkyard (June 9, 2011)
For our third “PopTalk & Trivia Thursday” outing, we welcome Robin Burdge, co-host of “Media Junkyard” and “Movie Snobbery.” He is also the host of Vermont’s most popular trivia gatherings (or, at least, it should be), making him the strongest candidate yet to face Jen’s tough questions.
Before the battle, however, he shares his love for the movie trailer for “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” (coming in December), “Bridesmaids,” and “Game of Thrones.”
We’ve known Robin for years, and have been lucky enough to hang out with him and the Media Junkyard crew at Comic-Con. It was a distinct pleasure having him on the show.
And yes, this is our longest show yet.
Would you have done better with our Ferris Bueller trivia questions? Want to be a guest on Popspotting? Drop us a line! We may even be able to schedule it so you don’t have to be up at one in the morning.
Popspotting #65: Catching Fire & Extremely Loud (June 8, 2011)
Book talk returns for “Wildcard Wednesday”! As promised, Jen returns with her report on “Catching Fire,” the second book in the “Hunger Games” trilogy. She also shares her thoughts on “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” a post-9/11 novel by Jonathan Safran Foer.
It’s hopefully not much of a spoiler to say that Katniss Everdeen makes it out of the first “Hunger Games” book alive, and the second novel explores what her successful survival means to her and her people. While she remains front and center, other characters are given a chance to shine. And while this young-adult novel heads where you might expect early on, there are still surprises.
As for “Extremely Loud,” a story told from the point of view of a 9-year-old can be a bit over precious, but the novel nonetheless strikes a chord and is the first to really make Jen cry in some time.
There’s more book talk to come, but for next Wednesday, Jen’s thinking of mixing it up by sharing some of her favorite iPhone apps. Got your own suggestions? Let us know!
Popspotting #64: Dead Like Me & Pushing Daisies (June 7, 2011)
This week we shift from current shows to long-lost shows, focusing on a pair of quirky death-centric stories created by Bryan Fuller. “Dead Like Me” saw two solid seasons on Showtime and a less-than-solid straight-to-DVD movie a few years later. “Pushing Daisies” couldn’t catch a break, stumbling through only two partial seasons on ABC. But both are worth checking out today, on DVD or via Netflix streaming.
“Dead Like Me” follows the post-death life of Georgia “George” Lass (Ellen Muth), who becomes a Grim Reaper and receives regular assignments to collect the souls of the soon-to-be dead.
“Pushing Daisies” is described as a “forensic fairy-tale,” in which a pie-maker with a magical touch (Ned, played by Lee Pace) and a murdered childhood love (Charlotte, played by Anna Friel) join forces with a private investigator to solve crimes while uncovering secrets in their own lives.
“Pushing Daisies” is described as a spinoff of “Dead Like Me.” We love to imagine on our own how the two worlds might intersect.
Are you a fan of either or both of these shows? Any other Fuller projects (Wonderfalls, Star Trek: DS9) we should check out?
Popspotting #63: X-Men: First Class (June 6, 2011)
Against all odds, we make it out to another new release: “X-Men: First Class,” a prequel to the previous four “X-Men” films. For a superhero movie, this movie doesn’t forget that character counts, and that the conflict within is just as important as the conflict between characters and people.
James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Rose Byrne… almost the whole ensemble brings their best to the screen. Almost.
With a strong plot, great performances, and nearly flawless effects, our expectations were beyond met. In Matthew Vaughn’s capable hands, this summer blockbusters sets the stage for a solid reboot of a well-established franchise. Even though we’ve seen a lot of where they end up, want to see what comes next for these young mutants.
Popspotting #62: “Feedback Friday” (June 2, 2011)
In this fresh batch of listener comments, AMC’s “The Killing” gets a lot of love, “Pirates 4” finds a defender, and we take another look at Zooey Deschanel. We also hear from a number of book lovers, which is wonderful. “Catching Fire” gets a thumbs up, “Lone Star” and “World War Z” are recommended, as are titles by Patrick Rothfuss, Kazuo Ishiguru, and Haruki Murakami. ميدان الخيل
Should there be a Popspotting book club? بطولات مانشستر سيتي We can pick a book most of us haven’t read, and be prepared with thoughts and comments for a monthly spotlight?
Thanks so much for the reviews in iTunes, and for the thumbs up in GetGlue! iTunes reviews in particular are great ways to introduce Popspotting to new listeners.
Popspotting #61: PopTalk & Trivia with Jopinionated (June 2, 2011)
We were thrilled and somewhat terrified to welcome Jo “Jopinionated” Garfein to Popspotting as our second-ever PopTalk & Trivia Thursday guest.
On one hand, she’s a great person and a good friend, and someone we knew would be okay with being served a giant bowl of awkwardsauce. On the other hand, she’s a bona fide entertainment guru, a respected writer and reviewer with much-deserved advance access to some of the coolest stuff coming down the pike.
And she quickly shakes things up, shooting past our three topic template to preview four new shows worth watching. She got an advance look at several upcoming series starring former “LOST” stars, and gives a quick, spoiler-free take on each.
As for trivia, she tackles one of the first categories Jen ever thought up when we conceived Popspotting: “Florida Town or Infectious Disease?”
For more of Jo’s take on TV, movies, and pop culture, check out Jopinionated.com, or follow her on Twitter at @jopinionated.
Popspotting #60: Foo Fighters & Lady Gaga (June 1, 2011)
For our first music show (apparently confirming Wednesday as being our wildcard slot), we get Jen’s take on two big recent releases: “Wasting Light,” the seventh studio album from the Foo Fighters, and “Born This Way,” the omnipresent second album from Lady Gaga. Though new, both conjure up a healthy serving of nostalgia, the Foo Fighters for their rough-and-tumble early years, and Lady Gaga for the ’80s (and for Madonna). لعبة البلوت في السعودية
Jen also shares two singles that have been getting heavy play on her iPod, both tied to the similarly omnipresent phenomenon known as “Glee. فريق بايرن ”
Next week brings back the book talk, which generated an impressive proportion of the feedback we’ve received here on Popspotting. But if you’d like to hear us talk about something you like hearing, please make your music recommendations today! انتروباي
Popspotting #59: “Hawaii Five-0″ & “Chuck†(May 31, 2011)
Today we catch up on a couple of our weekly watches: “Hawaii Five-0,” the reboot of the classic cop show on CBS, and “Chuck” on NBC, one of the geekiest shows on television.
We harbor no illusions that “Five-0” is a gripping, original cop show, and Jen only watches when she’s in the mood for its particular brand of melodrama. Scott Caan is the standout star, and his chemistry with both Alex O’Loughlin and Claire van der Boom makes for some great scenes. We only wish Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park had more interesting things to do. Still, we’re having fun, and we loved the first season finale.
As for “Chuck,” once a reliable laugh-out-loud pop-savvy comedy, we lament the developments of the latest season, in which a colorful ensemble has taken a back seat to a fairly weak romantic pairing that was far more interesting before they were a couple. The series has fought for its life before, and we hope the writers fight to bring it back from the brink of boring.
Where will the second season of “Five-0” pick up? And what truly original plot twist could save “Chuck” next fall?
Popspotting #58: “Kung Fu Panda 2” & “Fast Five” (May 30, 2011)
It seems every summer is the summer of sequels, but both of today’s featured pair of films were a pleasant surprise.
“Kung Fu Panda 2” from Dreamworks delivers a surprisingly solid plot on top of kid-friendly fun and sharp animation, with more to offer than the first outing. While animated, the movie demonstrated a great sense of physics, and many of the visual pieces were as dazzling as anything conjured by “real” action movie directors. It almost made us wish we’d seen the movie in 3D.
And while “Fast Five” was a great big noisy ball of ridiculousness, it wore its big-budget blockbuster genes well. We loved and saw the first “The Fast and the Furious” film… then missed all the ones that followed. But this most recent outing was still a great ride, good enough to make us not mind early talk of a sixth sequel. I don’t know if you’d call what Vin Diesel and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson are doing in this movie “acting,” but it’s fun to watch.
Thanks to The Projection Room podcast for their support of Popspotting!
Popspotting #57: 500 Days, TV Picks Feedback (May 27, 2011)
For our first Feedback Friday, Carl asks if we’ve seen “500 Days of Summer,” starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. مواقع تقبل paysafecard Next, Lauren suggests four TV shows she thinks we should watch, naming two we love and two we still have to check out.
As this is our first week, the Popspotting inbox is a bit bare, but hopefully that’ll change next time. مشاهدة beoutq Of course, that’s entirely up to you! رسوم ابل باي