Pop Culture Happy Hour

Great Movies We Missed

16 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Every year, we like to take a moment to look back and spotlight a few favorite films we didn’t have time to talk about. Today, we're making recommen...

Mailbag: The Movies We Walked Out Of

14 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Aisha and Stephen answer a mailbag question! Send in your own questions at [email protected], and we may answer it in a future bonus episode.This usually w...

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery And What’s Making Us Happy

12 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Netflix’s Wake Up Dead Man is the third installment in the Knives Out franchise. Daniel Craig returns as detective Benoit Blanc -- with a cast of su...

Jay Kelly

10 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In Netflix’s Jay Kelly, George Clooney plays the aging movie star Jay Kelly. His longtime manager (Adam Sander) and publicist (Laura Dern) struggle ...

The Worst Christmas Movies

09 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

‘Tis the season you’ll find plenty of good holiday movies – films that can be counted upon to deliver warmth and cheer. And bad holiday movies? ...

The Abandons

08 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In Netflix’s The Abandons, Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey play two steely matriarchs that face off on the American frontier. But don’t let the s...

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 and What’s Making Us Happy

05 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the new film Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, Josh Hutcherson returns as the protagonist trying to survive in a haunted children’s restaurant called ...

2025 Pop Culture Favorites

04 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s been a great year for TV, movies, and music. And we are highlighting some of the best, including KPop Demon Hunters, Sinners, and Severance. We...

Rereading Pride & Prejudice

02 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This year, readers around the world are celebrating Jane Austen’s 250th birthday. Today we’ve got an episode of NPR’s Books We’ve Loved where ...

Hamnet

01 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Hamnet tells the fictionalized account of the lives of William Shakespeare and his wife, played by Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley. They fall in love, ...

All’s Fair And What’s Making Us Happy

28 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan Murphy’s latest show All’s Fair centers on an all-female law firm led by Kim Kardashian, Naomi Watts, and Niecy Nash-Betts. The high-powered ...

Zootopia 2

26 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Disney’s Zootopia grossed over a billion dollars worldwide. Now our heroes return in the sequel Zootopia 2. Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick W...

Sentimental Value

25 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The new movie Sentimental Value is one of the great films about absentee dads who reappear in their kids’ lives. Stellan Skarsgård plays a renowned...

All Her Fault

24 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The entertaining Peacock series All Her Fault begins with a cute kid, an Emmy winner, and a mystery. Sarah Snook plays a mother who goes to pick up he...

Wicked: For Good And What’s Making Us Happy

21 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Wicked was a smash hit that earned Oscar nominations for Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo–but that was only the first half of the story. Wicked: For ...

A Man On The Inside

20 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The charming Netflix sitcom A Man on the Inside stars Ted Danson as a lonely widower who’s hired by a private investigator to live undercover in a s...

The Beast In Me

18 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the new Netflix series The Beast In Me, a writer played by Claire Danes struggles to find the topic of her next book – until a nefarious real est...

Now You See Me: Now You Don't

17 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, the magical Four Horsemen – played by Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco and Isla Fisher – reunite ...

The Running Man And What's Making Us Happy

14 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Running Man is a new dystopian thriller starring Glen Powell as a man so desperate for money to care for his family that he volunteers to run for ...

Death By Lightning

13 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Netflix’s Death by Lightning pits President James Garfield (Michael Shannon) against Charles Guiteau (Matthew McFadyen), the disgruntled would-be po...

Pluribus

11 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The new and highly anticipated Apple TV series Pluribus, from Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad), asks a simple question: What if a proud misanthrope sudde...

Predator: Badlands

10 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Predator: Badlands is the latest film about an alien race that hunts things using all sorts of space-gadgets. It’s told from the Predator’s perspe...

Frankenstein And What's Making Us Happy

07 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is a new reimagining of Mary Shelly’s classic gothic horror tale about a misunderstood monster who’s abandoned...

I Love LA

06 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rachel Sennott’s next project, the HBO series I Love LA, has finally arrived. And like plenty of shows before it, it’s about young people trying t...

Hedda

04 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the new film Hedda, Tessa Thompson plays a woman bored with her dull husband, and who devilishly manipulates the affections of everyone in her orbi...

IT: Welcome To Derry

03 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In new HBO prequel series IT: Welcome to Derry, we return to the clown who keeps on giving. Based on the Stephen King novel and a prequel to the films...

Bugonia And What’s Making Us Happy

31 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Bugonia stars Emma Stone as a high-powered CEO who’s kidnapped by conspiracy theorists, one of whom is played by Jesse Plemons. The conflict grows m...

If I Had Legs I'd Kick You

29 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rose Byrne shows off her dramatic chops in the new movie If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, where she plays a therapist shouldering all the responsibility ...

Halloween Songs

28 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who's the Mariah Carey of Halloween? Every year we hear many familiar Halloween songs – from the Ghostbusters theme to “Thriller” to “Monster ...

Blue Moon

27 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the new movie Blue Moon, Ethan Hawke plays songwriter Lorenz Hart, who is having maybe the worst night of his life. His long term collaborator Rich...

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere And What’s Making Us Happy

24 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the new film Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, the currently red-hot actor Jeremy Allen White plays the eternally red-hot rock star, Bruce Spri...

Nobody Wants This

23 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the Netflix series Nobody Wants This, Kristen Bell plays an agnostic podcaster, who meets a rabbi, played by Adam Brody. They like each other immed...

The Reality TV Show I'd Like To Judge

22 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When you watch a competitive reality show, you might think about how you'd win. But maybe you think about a much more powerful role for yourself: the ...

Good Fortune

21 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In Good Fortune, Keanu Reeves plays a doofy, well-meaning guardian angel named Gabriel who gets a little too involved in the life of a gig worker name...

Black Phone 2 And What’s Making Us Happy

17 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Grabbers gonna grab, even from beyond the grave. In Black Phone 2, Ethan Hawke returns from the dead as the serial killer who hides behind a demonic m...

Roofman

15 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the new movie Roofman, Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst ooze with their signature charm and chemistry. Tatum plays an exceptionally savvy military ...

After the Hunt

14 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the new movie After The Hunt, Julia Roberts plays a Yale professor who finds herself in a hard place when one of her star students (Ayo Edebiri) ma...

Kiss of the Spider Woman

13 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Jennifer Lopez stars in the new film adaptation of Kiss of the Spider Woman. Set in an Argentine prison, one man (Tonatiuh) tells his cellmate (Diego ...

TRON: Ares And What's Making Us Happy

10 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

TRON: Ares is the third film in the franchise, and this time flips the script: Instead of humans entering the digital world, this movie sees human-sha...

Most Overused Songs In Movies

09 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Some great songs are so overused in movies, they’ve become cliches. Everyone’s mileage is bound to vary, but we’re rounding up a few songs we lo...

The Lost Bus

07 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the new movie The Lost Bus, Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera play a bus driver and a teacher who have to transport more than 20 kids to safe...

Taylor Swift The Life Of A Showgirl

06 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Taylor Swift just dropped her new album The Life Of A Showgirl. It touches on her relationship with fiancé Travis Kelce while reflecting on fame, nor...

The Smashing Machine And What's Making Us Happy

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Emily Blunt star in the new sports biopic The Smashing Machine. Johnson plays Mark Kerr, a UFC champion who is reeling f...

Brokeback Mountain

02 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This year marks 20 years since Brokeback Mountain hit theaters. The film starred Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as two sheep herders who fall in lov...

The Lowdown

30 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Lowdown is a great new FX series starring Ethan Hawke as a freelance investigative reporter with a knack for sticking his nose where it doesn’t ...

Wayward

29 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the new Netflix series Wayward, Toni Collette plays a deeply creepy woman who runs a facility that promises to fix troubled teens. A cop (Mae Marti...

One Battle After Another And What's Making Us Happy

26 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

One Battle After Another is an action-thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor and Sean Penn. DiCaprio plays a washed up ex-revolutionary se...

Showgirls

25 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Showgirls stars Elizabeth Berkley as a Vegas dancer trying to move up from a seedy club to a glamorous hotel show. Paul Verhoeven’s NC-17 movie was ...

Task

24 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The new HBO series Task stars Mark Ruffalo and Tom Pelphrey in a grim, but stealthily hopeful drama. From the creator of Mare of Easttown, the show is...

Haunted Hotel

22 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From one of the minds behind Rick and Morty, Netflix’s new animated comedy Haunted Hotel is the perfect mix of fun and creepy to kick off spooky sea...

Him And What’s Making Us Happy

19 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the new horror film HIM, Tyriq Withers stars as a young football player who has a chance to be trained by his idol, played by Marlon Wayans. As the...

Fall Guide

18 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The fall of 2025 is shaping up to have something for everyone with a fresh Knives Out mystery, Guillermo del Toro’s take on Frankenstein, and a new ...

The Summer I Turned Pretty

16 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The TV series The Summer I Turned Pretty features a messy love triangle, plenty of drama, and a LOT of Taylor Swift songs. The show has become a word-...

2025 Emmys Recap

15 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This year’s Emmy Awards saw big wins for Adolescence, The Studio, and The Pitt. The telecast was also packed with a couple of surprise wins, a show ...

The Long Walk And What's Making Us Happy

12 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The new film The Long Walk is Stephen King meets The Hunger Games. It takes place in a dystopian America in which one young man from each state compet...

Great Movies With Silly Plots

11 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever found yourself completely caught up in a film only to find, after the lights come up, that the story didn’t make any sense, yet you lo...

Watch This: Twinless

09 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Dylan O’Brien and James Sweeney star as unlikely friends in the new movie Twinless. They meet in a support group for people who have lost their twin...

The Paper

08 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Paper is a spinoff of The Office, and like its predecessor, it’s a mockumentary about a workplace that's facing financial and cultural headwinds...

The Conjuring: Last Rites And What's Making Us Happy

05 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Conjuring: Last Rites winds down the story of the demon-hunting couple loosely based on Ed and Lorraine Warren, played by Patrick Wilson and Vera ...

Sabrina Carpenter Man’s Best Friend

04 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sabrina Carpenter is following her breakout album Short n’ Sweet with a new collection of cheeky earworms called Man’s Best Friend, which includes...

The Thursday Murder Club

03 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Netflix’s The Thursday Murder Club is a cozy British mystery set at a posh retirement community. The movie stars Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, and B...

Caught Stealing

02 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Austin Butler, Zoë Kravitz and Bad Bunny star in Caught Stealing, the new grungy, throwback film from Darren Aronofsky. Butler plays Hank, a sad sack...

The Roses And What's Making Us Happy

29 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

First a novel and a 1989 hit film, the story of The Roses has been told before. This time around, Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman play a couple...

Jaws

28 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Steven Spielberg's Jaws turns 50 this year. It’s been called the perfect movie, the first blockbuster, and the film that changed why we go to the mo...

Songs For When Your Flight Is Delayed

27 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If you travel by plane with any regularity, you've been there: stuck in an airport because your flight is delayed. So we thought it best to give your ...

Watch This: Long Story Short

26 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Long Story Short is a very funny and surprisingly moving new Netflix animated comedy series from the folks behind BoJack Horseman and Tuca & Bertie. T...

Lurker And What's Making Us Happy

22 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Fame does strange things to people. In the new film Lurker, Théodore Pellerin plays a young retail clerk making his way into the inner circle of a po...

Best John Grisham Adaptations, Ranked

21 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There’s a new TV version of The Rainmaker out, so today, we’re ranking the five best John Grisham adaptations – including The Firm, The Pelican ...

Our 15th Anniversary Time Capsule

19 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We launched Pop Culture Happy Hour 15 years ago this summer, and we had a lot of pent-up hot takes. To celebrate this milestone, today we’re breakin...

Highest 2 Lowest

18 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Spike Lee's new crime thriller Highest 2 Lowest reunites him with his favorite leading man, Denzel Washington. The film is based on Akira Kurosawa’s...

Alien: Earth And What's Making Us Happy

15 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Alien: Earth is a new TV spinoff of the Alien movie franchise, and as one might expect, it has plenty of Facehuggers, chestbursters, and dark metal co...

Bring It On

14 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The cheerleading film Bring It On spawned direct-to-video sequels and a Broadway musical. And with an all-star cast of Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku, an...

Platonic

12 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the breezy comedy series Platonic, Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne play former best friends who reconnect years after a falling out. The Apple TV+ show f...

Weapons

11 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The intriguing and seriously creepy new film Weapons follows what happens after 17 third-graders get out of their beds on the same night, at the same ...

Freakier Friday And What's Making Us Happy

08 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis first switched bodies over 20 years ago in the beloved Disney body swap movie, Freaky Friday. They return in the lo...

Y2K Pop Culture

07 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We are 25 years into the 2000s, so we wanted to debate: what’s the most definitive piece of Y2K pop culture? We try to pinpoint the essence of that ...

Together

06 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Every couple goes through certain rites of passage. You date, maybe you move in together, maybe you get married. And maybe a visit to a mysterious cav...

Wednesday

05 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Wednesday is one of the most popular Netflix shows of all time, and it helped make Jenna Ortega a star. It takes the breakout Addams Family character ...

The Naked Gun And What's Making Us Happy

01 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Naked Gun franchise has always been a rapid-fire delivery system for gags, delivered straight-faced by a cop who doesn't know that anything is fun...

The Hunting Wives

31 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Netflix series The Hunting Wives is a soapy murder mystery full of nudity and intrigue, about a group of Texas women who are up to no good. It sta...

Happy Gilmore 2

30 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It's been almost 30 years since Happy Gilmore gave Adam Sandler one of his best-loved movie roles. The rowdy golf comedy gets a belated sequel on Netf...

Song Of The Summer

28 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Last year was Brat summer and saw the rise of Chappell Roan, Shaboozey, and Sabrina Carpenter. But is there a song of the summer for 2025? Today we're...

The Fantastic Four: First Steps And What's Making Us Happy

25 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Fantastic Four are back again in a new movie--and it's an eye-popping good time. The Fantastic Four: First Steps stars Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby...

Our Favorite YouTube Channels

24 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today we're recommending a few of our favorite YouTube channels. These are the ones we find ourselves returning to again and again on subjects includi...

I Know What You Did Last Summer

22 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the original I Know What You Did Last Summer, some very '90s teenagers are targeted by a killer clad in fisherman's garb and armed with a hook. Nea...

Watch This: Sorry, Baby

21 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sorry, Baby is a refreshingly disarming movie. The film was written and directed by Eva Victor, who also stars a newly minted professor at the liberal...

Congress has voted to eliminate government funding for public media

20 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Act now to ensure public media remains free and accessible to all. Your donation will help this essential American service survive and thrive. Visit d...

Eddington And What's Making Us Happy

18 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Eddington plunges us back into that familiarly distressing time of the early days of the pandemic. Directed by Ari Aster (Hereditary and Midsommar) Jo...

KPop Demon Hunters

17 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Netflix animated movie KPop Demon Hunters is a phenomenon, with a soundtrack that's climbing the Billboard charts, and a fandom rivaling that of j...

2025 Emmy Nominations

16 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This year's Emmy nominations are out, and it was a good year for familiar favorites like Hacks, The Bear, Abbott Elementary, The Last of Us and The Wh...

Too Much

14 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When your long-term boyfriend leaves you for an Instagram influencer, what can you do? In the new Netflix romantic comedy series Too Much, the answer ...

Superman And What's Making Us Happy

11 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After much anticipation, there is a pretty great new Superman movie. And he's bringing exactly what we look to him for: hope. Writer and director Jame...

We Rewatch The Movies We Loved As Teens

10 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This summer marks Pop Culture Happy Hour's 15th birthday. We decided to re-watch the movies we loved at 15 with fresh eyes, and of course, some of the...

Love Island

08 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Love Island USA is pure chaos, and admittedly: we love it. It's one of many spinoffs of the long-running British hit series, Love Island — and it mi...

Great Songs For Your Next Road Trip

07 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If you're thinking about taking a road trip, you're going to need some road trip music. You might need a pick-me-up, a distraction, or something for w...

Jurassic World Rebirth And What's Making Us Happy

03 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Jurassic World Rebirth is the latest reboot of the beloved franchise. This time around Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and Jonathan Bailey head to...

Squid Game

02 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Netflix's Korean drama Squid Game became a worldwide phenomenon, winning six Emmys and inspiring countless Halloween costumes. The series has now reac...

The Bear

01 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Bear is back for a new season. The FX on Hulu series sees Carmy and Sydney (Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri) trying to get the restaurant they ...

M3GAN 2.0

30 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The horror comedy M3GAN spawned memes, made a fortune, and even taught us a lesson about the dangers of outsourcing our humanity to AI. The sequel, M...

F1 And What's Making Us Happy

27 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If you like cars that go fast, you'll be glad to know they go very fast in F1 The Movie. The film stars Brad Pitt as a veteran Formula 1 driver and Da...