e268. Fasterer and Furiouserer

Two years ago, when Monica first joined the show, we celebrated the release of the ninth Fast & Furious movie by devoting a whole episode to discussing the the cultural appeal of the Fast franchise and explaining how it made an important cultural statement about the breakdown of the distinction of high and low culture.…

e267. Ages of Superhero Movies!

On previous episodes we have discussed the ages of comic book superheroes and the ages of Disney movies, but recently we started questioning if perhaps movie superheroes followed different structures than comic book superheroes… even if that’s where they are adapted from. This seemed like the kind of thing that we might want to discuss…

e266. Everybody’s A.I. Critic?

A couple weeks ago, our friends over at Wisecrack made a video about “the purpose of snobbery” which was a catchy title and all, but really the point they were making was more about why criticism continues to exist and what it’s purpose is. However, what really got Mav was a point they made towards…

e265. 2023 Summer Movie Preview

We love movies on this show. That much should be obvious. Every year we play our famous box office prediction game, and now, as we enter Summer Movie season that game is really coming into play. However, we really haven’t talked much about movies since we did the Box Office draft back in January. So,…

e264. Do You Remember Nostalgia? Do You Want To?

We’ve talked about nostalgia on the show before. In fact, we did it all the way back on our second ever episode. Remember that? The thing is, when we usually talk about nostalgia, we’re usually talking about media that is aimed at tickling our appreciation for the familiar and giving us more of something we’ve…

e263. We Gotta Talk About MILF Manor! We Just Do…

Every once in a while a TV Show comes along that is just so bizarre that we feel like it deserves a deep dive examination just in and of itself. That was the case with MILF Manor! If you’ve not heard of MILF Manor, it is a reality dating show on TLC, The Learning Channel,…

e262. Hey! So, How Do Museums Work?

We have probably mentioned on previous episodes that Monica worked at a museum. We’ve also mentioned once or twice that Wayne was on the board of a museum. And really, one would assume that anyone who listens to this show has probably been to a museum or two at some point in their lives. Probably…

e261. PCA2023 After Dark!

After two years being held virtually, and a cancelled conference in 2020, the Popular Culture Association returned to in person conferences for PCA2023. There were some good notes (Mav won a major award for his doctoral dissertation) and some bad notes (Mav ended up catching COVID during the trip) but along the way there was…

e260. Why Do We ♥ Stories Where Old People Still ƒµ¢&?

The thing with Hollywood is that it’s a young people’s game. Or at least that’s what we say. And it’s true, the majority of big budget starring roles are for actors in their 20s and 30s. And the more you age out of that demographic, certainly the less marketably you seem to be. Sadly, this…

e259. The Enduring Cultural Legacy of Cocaine Bear!

The day is finally here. We’ve been waiting for months and months and months, but we have now see Cocaine Bear. And if you check the box office returns, a lot of people saw Cocaine Bear! And now we want to talk about it. Did we enjoy it? Yes, of course we did, but actually,…