e221. Exploring the World of Stranger Things

It’s always odd when we hit on one of those episode ideas where we feel like “obviously we’ve done like half a dozen shows on this topic over the years” and we stop and we look and it turns out that no, we’ve never really talked about it at all. Stranger Things is one of…

e220. Obi-Wan Kenobi & the Star Wars Legacy

This week saw the end of the Disney+ Star Wars series Obi-Wan Kenobi, a show devoted to… actually it’s really hard to talk about. Arguably, one of the biggest problems with the Kenobi tv show is that it is arguably impossible to talk about without spoilers. But it’s over now… so we’re going to spoil…

e219. Why We Still Love the Jurassic Park Franchise

Somehow, in 2022, there’s a Jurassic Park movie at the top of the box office. Some twenty-nine years after the first film and 32 years after the release of the first novel, this series is still going strong. There are cartoons, video games, Lego sets and other toys. Even though Jurassic World Dominion is theoretically…

e218. Does the Bechdel Test Fail the Bechdel Test?

A funny thing happened last week. The internet got into a minor scuffle about whether Fire Island, a film about gay men, was sexist because it failed the Bechdel Test, by not having substantive roles for women… because it was a movie about gay men. For those who haven’t seen the film… which frankly, is…

e217. Online Shopping, Thrifting, and The Death of Mall Culture

When’s the last time you hung out at the mall? We don’t mean when is the last time you went to a mall, ran in, got something and left. When is the last time you really hung out there? Once upon a time, this used to be a thing. Families took all day shopping trips…

e216. Chip’n Dale: Rescue Rangers & The Art Of The Cameo

If you haven’t had a chance to see the new Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers movie, you probably should watch it. It’s maybe the perfect blend of nostalgia, humor and just pointing at random IP cameos that you might recognize. It’s completely totally and in all ways absolutely delightful. This is in stark contrast to…

e215. Taboo Teen TV Tropes

Does it bother you when you’re watching your favorite steamy teen drama on TV and they add a formulaic subplot about two step siblings who suddenly fall in love. What about when you see a plot line where a student has an affair with their teacher or some other older adult? How about when there’s…

e214. How To Make A Great Documentary! (and Why?)

Have you ever done that thing where you’re doing some work, and you toss on a Netflix documentary, just to have some background noise going. You’re not really trying to pay attention. But the next thing you know, you’re twenty minutes deep into learning about the competitive world of speed Rubik’s cube solving? And now…

e213. Everything Everywhere in the Multiverse of VoxPopcast

If you follow the American movie landscape then you probably know that this weekend the box office has been set on fire by Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. You might also we aware that the last few weeks, we another multiverse movie, Everything Everywhere All at Once, has been making huge waves as…

e212. Pour Some Gritty On It!

There’s no shortage of movies, TV shows, comics and other media that are “gritty reboots” of older series or property. Sometimes these are official reboots, like the reimagining of Battlestar Galactica or like Riverdale, the greatest show on television. Other times, these are conceptual reimaginings, sharing a thematic inspiration but being given the gritty treatment.…