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 perspective. He’s an outcast sent to a hostile planet to hunt down a deadly monster to prove his worth to his people – with Elle Fanning joining as an unlikely ally. It’s from the same team that made Prey. And both Predator movies are much better than they had any right to be.Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopcultureTo access bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Pop Culture Happy Hour, subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+ at plus.npr.org/happy.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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17:09
Frankenstein And What's Making Us Happy
Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is a new reimagining of Mary Shelly’s classic gothic horror tale about a misunderstood monster who’s abandoned by his creator and shunned by society. Oscar Isaac is the narcissistic doctor Victor Frankenstein, and Jacob Elordi has a gargantuan yet humanizing turn as The Creature. Now streaming on Netflix, Frankenstein is dark, epic, and preoccupied with the existential dread of life and death.Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopcultureLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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26:03
I Love LA
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 to work and socialize in a big city while screwing up in every conceivable way. Sennott stars as an ascendant employee at a boutique talent management firm with a very online crew played by Josh Hutcherson, Jordan Firstman, Odessa A’zion and True Whitaker. Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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20:06
Hedda
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 orbit. Writer/director Nia DaCosta makes some bold changes in this adaptation of the classic Henrik Ibsen play Hedda Gabler, and sets almost all of the action during a lavish party gone awry. But this is not your grandmother’s Hedda. It’s sexy, chaotic, and, above all, messy as hell. It’s streaming on Prime Video. Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopcultureLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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19:52
IT: Welcome To Derry
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 It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019), the show finds a whole new crop of kids being terrorized by whatever lives underneath their little town in Maine. And at the nearby military base, some of the local adults are acting pretty sketchy, too. There is a lot going on and a lot of it is very bloody. Bill Skarsgård returns as Pennywise, but be patient since it takes a while to lay eyes on him.To access bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Pop Culture Happy Hour, subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+ at plus.npr.org/happy.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Get obsessed with us. Four days a week, Pop Culture Happy Hour serves you recommendations and commentary on the buzziest movies, TV, music, books, videogames and more. Join arts journalists Linda Holmes, Glen Weldon, Stephen Thompson, and Aisha Harris - plus a rotating cast of guest pop culture aficionados. The Happy Hour team leaves room at the table for exploring a range of reactions and opinions on every bit of the pop universe. From lowbrow to highbrow to the stuff in between, they take it all with a shot of cheer.Make your happy hour even happier with Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus! Your subscription supports the podcast and unlocks a sponsor-free feed. Learn more at plus.npr.org/happyhour