Pop Culture Happy Hour

In honor of the upcoming clash between the same-day releases of Barbie and Oppenheimer, we asked our listeners to weigh in on some of pop culture's most contentious matchups. And boy, did you deliver. We've got NSYNC versus Backstreet Boys. Superman versus Batman. And most importantly, who is the best Chris?Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour

The delightful Netflix series Survival of the Thickest is about an up-and-coming stylist whose professional and personal ambitions go sideways when she finds herself newly single. It stars comedian Michelle Buteau as Mavis who leans on her best friends Marley (Tasha Smith) and Khalil (Tone Bell) for emotional support and sound advice. Buteau co-created the series with Danielle Sanchez-Witzel (New Girl, My Name Is Earl).

Actors and writers are on strike, and it looks like it could last a while. Production of TV and film has largely stopped, and there are deep divides in Hollywood over issues including how creative people should be compensated in the streaming era, how work is structured, and how artificial intelligence will be used. Today, we unpack everything you need to know and expect about the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

In the funny new mockumentary Theater Camp, a summer camp for musical theater kids falls on hard times when its founder slips into a coma. The movie stars Ben Platt and Molly Gordon as two codependent instructors staging an original musical, and Jimmy Tatro as the business influencer son of the camp's founder, who reluctantly takes over the camp. Directed by Gordon and Nick Lieberman, the film both skewers and glorifies the love of theater.

Can something bad really be good? Or are we just using "bad" to mean "silly"? Where does a classic like Rocky Horror Picture Show fit into this scheme? And how do you know whether your appearance in a Sharknado movie bodes well or ill for your acting career? In this encore episode from 2014, we explore the idea of questionable pleasures.

The nominations for this year's Primetime Emmy Awards were just announced. There were many familiar series in the mix like Succession and Ted Lasso, exciting first-time nominees like Andor and Jury Duty, plus plenty of satisfying surprises. We're gonna help you unpack the notable nominees and galling snubs.Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour

In the new film Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Tom Cruise is back as superspy Ethan Hunt. This time he has to defeat an all-powerful AI known as "The Entity." With many familiar faces and new ones like Hayley Atwell, the movie has chases, peril, and explosions. And yes, Cruise still does a lot of his own stunts. Take our Barbie v. Oppenheimer survey. We're throwing out a few other pop-cultural either-ors, to see if we can't settle a few age-old disputes once and for all. We'll talk about some of the results in an upcoming episode of the show.

The new film Joy Ride follows four friends (Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Sabrina Wu, and Stephanie Hsu) embarking on a trip to China. The film is in step with The Hangover and Girls Trip. Sex, drugs, and musical interludes ensue, but the friends also deal with issues of identity and family. It's directed by Adele Lim, who co-wrote the screenplay for Crazy Rich Asians. Take our Barbie v. Oppenheimer survey. We're throwing out a few other pop-cultural either-ors, to see if we can't settle a few age-old disputes once and for all. We'll talk about some of the results in an upcoming episode of the show.

In the breezy comedy series Platonic, Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne play former best friends who reconnect years after a falling out. The show follows their misadventures as they try to navigate their respective midlife crises and become friends again. Created by Francesca Delbanco and Nicholas Stoller, the series is streaming now on Apple TV+.

The great new Netflix animated film Nimona is the tale of a mysterious shapeshifting teenage girl. Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz) declares herself the sidekick to a knight (Riz Ahmed) who's been accused of a murder he didn't commit. He just wants to clear his name, but she encourages him to become the villain she needs him to be.Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour

The Pop Culture Happy Hour team is off today, so we're bringing you an episode of NPR's It's Been A Minute. Host and our pal Brittany Luse recently spoke with our other pal Tre'vell Anderson. They recently published a book called We See Each Other. It's about the complicated history of trans representation in TV and film.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is the fifth and apparently final film starring Harrison Ford as everyone's favorite globe-trotting, whip-cracking, Nazi-punching archeologist. The movie finds Indy on the cusp of retirement, when he's forced to chase an ancient artifact around the world to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. Directed by James Mangold, and also starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Mads Mikkelsen, it's in theaters now.

There's nothing as exciting as a great mystery or a thriller. The unreal and the all too real combine to give a good scare, with often something to say about the world. Today we're recommending some great mysteries and thrillers.

I'm A Virgo follows Cootie (Jharrel Jerome), a 13-foot tall young Black man who's grown up completely isolated and makes his first clumsy steps out into the world. Created by filmmaker Boots Riley (Sorry to Bother You), the Amazon Prime series delves into systemic racism and social injustice that forces Cootie to question his naïve faith in the law, and in those who enforce it.

Jennifer Lawrence has starred in The Hunger Games, played a member of the X-Men, and won an Oscar — but she hasn't done a ton of broad comedy until now. She makes a left turn in the movie No Hard Feelings, in which rich helicopter parents hire a woman to seduce their teenage son, in the hopes that he'll come out of his shell in time for college.Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour

Writer/director Wes Anderson's latest film Asteroid City is about a tiny town in the middle of the American desert where several young scientific prodigies gather to receive a distinguished award. Also, there's an alien. If you know Anderson's work, the themes are familiar – teenage awkwardness, grief, wistful alienation, strained familial bonds. The ensemble includes Jason Schwartzman, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, and Tom Hanks.

It's been four years since the Netflix anthology series Black Mirror made new episodes of terrifying speculative fiction. The series is now back with a new season that dives into questions of identity, celebrity, apocalyptic demons, and the true crime explosion. This season's cast includes Annie Murphy, Aaron Paul, Zazie Beetz, Salma Hayek Pinault, Kate Mara, and more.Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour

Disney and Pixar's latest film Elemental is a family story and a love story. And yes, it's about fire and water and how they come together. Full of the studio's usual imaginative visuals, it also dives into the experience of a family of immigrants who sometimes find it tough to be who they are when they're shut out of parts of their own community.

The FX on Hulu series The Bear understands how intense working in a restaurant can be. The dramedy stars Jeremy Allen White as Carmy, a fine dining chef who takes over his family's beloved but troubled Italian beef sandwich shop following the death of his brother. The second season premieres later this week so we thought it would be a good time to revisit our conversation about the first season.

The new superhero movie The Flash has had a rocky trip to theaters. It's faced rewrites, studio turnover, and COVID delays. Plus it's star Ezra Miller is surrounded by controversy and legal troubles. The film was always intended as a hard reset of the DC cinematic universe, which has had a rough past few years. In that context, what are audiences to make of The Flash? We talk about the film's troubled production, then get review the film itself.