This year, I’ve taken on the task of going through the American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest American Movies list and watching the top 12 I haven’t seen.

My first selection was “Shane,” director George Stevens’s 1953 Western about a gunfighter looking to give up the violent life who ends up working for homesteaders in sparse Wyoming.
The film was ranked No. 45 on AFI’s 2007 list.

“Shane” has been on my “too-watch” list for two decades now, and I haven’t gotten around to it (that list is hundreds of films long). It’s surprising because I’m such a huge fan of old Hollywood Westerns and “Shane” is considered top-tier among them. It’s the fourth highest ranked Western on the AFI list behind “The Searchers” (No. 12), “High Noon” (No. 27) and “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” (No. 38).

I think the biggest reason I’ve always loved Westerns is that – most of the old Hollywood ones, at least – have a clear-cut idea of good versus bad, and the good guys always come out on top. I realize it’s a fantasy view of life today and, assuredly, life at the time these films are set, but aren’t movies an escape?

“Shane” is undoubtedly a tale of good versus bad. The titular character is a gunfighter who wants to put that aspect behind him and begins helping out a family of homesteaders being threatened off their land by a rancher who believes all the surrounding land to be his own.

The plot is similar to director Fred Zinneman’s “High Noon,” which came out the year before and was nominated for Best Picture and won Gary Cooper the Oscar for Best Actor. I can’t help but wonder if this may have played a role in Alan Ladd not being nominated the next year.

Stevens filmed “Shane” in Technicolor and used actual Wyoming locations. The beauty of such places wasn’t always captured in black-and-white Westerns, some of which were shot in Hollywood studios or backlot “Western towns.”

Some of the most fascinating aspects of “Shane” are what’s being said below the surface. It’s apparent – though never explicitly stated (primarily because of the period it was made) – that Shane and Marian (Jean Arthur) have romantic feelings for each other. And maybe it’s just me – because I know they never would’ve tried to get away with this in the early ‘50s – but I see some underlying romantic feelings between Shane and Joe (Van Heflin), too.

It was interesting seeing Arthur in a non-screwball comedy. I loved her work as the sharp, sarcastic dames in director Frank Capra’s “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town” (1936) and “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” The only actress I’ve seen who could give her a run for her money in those type of movies was Barbara Stanwyck, a favorite of mine.

Seeing Arthur in something more dramatic was neat, but I don’t know that she added much to the film than any other actress.

The film belongs to Ladd and his quiet, stoic performance, and Heflin and his confident, “I won’t be pushed around” figure. They were co-leads to me, despite Heflin being the third bill behind Ladd and Arthur.

The performance of Joey, played by 11-year-old Brandon deWilde, who through his eyes a lot of the story is told, is another star of the film. He was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, the youngest actor ever nominated for an Oscar at the time.

Another Best Supporting Actor nomination from the film, more of a head-scratcher, was Jack Palance as the “black hat” Jack Wilson. He doesn’t have to do much in the film except look menacing and laugh maniacally, but he was new on the scene around that time, and maybe it was a new kind of menace for Hollywood.

The film's showdown between Shane and Wilson is one for the ages. It’s a Western low on gunfights, but the big showdown is well worth the wait.

by Julian Spivey
 
It seems every hour or so over the last few days, I’ve seen headlines pop up via The Hollywood Reporter or other entertainment publications I follow with headlines like “Anthony Hopkins Loses Home in Hollywood Fire,” “Billy Crystal, John Goodman and others lose homes in Hollywood fire.”

The days of headlines, articles and footage of the devastation wrought by the wildfires in Los Angeles, particularly the Palisades area, have been hard to read and see, even for someone more than 1,500 miles away.

Even as I write this, the top headline on CNN.com is “More than 150,000 told to flee as 4 LA fires rage.”

​I understand that celebrities who lose their homes are better off than most of us would be in that situation. They’ll be able to rebuild more easily. But I hate seeing so many folks who entertain me, which I dearly value (and I think most who act like they don’t are lying to themselves), in so much pain.

The L.A. fires are also a sign of how little sympathy and caring we seem to have for our fellow humans. Some are gleeful that celebrities are losing their homes, belongings and the cherished memories that go with them.

What have Mandy Moore, Jeff Bridges, Eugene Levy and Cary Elwes done to hurt you?

We have to remember how populous this area is that’s being destroyed by the fires. Way more people are being affected by this tragedy than just millionaire and billionaire movie stars who might have other homes to go to. This is leaving people homeless, with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

So, instead of viewing it as a comeuppance, for whatever reasons I can’t fathom, or a message from God, or because Hollywood has DEI policies, or whatever ridiculous reason you might believe this is happening, how about trying to do something to help those going through it?

Maybe the Oscar, Emmy and Grammy winners won’t truly need your help, but thousands of others will.

​You can choose to help however you wish, but if you need help finding an organization to donate to, I recommend the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation.

Director: Michael Gracey
Starring: Robbie Williams & Jonno Davies 
Rated: drug use, language, nudity, sexual content & some violent content
Runtime: 2 hours & 14 minutes

With better musical numbers - at least as far as how they’re conveyed in the format of the film - than “Wicked” and a more innovative take on the musical biopic certainly than anything that has been released since “Bohemian Rhapsody” became a four-time Oscar winner, “Better Man” transcends its multiple genres and demolishes expectations via several choices, perspectives and ideas. Chief among these is that the main character, British pop star Robbie Williams, is rendered as a chimpanzee for the entirety of the film. Whether this is due to the fact he felt “less evolved” than those around him, that he felt treated like a circus act during his "Take That" days or simply that he became something of an animal once fame afforded him the space to be, the central gimmick is more admirable in a distracting fashion than it is an influential one, but it doesn't not work, and that was the risk in taking such a swing.

​The facet that actually separates “Better Man” from the current crop of musical biopics is the fact Williams himself couldn't give less of a shit about PR. That is to say, the man has no issue showing you his scars or telling you how he feels about those that surrounded him. Getting this kind of unfiltered access and perspective feels more and more rare these days when the majority of musical documentaries are more or less controlled and, therefore, extremely filtered pieces of marketing material for their subjects. Luckily, a puff piece is not what either Williams or director Michael Gracey were interested in. As these things always go, it begins with wanting to make a father proud because of the lack of attention said father paid to their child while still on their quest for fame and fortune. This neglect enables the kind of imposter syndrome Williams suffers from throughout the film and likely still to this day, even with all of the awards and accomplishments, propping up the drive that has ultimately placed him in a position to command his musical biopic despite what some might consider proper talent.

The idea that we're getting a sincere picture of Williams and not simply an example of an aforementioned marketing product would be enough to garner “Better Man” more praise than its contemporaries despite violating one of my key music biopic principles. In more cases than not, films like these will have scenes in which an artist's iconic or well-known works spring to them as if by some divine intervention rather than doing the work to carve out the characterizations that show why only this song could have come from this person at this particular point in time. With Williams, though there is some time paid to his lyrical compositions, the focus isn't so much on his level of talent or even the music that he created, but rather the focus is on said drive and the level of adoration when fame is the bigger objective than feeding those you love by doing what you love.

What Gracey - who also co-wrote the script - does to balance the fact that Williams isn't a Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash or Elton John type in terms of his songwriting or craftsmanship is make the movie a full-on musical. Yes, movies like “Walk the Line” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” feature several performances of their protagonist's famous songs – “Rocketman” leaning into this same musical idea because of the theatricality of its subject - but combining these elements and genres and putting them in the hands of someone like Gracey who championed and helmed “The Greatest Showman” - helps this somewhat tired template of biographical films unlock something fresh. Graphing Williams' songs like "Angels" and "She's the One" into the narrative of his life allows Gracey to not only stage some beautiful sequences but create some gorgeous visual symbolism that are as resonant within the music as they are within the context of Williams' story. The standout, though, is the "Rock DJ" sequence, which is easily one of the most electrifying moments at the movies audiences will experience this year, if not one of the best musical numbers in film in recent memory, utilizing every aspect of the medium to enhance this "experience" Williams has made the cornerstone of his brand and reputation.

 
Julian Spivey: Welcome back to The Word on Pop Culture Podcast. I'm Julian Spivey, creator and editor of The Word on Pop Culture. You can find us online at thewordonpopculture.com, and this podcast can be found pretty much anywhere you listen to podcasts.
​
As always, please give us a like rating and review. It helps people find us. We're entering our seventh season of The Word on Pop Culture Podcast, and the 16th year of The Word on Pop Culture website, that is hard to believe.

I wanna welcome Aprille Hanson-Spivey and Tyler Glover to the show today. So happy New Year's, guys.

So with our first episode of 2025, we're gonna continue tradition at the podcast. So we started a few years back. I think this is our fourth or fifth year of doing it, at least me and Aprille.

And it's called Pop Culture Wishes. So we hope these things will happen in pop culture in 2025. Sometimes they do, often they don't.

But before we discuss our 2025 pop culture wishes, Aprille and I will review our 2024 wishes and see if they came true. This will be Tyler's first year joining us, so he won't have any from last year to see if they came true or not. Let's start with Aprille.

Your first pop culture wish of 2024 was for the movie Barbie to win big at the Oscars. On the show last year, you said you were hoping for a best picture win. Oppenheimer ended up winning that honor.

You wanted a best director win for Greta Gerwig. Christopher Nolan, who directed Oppenheimer, won that award. You wanted best actress for Margot Robbie.

That award went to Emma Stone for Poor Things. And you wanted a best adaptive screenplay for Greta Gerwig and her partner. I'm forgetting the guy's name.

What's his name again? Bombauch, Noah Bombauch. That award for best adaptive screenplay went to Cord Jefferson for American Fiction.

Barbie did win one Oscar. It was her best original song for the song What Was I Made For by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell. Aprille, was that the winning...

Aprille Hanson-Spivey: Yes, it won big.

JS: I don't know if we can count the best original song win as winning big.

AHS: But it was a big song and it was a phenomenal song. And I can't help it if the Oscars don't know what they're doing. I'm just kidding. Those were great movies that won. Actually, I have no idea if Poor Things is good. I never saw it. But I still feel like Margot Robbie was amazing. And she definitely, I feel like she would have won that. But again, haven't seen Poor Things. Can't judge it entirely. But Barbie was still a phenomenal movie, even if My Wish did not come true.

JS: Yeah, you are right about that. My First Pop Culture Wish of 2024 wound up being a resounding success. I wished for Simone Biles to have a redemption tour at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, and boy did she ever.

Biles was the talk of Paris, once again dominating the gymnastics portion of the games. She won the gold medal with the US team in the team competition. She won gold in the individual all around. She won gold in the vault competition, and she won the silver medal in the floor exercise. So I'm gonna give myself a giant check mark for that one. What do you think, Aprille?

AHS: Yes, absolutely. She was phenomenal. But I will say, just because Barbie didn't win big, and just because she, I feel like hers was more of a sure thing. But I say that now after watching her just dominate. So maybe it, I know that before the Olympics started.

JS: It sure wasn't a sure thing.

AHS: I know, no, that's true. That's what I'm saying. Like, everybody was so, I mean, okay, I shouldn't say everybody. I was stressed when she first went up to compete at this Olympics. I just thought, goodness, everybody, I would hope that most people were just rooting for her to be amazing. And thank goodness she was. It should be interesting to see if she'll go back. I don't know.

JS: Yeah, it really doesn't sound like she's all that interested in doing it, but we'll see. It's still another four years away. So she's got plenty of time to think about that.

AHS: Which, hey, I mean, you know what? Go out on top, makes total sense.

JS: I think she should.

AHS: But I definitely think that was a really good prediction, so hats off.

JS: So your second prediction, Aprille, for 2024 was kind of a two-parter. It was for Paramount+'s Frasier reboot to, one, continue to be funny, and two, not to be canceled. I think we can at least give you partial credit here because the show was not canceled.

It aired its second season in late 2024. Me and you have been watching it. We've only managed to get about halfway through it as of now.

But here's the reason why. You will be the one to ultimately decide this Aprille, but here's why we want to give you partial credit. I don't think that the portion of the season two that we've seen so far has been nearly as good as the first season.

AHS: Okay, maybe, but I definitely don't think I should get partial credit for this. That's absolutely insane because it's still hilarious. I still laugh every episode we've watched. So it's still funny. Maybe it's not the funny that it was in season one, but that doesn't mean it's actually still not funny. It's the same with any show. I mean, gosh, this is a reboot of a show that had long. One of my favorite shows of all time was Frasier. And, you know, some episodes are hit or miss. So it just happens. Some seasons are kind of hit or miss occasionally with some series. So I definitely, I put this as a total win for me.

JS: Okay, we'll give you full credit for it then.

AHS: I am so glad it did not get canceled.

JS: Well, the only reason it would have gotten canceled was for some of the stuff that Kelsey Grammer was saying in his spare time. But that's really the only reason why we thought that might happen.

My second Pop Culture wish for 2024 was for the 50th season of Saturday Night Live, one of the greatest and longest running shows in TV history, to have each episode of its milestone 50th season hosted by former cast members.

There are certainly enough living great cast members of SNL to have pulled this feed off. I did think it was the longest of long shots, though, and that has turned out to be the case. I just think it would have been too much for NBC to have allowed this to happen.

For example, who is going to bring in more eyes to your TV show? An episode hosted by former cast member Tracy Morgan, or an episode hosted by current nominated actress and nominated musician Ariana Grande? We all know the bigger the star, the more eyes that are going to watch your show.

So, I get them not wanting guys like Tracy Morgan, David Spade, et cetera, to come back and host the show, even in a milestone season. Non-former cast members hosted the first eight episodes of the season, which was a little bit shocking to me. But the final two episodes of 2024 were hosted by former cast members and Chris Rock and Martin Short. I'm sure we were going to see more in the second half, host, but my wish was pretty far off.

AHS: Yeah, I mean, but it was a long shot anyway.

JS: It was a huge swing.

AHS: Yeah, it was a long shot. But it's still been cool to see past cast members come on and have a lot of guest spots.

JS: Yes, they have done an excellent job of getting past cast members and it threw cameos. We've seen Dana Carvey a lot in almost every episode. We've seen Andy Samberg a lot. We saw Maya Rudolph during the presidential election as Kamala Harris. We've seen Adam Sandler guest. We've seen David Spade guest. We've seen not really one that I was excited about, but we've seen Kyle Mooney guest. We've seen Kristen Wiig guest. Tina Fey, we've seen a lot of great cast members. And I think that that may be the route they continue to go. But I do think we'll probably get another host or two that was formerly on the show.

AHS: I do think it's a good balance, though. I think it's great to have the new hosts or people that are a little bit more, I guess, in the public eye, because that's what the show's kind of always done. So that tradition, but also bringing back the people that really built up this into a dynasty, really, has been cool to watch, so you didn't win.

JS: No, I didn't. I'm one for two so far, but so are you.

AHS: I know. I get it.

JS: All right, Aprille, your last Pop Culture wish for 2024 was to see Noah Kahan live in concert. Did that happen?

AHS: Womp, womp. Nope. And do you know why it didn't happen?

JS: Because he never came anywhere around us and his concert tickets were far too expensive.

AHS: Correct. Ding, ding, ding. Unfortunately, dang. I don't know. Concerts, man. To full disclosure, you and I do see a lot of concerts throughout the year, but man, tickets are just getting outrageous. They are. Yeah. Truthfully, between the ticket prices for him and then the travel, that would have been the expense that comes with that, it just wasn't realistic. So, I just listened to Stick Season on repeat.

JS: I guess you'll have to do that until we can finally get around to seeing him.

AHS: Basically, yeah. I was super hoping for that though. I really, I'm still a big fan of his, and so maybe one day.

JS: All right. Well, my final Pop Culture wish for 2024 was to see more new release movies during the year. I had only seen nine films released in 2023 in that year, which is ridiculously embarrassing. Now, technically, I completed this wish. I saw... wait for it … 11 new films in 2024. I saw 11 films. Okay. I'm still embarrassed by this. This is an incredibly low number. And in hindsight, I should have put a number on the amount of new releases I wanted to watch. That would have been a lot better. It might have been harder to achieve. But because I technically saw two more new films last year than I did in 2023, I'm giving myself the check mark. So, it's embarrassing, but I accomplished it.

AHS: It's kind of got an asterisk by it, I feel like.

JS: Okay. Well, I'm giving myself two for three. Aprille, you had one for three this year. I think you had three for three last year, though.

AHS: I know. Last year, I did so good. This year, man. And honestly, I don't know. My wishes for this upcoming year is I'm a little nervous about it, too.

JS: So now that Tyler has waited patiently, as we have rambled on about our 2024 wishes for the last 10 minutes, the longest time you will ever hear Tyler be quiet on this podcast.

AHS: Oh, Tyler.

JS: I'm gonna welcome him back in for our 2025 Pop Culture Wishes. So, what we're gonna do now is April, Tyler and I are gonna go around one at a time, and we're gonna give our Pop Culture Wishes, we each have three, for 2025. And Tyler, since this is your first time joining us for our tradition, we're gonna give you the honor of going first. So, what is your first Pop Culture Wish for 2025?

Tyler Glover: Okay, so my first wish for 2025 is for Taylor Swift to release her last two re-records to complete her re-recording project. She still has her debut album and her sixth album, Reputation, to go. And for those of you who don't know, in 2019, her label Big Machine Records was sold to Ithaca Holdings, and she was not given the chance to buy her, get her work, and so it was sold out from under her.

And so she decided to re-record her albums, and she has released four of those re-records now. And so my wish for this year is for her to be able to release those last two albums. And I just cannot wait.

And I think it's like I feel bad to ask that too, because she's given us at least one album every year since 2019. Some albums, some years too. So, I hate to be the...

JS: I think there's a good chance at least half of that will happen. I think there’s a very good chance that she'll get at least one of those re-records out this year, especially because I don't think she's got any work. She's pretty quiet about this kind of stuff, but she just finished her Eras tour.

I don't think she has any plans for a new album at the moment, so it seems like a good time to get one of those re-records out. I have a feeling if one of the two is going to happen, it would be Reputation, which is more popular.

TG: Yeah. The weirdest one for her is going to be her debut album because she was so young and it was almost 20 years ago when it came out. That is just going to, she's matured so much that that one may sound a little weirder than the other re-records. You know, that's 100 percent true because she was also a little more twangy in her debut album more than any of her other albums. For me, it hasn't been with Fearless, which was her second one. When that re-record came out, it wasn't jarring at all to me for that one, but she also wasn't as twangy in her second album. I do think it will be interesting to see how the debut album is.

AHS: Well, I wonder if with re-recording, and Tyler, you would know this better than I would, but I wonder if there is almost like a kind of a chance for her to reinvent those songs a little bit. I know that's not really the point of this, but also I'm kind of interested to hear what that first album would sound like with her voice now.

TG: Yeah, definitely. Well, and I know based on like the legal terms that she has to change elements of songs, it can be like rather small things though. I'm like, it's as long as it's just different from the original. I know there's that aspect, but yeah, I'm just, I am really interested. I think that's the one that I'm the most interested in to see like how it's going to sound, because so far it hasn't been glaring for me at all.

AHS: Yeah, yeah. It should be interesting. We'll see.

TG: I agree with Julian. I feel like she'll do one of them, but maybe, I don't know. We'll see how much work she wants to put in after doing this massive multi-year tour.

AHS: I would want to take a break, but then again, I am not Taylor Swift, so.

TG: That's true. If she takes a break, I think all of us Swifties would agree that she has fed us the last few years. We are the big cat that just had too much milk. She has been feeding us.

JS: Was that a Cats reference?

AHS: If that truly was, Tyler, that's phenomenal. I totally forgot she was in that movie.

TG: You know, it's funny. I didn't think anything about it when I said it, but I did manage to get a pun in unintentionally.

JS: All right. Well, my first Pop Culture wish of 2025 is one, we're not going to have to wait too long to see if it comes true or not, because it is the second season of AppleTV+’s Severance, and the hope that it keeps its quality that it had from season one after an almost three year layoff. Season two will be premiering on January 17th on Apple TV+. Nearly three years to the day that the first season came out. Now, there was some backstage drama at the show between its creator and showrunner Dan Erickson and his co-showrunner Mark Friedman. It's all kind of hazy as to what happened, but supposedly Friedman was there as kind of a guy who's been around the business before, had shows before, and Erickson was a newbie at it, a first time showrunner, so he was kind of there to help out, but supposedly Erickson and Friedman didn't really get along.

And Friedman was actually going to leave the show, but Beau Willimon, who created House of Cards, he was brought in to help out, and director Ben Stiller was able to smooth some of the issues out, it seems. So it seems like that stuff was all put to rest, and then once all that was worked out, then came the dual writer and actor strikes of 2023, right as production was supposed to get back going. So my hope is that with the three-year layoff and just how great the first season of Severance was, that there is no drastic dip in quality. Like I said, season two, January 17th, so it won't take us too long to know if this one comes true or not.

AHS: Yeah, it really was one of my favorite shows. I mean, that show was so creepy and thriller. It was just everything, and it's been so long, though. Now, I agree with you. I think it's a good wish. I'm hoping that it, you know, continues to be great.

TG: Yeah, I really loved that show, too. I hope the quality doesn't dip at all, either. I was wondering why it had taken so long for it to come back.

AHS: Well, it's kind of along the same lines. I guess you and I kind of have that thought process when it comes to TV shows and warning them to be great. But my wish is that Stranger Things finishes strong. So the explosive Netflix series Stranger Things has lasted nine years with just five seasons. I know that British shows might be able to get away with that, but that's a tough thing to do when the majority of your cast are kids. When it starts and the time between seasons in that world are typically not two years or more, if I'm remembering correctly. Again, it's been a minute. But to be fair, things really did get off course with COVID since the first two seasons span 2016 and 2017 with the third premiering in 2019. So there was a little bit of that break, but the fourth was in 2022. And I really do not understand why they waited three years for the finale, for the series finale season. I've loved most seasons of the show, but I just really want a fitting end for all the characters, but particularly for Eleven, played just amazingly by Millie Bobby Brown, and for basically Eleven and Mike, Finn Wolfhard, and for Will, Noah Schnapp, along with the adults, Joyce Flyers, who's played by Winona Ryder and Jim Hopper, who's played by David Harbour. Because there's been so much time in between seasons, I realize I've forgotten some or some seasons may have blended together a bit. But I do know that the first season was one of the best, along with season four. But the Duffer brothers, Matt and Ross, have a tough task to finish it off well. And I just hope that they stick the landing because it feels like forever ago when everyone was hooked on where Will Byers disappeared to.
 
JS: Yeah, the show is just running into some bad luck with COVID, basically costing it two years. And then the writers and actors strike, costing it another year. But honestly, I feel like the Duffer brothers should have been cranking this thing out a little quicker than they have.

AHS: And I keep forgetting about-

JS: It won't matter if they do a good job with the finish, though.

AHS: You don't think it will matter?

JS: I don't think it will matter that they took so long if the end is great.

AHS: I gotcha. I was thinking you were saying, it won't matter. I'm like, it absolutely matters. They have to stick to it.

JS: It's just disappointing that this show was basically supposed to be told over five years or so, and the kids have gone from looking like they were 12, 13 to now some of them having gray hair.

AHS: But see, that's the joke though. That's the thing that keeps being talked about. It's like these kids are supposed to be in high school and they just look older, which I get it. A lot of shows do that with actors and stuff, but it's so much more glaring with a show like this when actors truly began as children. And it's just really, I don't know, it really has stretched too far out. And I always forget about the writers and actors strike, which is terrible. I should remember that more. But it's just, I don't know, the show needs to, we need to get the show on the road.

JS: Well, I think they're planning on a fall release. So, I'm sure it's gonna air this year. But yeah, like you said, your wish is for it to land the plane.

AHS: Yeah, and I mean, also to get it going, too. I mean, I know people that have watched the show and they just don't even care anymore. Which is insane, because I still...

JS: Well, that's what happens when you have so many gaps between, I mean, nine years, almost a full decade to tell a five season story. I get that there was, that three of those years were basically out of their control. But it's...

AHS: Yeah, it is tough. So, we'll see, we'll see. I hope it ends well.

JS: All right, Tyler, what's next in your Pop Culture wishes?

TG: Okay, so my second Pop Culture wish is for Ariana Grande to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her phenomenal performance of Galinda in Wicked. So, at Gold Derby, odds have her right now in second place to win. They consider the front-runner to be Zoe Saldana for the Netflix film Emelia Perez. And I have seen both of these performances, and I cannot argue that Saldana would be a very deserving winner. I can't say that she wouldn't deserve to win, but I just feel that Ariana Grande, I feel like Ariana Grande's performance is going to be the one that's remembered years later. I'm just really hoping that she can pull off an upset. Like, what I'm hoping for is like years ago, remember everybody before awards started getting handed out, Laurie Metcalf was in the lead for Lady Bird. And she was like, everybody was like, she's gonna win, she's gonna win. And then it started with the Globes where Metcalf is gonna win. And so I'm hoping that that is what is happening this year, is that everybody's like, oh, it's gonna be Zoe Saldana. And then all the awards start coming and it's just a Grande train, is what I'm hoping is gonna happen.

I do have to say the Oscar nominations have not even came out yet. They don't come out till Friday, January 17th. So she hasn't even secured the nomination yet.”

However, most award sites are predicting that these two that I'm talking about, Zoe Saldana and Ariana Grande are pretty much locks to be nominated. And I'm hoping that that is true because she definitely has to be nominated to win. But I just think the main thing that I loved about the performance so much is that I just feel like she captured the essence of the character that Kristin Chenoweth just perfected.

AHS: I am excited. See, I wish, so I can't comment because I can't either yet. It's ridiculous that it's this far into Wicked being out. It's even on streaming now and I haven't seen it, but I am so excited to see it. But I'm, you know, so we shall see if she pulls off the Oscar win.

JS: My second Pop Culture wish of 2025 is for the Atlanta Braves. I have to be healthy for the 2025 Major League Baseball season. They were, on paper at least, the team to beat them or the Los Angeles Dodgers, who ended up winning it all last year.

In spring training, their ace starting pitcher, Spencer Strider, hurt his arm, had to have season-ending surgery. A month or so into the season, Ronald Acuna Jr., their MVP from two years ago, from the year before actually, tore one of his ACLs. It's the second time in three years he's torn an ACL.

So, he was out for the majority of the year. Ozzie Albies, their All-Star second baseman, fractured his hand. Austin Riley, their All-Star third baseman, hurt something and was out for long stretches of the year.

I've never seen a team that's this good have so bad luck when it comes to injuries. The fact that the Braves still made the postseason was almost a miracle in my opinion, because man, so many of their best players and all-stars missed so much time. When it comes to health, it's one of those things where there's not a whole lot you can do about it. It's just the kind of you're lucky or you're not. But I'm hoping that they can have a healthier 2025 season, because if they do, they're going to be one of the teams to beat in baseball.

Aprille, what's your second pop culture wish for 2025?

AHS: Oh, goodness. Well, my second pop culture wish, it's going to sound a little bit familiar to last year's wish, but I'm just going to temper my hopes down a little bit. So it's still going to be Noah Kahan related.

I promise I do listen to other music, but I really would like my second wish would be new music from Noah Kahan. I fell in love with Kahan's music this year, along with everyone else the past few years and really last year. Well, as well, it took him a while to gain widespread popularity.

His first album came out in 2019, and then his third wildly popular Stick Season album came out in 2022. Really thanks to a viral TikTok video featuring the single of the same name. Since then, he's been riding this wave of stardom.”

He's released two expanded versions of the album, including Stick Season, We'll All Be Here Forever in June of 2023, and then Stick Season Forever in February of 2024. And I know those albums included some new songs and then duets with big names, like Post Malone, Kasey Musgraves, Brandi Carlile, Hozier. But as a fan, I'm really hoping for a brand new album instead of recreations of Stick Season.

I loved that album so much. But I get hanging on to that commercial success, and those songs will always be lyrically great. But at some point, an artist has to move forward.

And I know that he's been very public about struggling with just anxiety and depression and everything, and just not believing that he's that great. But he is that great. He has proven himself.

He doesn't have to feel like he doesn't need to, you know, he's proven himself. I fully believe that his next album will be amazing. And so I kind of, I do kind of feel like maybe Taylor Swift churning out albums all the time has kind of conditioned some fans, music fans in general, to ask artists what's next sooner rather than later.

Not that Taylor Swift is the only artist that does that, but just in general. So it might be unfair, but I feel like we've had enough variations of Sticks Season, and I'd be so excited to fall in love with another album of his this year.

JS: I don't know how quickly he works. The official Sticks Season came out toward the end of 2022, so we're over more than two years past that. I know it didn't become popular until 2023, but we're more than two years past that, so maybe he'll have something toward the end of this year.

AHS: Right, yeah, absolutely. So we'll see, I hope.

JS: Aprille, just go ahead and give us your third.

AHS: Okay. So the third, actually, I have a bit of an embarrassing, shameful secret to reveal to the listeners. I am a huge Harry Potter fan. I'm in love with all the movies. I've seen them multiple times.

JS: Yeah, that is shameful.

AHS: Shut up. I'm getting to it. I'm getting to my third wish.

I've been to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Orlando. I proudly dressed in my Hufflepuff robe on Halloween, but unfortunately, this is the shameful part. I have never read the series. And believe me, I have gotten flak from fans of the books for that that I've told, but it's always been my hope to read them one day. I wouldn't say that I'm a super fast reader. I am a writer, but I just have always not been super fast with reading.

So their size has always been a bit intimidating, especially when they first came out all those years ago. But I've always heard you get sucked in and it's a fast read. So I'd like to at least begin reading the series.

I mean, my official wish is read the Harry Potter series. I'm going to leave that a little vague because I'd like to at least begin reading the series this year. Best case scenario, I finish them all.

There's seven in the series with the first released in 1997 and the last in 2007. And this wish really isn't because of peer pressure or anything, but really because I've missed learning more about that world of Hogwarts. And I know that there's so much more life in those books that the movies just didn't have time to touch.

So, I'm excited to hopefully expand my knowledge of this fantasy world that I love.

JS: All right, well, if your wish is just to begin, that doesn't mean that you can get to December 31st of this year, read one page and say, hey, I began Harry Potter. I checked this off the list.

AHS: Listen, we are fast and loose with these rules, but that's fair. I'm not going to do that. I will concede that I did not do it if I read one page. I will at least read two pages. Come on.

JS: You have to at least you have full book. I think that's even too easy. I think that's too easy. I think you should be held to the whole series. But because you just said begin, it has to be at least the first full book.

AHS: Listen, I said best case scenario. I know. Get the whole series.

JS: But yes, it's so easy to read one book that that just seems a little.

AHS: OK, I should clarify. We are in a book club, so I'm already reading other books. It's not like this is the only thing I'm spending time on. So, we shall see.

TG: I'll tell you, Aprille, like I, you know, I'm a Harry Potter fan, too. And the size of them, because I'm also just like you. I'm a very slow reader. And and I will tell you, like I read the first five books, but then when that sixth one come out and I saw it still so big. And like by that point in my life, I was very busy with like work and like college and stuff, you know, things like that. Or, you know, so I like I didn't get to read the last two. I just waited for the movies. So, yeah.

AHS: OK, well, see, good. I'm the only one. At least you have read more than me, but at least I'm not the only one.

TG: Yeah, it did get hard, though, with the fourth and fifth. It's what with the fourth one, especially like the Goblet of Fire.

AHS: Yeah. And honestly, truly, that's not even my favorite movie of them. So that'll be interesting.

JS: I do have one wish for you, Aprille, if it pertains to reading the Harry Potter books. Try to find used copies, free copies, library copies. We do not need to be putting any more money into that winch JK.

AHS: Oh, yikes. I was going to say, I'm going to buy the whole series, and then I just realized-

JS: Please do not. Please do not. She is an awful, awful, horrible, no good person.

AHS: I mean, I hope she changes her life.

JS: Well, hopefully, she does, but she-

AHS: Hopefully, she changes her life.

JS: She is a terrible person. Do not put any money into her pocket.

AHS: Correct. Maybe the library surely has them. That's a good point.

JS: I'm sure they do.

AHS: And maybe, hey, maybe this is also my wishes for JK. Rowling to change her life.

JS: That probably ain't going to happen.

AHS: Well, we'll see. Yeah. Don't tag that on my wish. I don't get to lose if that doesn't happen.

JS: All right, Tyler, what's your third Pop Culture wish for the year?

TG: All right. So my third one is kind of a personal one. Before COVID, my family and I used to go to the movie theater a whole lot.

And then COVID had and that kind of put a stop to it a lot. And then of course, during COVID, movie studios and streaming services got really good at adapting to the pandemic and releasing things at home. And even if things were in theaters or even got released at theaters, they would come relatively shortly to streaming to be able to get to people at home.

And so when you're living, you know, I have three kids and they're all in extracurriculars. So it's very hard to get to the movie theater, especially, oh, well, it's probably going to come to streaming next month. So like this, I was thinking about it when I was preparing for this podcast.

And like, I only went to the movie theater three times this year, and it was for Despicable Me 4, Inside Out 2 and Wicked. And, but I just loved it. I love the movie theater though, so much.

Like I love going and seeing the big screen transporting to that world in a dark room, eating popcorn. Like I just love the experience of the movie theater. And I was, I know I was really scared kind of with COVID that they would go away almost, you know, cause I know they struggled during that time.

So, but yeah, just my, so ultimately my wish is, is that I would like to go see one movie in the theater every month of 2025.

JS: Well, Tyler, if you do that, you'll have seen more new releases this year than I did all 2024.

AHS: I love that wish. That's a cool one.

JS: All right. Well, that brings us to my final one of 2025, something that I pretty much have complete control of. And that is to record more The Word on Pop Culture podcast episodes in 2025. Now we did 21 in 2024, which is honestly about our average over the life of this podcast. And if you go to our podcast page on anywhere you stream podcasts, it'll say that we did 50 last year. Well, that was kind of because midway through last year, I started transferring the This Week in Pop Culture history that we do on our Facebook page, our other social media pages, and that we put on our website into a podcast of their own. So not really counting those. And I've actually did an offshoot for that one for its own show. So now you can go ahead and find that at This Week in Pop Culture history.

So, basically, The Word on Pop Culture now has two podcasts. That one will only be related to the history of pop culture. So for this one, which is kind of the catch-all in all sorts of pop culture, my goal is to do two a month.

So, we really weren't that much below that goal last year. We did 21. I'd like to do at least 24 episodes this year, if not more.

And I think we're already off to a good start. I have set us to do five in January alone. I've not really intended to be that many for the opening month.

It's just that there's so much going on in pop culture at the moment. So we're well ahead of pace to begin the year when it comes to recording at least 24 episodes to a month for The Word on Pop Culture podcast.

AHS: Man, you just want to stress yourself out doing all this. But that'll be exciting. I hope you hit that wish for sure.

JS: Well, like I said, I'm completely in control of that one. I want to thank Tyler and Aprille for joining us today for these pop culture wishes. We have 12 months to see if they come to fruition. Best of luck to both of you.

TG: Yes, good luck to you.

AHS: Yeah, good luck. I guess I got to go get reading.

“My Old Ass” is a movie about savoring people, experiences and the moments we share with them. From the bike riding to the rocking of a newborn baby and through to the emotional mountain top this movie reaches, everything about director Megan Park's ode to time and understanding that it is the one thing we cannot make more of absolutely wrecked me. Some will call it mawkish, and others will say it is manipulative, but everything is done in such a sincere fashion it's hard to believe Park was attempting to do anything other than remind her own self of these realizations and hopefully help a few others do the same in the process. Now streaming on Prime Video.

​Anger may not quiet the soul and an eye for an eye might eventually make the whole world blind, but corruption must be reckoned with in some fashion and Dev Patel makes it satisfying as hell in “Monkey Man,” his directorial debut. While a story of revenge is the most common of stories to tell, especially in the action/thriller genre, Patel elevates the material by making that aforementioned anger more deeply felt, the context hyper-personal, while lathering the execution in every influence the writer/director/star has clearly made a note of since directing became an ambition. Whether it was my experience as a first-time viewer or Patel realizing his intention through experimentation, by the end of the film, the extreme from-the-hip angles coupled with the extreme close-ups of particularly gritty moments in hand-to-hand combat make for a very ecstatic and unrestrained tone that can't help but to be felt if not necessarily viewed as singular. Now streaming on Prime Video.

​I know the conversation around this film has more or less solely focused on it being a classic, sturdy courtroom drama that was once upon a time a dime a dozen, and maybe the distance from such a time does make director Clint Eastwood's potential swan song feel all the more exceptional, but context aside ... this is really, really good. Like, really good. More so than just its exploration of truth - specifically around how our self-interests and self-peace can be at odds with one another - but for how it so effortlessly puts you in the position of Nicholas Hoult's character (a terrific man unraveling performance - those eyes!) not only engaging one in the premise by making you question what you might do in such a dilemma but simply by being consistently captivating in its entertainment value as well as through said moral quandary. Much of the conversation also concentrated on Warner Bros. neglectful rollout for the film, which opened in a dismal 11 theaters before somewhat expanding and then landing on streaming a month and a half later, but my hope is this is where the film finds its audience and its rewatchability factor ... just as it would have once upon a time. Now streaming on Max. 

Zelda Williams' directorial debut is a Tim Burton-inspired love story from the mind of screenwriter Diablo Cody, of “Juno” fame who - critically - also penned “Jennifer’s Body.” As a movie sold as a YA love story between a modern girl and a long-deceased dude about how they could never truly be together initially settles us into its suburban expressionism by way of the more gothic tendencies of its heroine, but completely turns itself over at the halfway mark and becomes all the more absurd and exciting for it. It's not hard to see this catching on down the road whether it be on streaming or somewhere like FreeForm as a new member of the "Timeless Sleepover Movies" club. From the perfect title screen, a truly magnificent Kathryn Newton, to the very specific and patterned way in which the dialogue and blocking compliment the tone and humor it is all working together to create that perfect balance of fresh yet familiar. Now streaming on Prime Video.

“Rebel Ridge” is pure genre fare, but done to the nines in every conceivable way. As writer/director Jeremy Saulnier's first film in six years, this story of a former Marine grappling with a web of small-town corruption is everything you want in a modern crime thriller that features a star-making lead performance from Aaron Pierre (who so easily should be the next Bond it's not even funny) to the smarmy cast of "that guy" supporting players ranging from Don Johnson doing dirty Sheriff to Emory Cohen as an amoral cop to James Cromwell coming in for a single scene to solidify the movie isn't playing around and that Saulnier knows precisely what he's doing. Rarely does it feel like every piece of dialogue is this critical, as the research Saulnier must have done while writing the script will never be properly appreciated. Of course, what is so infuriating is what makes “Rebel Ridge” so compelling, as Pierre's character isn't necessarily rallying against the system as a means for change but simply out of the interest of self-preservation. The way the action is actually conducted as a preventive measure against violence is so slick and displays - from a craft and thematic perspective - just how skilled Saulnier is at executing on both sides of the coin. Now streaming on Netflix. 

Whether it be “Star Wars” or the latest incarnation of “Power Rangers,” the line between nobility and corruption is made clear through direct action or the color scheme of the costumes. Even in something as sophisticated as director Denis Villeneuve's Dune adaptations, the heroes are largely surrounded by pure, white sands while the villains literally dip themselves in black goop. What is immediately striking about “Dune: Part Two” is how it continuously questions its mythology. While the whole of “Dune” is essentially a story of heroes and villains in a race for ultimate power and control through the ultimate commodity, what it is actually about (the films, anyway) are the power, control, influence and questions the presence of a messiah manifest. In Villeneuve's first film, Timothée Chalamet's Paul Atreides is a boy born into a destiny beyond his understanding. What makes ‘Part Two’ the more complex, interesting and superior film is Paul's understanding of and ultimate embrace of this destiny that has been prescribed to him his entire life. Now streaming on Max.

It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that filmmaker Luca Guadagnino only agreed to direct “Challengers” after doing some research and hearing the grunts tennis players make every time they hit the ball combined with seeing the necessary physique required to compete, along with the amount of sweat that is poured during a match so that he could then ultimately make a film that abrasively correlates the sport to sex. I'd put a fair amount of money on the fact that Guadagnino knew little to nothing about tennis prior to taking on this project and that he probably hasn't watched a match since. The shot of Zendaya with her hair blowing in the wind, the glow of the tail lights outlining her profile, and the score pulsing behind her made me want to stand up in the theater, put my fist in the air, and yell, "Fuck yeah!" This type of energy is largely due to the Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' score that is balls to the wall bananas, but I unashamedly loved every second of it. Now streaming on Prime Video & MGM+.

As more folks see this, the main complaint around it will either be that it is essentially "Mansplaining: The Movie" or that it starts strong but devolves into some of your typical genre trappings by the final act. There is no denying the first hour or so is superior to the second purely from an immersive experience perspective but despite some of the holes one could poke in the plotting, writer/directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods successfully manage to both upend expectations while taking things to another level through to the final confrontation in which the film's central thesis is both nicely stated as well as visually illustrated in one of the coolest shots of the year. Utilizing the maze motif “Heretic” employs to depict the control one can have over a person when they've overseen the construction of their worldview is just peak filmmaking all-around. Not to mention, this is a Hugh Grant performance for the ages. Now available to rent/own on VOD.

I count myself among the few who found writer/director Brady Corbet's previous film, “Vox Lux,” invigorating in a positive way, and so, naturally, I couldn't wait to see what he did next. “The Brutalist” is not at all what I expected and yet is ... more, better than anything I could have ever foreseen. Tackling how generations are more like necessary cycles than lessons to be learned, how attempted upheaval as cultural pawns barely erode the architecture that will continue to stand, and how those who keep their integrity intact as they build and/or create what will stand the test of time are often also those who feel they belong nowhere is ... a lot. I reckon Corbet sees a lot of himself in Adrien Brody's László Tóth; an artist caught in an industry who is unwilling to compromise his vision to please others or the masses. Does he worship at the altar of only himself? I don't know that I'd go that far, for if nothing else, he surely learned a lot about himself through the writing process yet there is this prevailing sense of art above everything - especially capitalism - and how "this whole country is rotten" that keeps one coming back to the idea that nothing is indeed of its own explanation. It is intellectually stimulating, to be sure. Now playing in theaters.  

“Nickel Boys” is indisputably powerful. It washed over me increasingly, culminating in a tidal wave of emotions that rocks one to one's core in its final minutes. While I don't know that this is a film I will return to often, it is an experience I can honestly call singular - something I don't know if I've ever seen anything like before. The closest approximation would be how I felt after seeing Terrence Malick's “Tree of Life” for the first time, easily one of the best films to be made in the last 20 years. Director RaMell Ross's adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Colson Whitehead that chronicles the powerful friendship forged between two young African-American men as they navigate the harrowing trials of reform school together is not a comfortable or enjoyable watch, but it is - and as off-putting as this may seem - an important one. Unlike anything I've felt before, the POV approach makes for a sense of personality within the film, as well as accounting for some striking imagery. Please see it on the big screen if possible, as it is now playing in theaters.

Julian Spivey: All right, welcome back to The Word on Pop Culture podcast. I'm Julian Spivey, the creator and editor of The Word on Pop Culture. You can find us online at thewordonpopculture.com.
Just a little reminder to like and subscribe to the show wherever you're listening from. So tonight, I'm joined by frequent contributors to The Word on Pop Culture and The Word on Pop Culture podcast Aprille Hanson-Spivey and Tyler Glover. So welcome back to the show, guys.

​Aprille Hanson-Spivey: Thank you. Thank you.

Tyler Glover: Thank you. Happy to be here.

JS: And we're going to do what we do at the end of every year. We're going to discuss our favorite things in pop culture from 2024. What I've asked Aprille and Tyler to do, and I'm going to do myself, is I've asked us to all compile our favorite song, album, TV show, and movie of 2024.

We're just going to go around one at a time and basically tell each other and y'all what they are. So, let's get started with our favorite movie of 2024. Aprille, what's number one on your list?

AHS: Okay. So, number one on my list for this year is the sequel, well, Inside Out 2. So, it was the sequel to 2015's Inside Out, which was an amazing cartoon. You know, Disney Pixar, it was awesome.

Inside Out 2 featured more emotions as Riley, the main character, gets older and enters puberty. So there's that familiar cast of characters like Amy Poehler's joy and Phyllis Smith's sadness. But really the breakout emotion in this movie this time around was Maya Hawke, which is, I believe, Ethan Hawke's daughter, correct, Julian?

JS: Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman's daughter, yes.

AHS: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that was Maya Hawke's. And of course, she's, well, I know her best from Stranger Things.

But she played Anxiety. And for me, as someone who struggles with anxiety, it was really interesting to watch this character who is kind of a villain for a bit. I know, Julian, you kind of thought she was a villain.

If an emotion could be a villain. I mean, I know she definitely does some shady things when she shuts out the emotions to try and help Riley fit in. You know, hopefully, yeah.

So, at her core, anxiety is really just trying to help, but it makes Riley act unlike herself, which is hard for people who struggle with anxiety because they know in those moments, it's not truly who they are. So I think the movie did a great job showing that. You know, emotions are not good or bad overall, but altogether, they make up who we are.

And I think that's just a really positive message to send to kids, especially, you know, just as a culture, we just tend to be more anxious. And, you know, there are times where we're just talking about our emotions more and everything. So I just, I thought it was a great film.

JS: Yeah, Tyler, you want to say anything about Inside Out 2? I know it's probably one of your favorites of the year as well.

TG: Oh, yes, it was definitely high on my list as well. I just always get so nervous when it comes to sequels, to movies that I love especially. And Inside Out was definitely one that I loved so much.

And so I was very scared that they were going to mess it up. And it is, it was just so great to like leave that movie theater and be like, oh my gosh, like somehow they made something so, you know, about as close to good as the original. Like I actually had a hard time deciding because the quality level was pretty much the same.

Like I had a hard time determining which one I thought was the best, honestly. I still don't even know that I would know because it was like that good.

Yeah, absolutely. You're totally on point with that because that is a struggle, right? Especially for kids' movies too.

I feel like the sequel, it's, I mean, the big shoes to fill with this one. And I think they did great with it.

JS: All right, Tyler, what's your pick for the best movie of 2024?

TG: OK, so my favorite film of 2024 was the long-anticipated movie to the Broadway musical Wicked. I have looked forward to this movie for years. I know that there's been reports of it being worked on a long time, like with three different directors and different stars attached at certain points.

It's definitely taken some years to get here, but I'm always nervous when it's something I love as much as I love Wicked. Yeah, I got to see the Broadway musical when it was touring.

I saw one of the touring productions when I came here to Little Rock in, I believe 2012, and just fell absolutely in love with this story. You know, for those who don't know it, it tells the story of the events between the Wicked Witch of the West and Glenda before the events of Dorothy and even kind of goes in the second one. We'll kind of get to where Dorothy is involved too.

So we'll kind of see like the whole story that might not have, you know, you might not know. You know, basically things weren't as they seem, you know, just as they never are. But, you know, I was just worried that they, I was so worried, just like we were talking about with Inside Out 2, you were always kind of a little nervous inside because you don't want it to be messed up.

And like, I just, I remember leaving the movie theater and being like, oh my gosh, like, I wouldn't change a single thing. Like, I wouldn't change, you know, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande were pitch-perfect. And like, every casting choice to me was perfect.

Like, the set was perfect. Like, I mean, just, and I remember, like, you know, there was a lot of criticism a few months ago when they were, it was told that it was being split into two parts. And even I was like, oh, this is such a cast grab, like such an obvious cast grab.

And while that could be the overall goal of it, you know, it could be, I don't know. But I just know that I definitely see why, because this movie was two and a half hours and only went to the end of act one. And I wouldn't have taken a single scene out of it.

So I definitely think that it was, I mean, we'll kind of see, I think we'll be able to know more if it was the right decision after we see part two. But as far as right now, where I'm sitting at the end of the first one, I feel like it was the right decision, because I feel like we got some more background into some characters where, you know, in the Broadway musical, I feel like there were some things that weren't fleshed out as much, it was kind of inferred more. And here, it was kind of given out a little more.

So, I just loved everything about it. I'm very excited for Oscar Prospects for it.

JS: Yeah, as am I for my choice. And who knew a movie about Catholic cardinals choosing a new pope could be so deliciously fraught with political infighting, backstabbing, and mysterious intrigue. But that's precisely what you get from Edward Berger's Conclave, based on a novel by Robert Harris.

Screenwriter Peter Straughan's script is thrilling and taut, coming in at two hours, which is nice in a world where movies are ballooning in runtime, like Wicked. The performances of the entire cast...

AHS: Don't even! You haven't seen it yet. You cannot judge that.

JS: Can I get to the finish of my movie, please?
 
AHS: Yes!

JS: The performances of the entire cast are exquisite from known character actors like Ralph Fiennes, who will undoubtedly receive an Oscar nomination, Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow, to unknowns like Sergio Castellito, Lucien Msamati and Carlos Diehz. It also has a wild shock ending that I enjoyed quite a bit, but others might find off-putting. And honestly, if that's the case, those folks deserve that feeling.
I know you also saw Conclave this year, April, what did you think about it?

AHS: You know, it was so interesting to me. I really did enjoy it. I thought it moved along very well.

I mean, I'm a cradle Catholic, so it was definitely a process that I was interested in. I didn't love the ending, and not because of any controversy surrounding it, because I know that there are some people that hated the ending because of that, which is kind of insane. I just think that it wasn't very plausible.
But, you know, I still think it was a brilliant film, and I think that it did a great... I mean, the acting was just unmatched in that movie. It really was.

I mean, when you have that kind of cast, it just... it was great. But yeah, you liked it more than I did, for sure.

JS: Yeah, it'll definitely... I don't think it's going to be a front runner of the Oscars, but it's definitely going to be a film that gets a handful of nominations. Let's move on to our favorite television shows of 2024.

Tyler, you can take it away with this one first.

TG: OK. So, my favorite television show of this year is the Max show Hacks. I feel like this is kind of a theme going in our podcast today, is I love the consistency of this show.

Season 1, season 2, and season 3 have all been just pitch-perfect. I was even looking, the Rotten Tomatoes scores were 100 percent for season 1, 100 percent for season 2, and 98 percent for season 3. Even Rotten Tomatoes agrees, they're pretty much right there as far as being perfect.

And I remember one of my favorite, you know, we were, you know, my favorite win at the Emmys this past September was the surprise win by Hacks for Outstanding Comedy Series. It was actually like probably one of my wishful thinking, I was thinking it was such a wishful thinking win because, you know, the bear went into the nominations with the most nominations for a comedy ever, and it even beat 30 Rock's record, and 30 Rock won that year that it had the record at the time. So, I just felt like the bear would easily win.

So, I was beyond excited, and I actually do like the bear too, but I do like Hacks more. So, I was really excited for that. I swear, as far as the Emmy love with Hacks, if they could just give Hannah Einbinder an Emmy, all my Emmy hopes for this show has been fulfilled.

So, if they can just do that next year, like as far as Hacks and the Emmys were good, you know. But I just think it's an incredible show and how they've been able to keep every season to tell a compelling story to keep us interested. And the twist in the end of season three was great.

I loved it.

JS: Yeah, I want to know who the idiot two percent of people on Rotten Tomatoes who didn't think Hacks was perfect.

TG: I know I was shocked. I thought it would be 100, 100, 100. But I was like, OK, well, there was, yeah, random people.

JS: Aprille, what do you have tops on your list for TV shows this year?

AHS: So, what's topped my list? I absolutely love this show. It is Shrinking.

So, Apple TV+ premiered Shrinking 2023. And I still think it's one of the best. And, you know, maybe I just haven't been hearing about it, but I think it's one of the most underrated shows out there right now.

And I don't know if it's just because I think that maybe it's critically acclaimed. I just don't know a whole lot of people that watch it, which is crazy to me, because it's phenomenal. It's, you know, the series follows Jimmy Jason Segel, who plays a therapist who goes above and beyond the, really the lines of patient therapist to help his patients cope with whatever they struggle with.

And really the backdrop to all of that is him dealing with his own grief, the loss of his wife, Tia, who was killed by a drunk driver. And so, in the second season, we see this amazing cast of characters, all kind of facing their own baggage in life. You know, the first season, I feel like really focused on Jimmy and just how all of these characters came into his world and how that all

And it was really focused on him. But in the second season, I really feel like they're, you know, all the characters are really coming into their own. So they're dealing with relationship issues, infidelity, illness, struggling with their own demons.

And it's truly the cast that makes this show worth watching. You've got Jason Segel. You've got Harrison Ford. The brilliant Harrison Ford is Paul, his boss. Jessica Williams as the wildly funny Gabby, who's also out there in the show. Luke Tennie as his patient Sean. Michael Urie as Jimmy's best friend Brian. And then you've got Lukita Maxwell as daughter Alice. And then Christa Miller and Ted McGinley as neighbors Liz and Derek.

And they're just also developed in their characters. I really feel like they're comedic timing while also leaning into the dark humor of it all makes them just masterful at this show. And I will say the big thing this year, especially, or in this season was Brett Goldstein, who is actually a co-creator and writer on this show, known mostly for his role as Roy Kent and Ted Lasso.

He plays Lewis, the drunk driver who killed Tia. He made an appearance in this season, and it was just wonderful. Kudos to the writers for giving them phenomenal storylines that make them grow.

My really only complaint, I wanted more from the Jimmy Gabby storyline, but I'm sure we'll come back to that at some point.

JS: I'm not so sure we will.

AHS: I really hope we do.

JS: I hope we do too.

AHS: Maybe it might be a down the line a bit. I mean, I feel like each of them are going to have their own relationships for a while. And then when they're both in a better place, I think they are going to come back to that at some point.

JS: I hope so, too. Honestly, truthfully, Hacks was my favorite show of 2024. But because I knew Tyler had chosen it I wanted to showcase a show that not many people saw when it originally aired on AMC earlier this year, and that's Monsieur Spade.

Monsieur Spade sees Dashiell Hammett's hero detective Sam Spade, 20 years following the events of The Maltese Falcon, in a small town in southern France where he's retired and living the good life until the return of an old adversary throws him back into the game. Having been a big fan of director John Huston's film noir classic The Maltese Falcon from 1941, I had a hard time believing that anyone could portray Sam Spade but Humphrey Bogart. But I will tell you that Clive Owen absolutely inhabits the character.

It's one of the TV's best performances of the entire year. Monsieur Spade, it's a slow burn, and I realize it won't be for everyone, especially as it's a collaboration between AMC and France’s Canal+. And it's told at least partially in French with subtitles.

But I think if you stick with it, you'll be entertained. And now it is actually streaming on Netflix, so more people will hopefully have a chance to check it out. So that is Monsieur Spade, originally on AMC and France’s Canal+, can now be streamed on Netflix.
 
So let's go on to some of our music categories, and we'll start with Album of the Year. So Tyler, what was your favorite album of 2024?

TG: So, for me, there were so many good ones this year. For me, like pop, women just dominated this year for me. I thought they had so many great albums this year.

And honestly, it really is hard to pick. The one that I'm picking is really by my favorite artist of all time. And also, it was one that grew on me because I remember when I first, I had went to a listening party when The Tortured Poets Department, by Taylor Swift, was announced.

And I remember sitting at the listening party and I remember just being like, oh, like there were some of them I loved from the get go. But I was very kind of not sure of this album at all when it first came out. And then more tracks were released at, you know, at 2 a.m. that night.

I'm bringing the total of 31 tracks and I became even more skeptical of those. But the thing of it is, is that this album really, really grows on you the more you listen to it and the more you think about the lyrics. And I will tell you, you know, I've learned listening to Taylor over the years. 

It's like sometimes she goes through things that I go through later on. And then those lyrics hit in a way that they didn't, you know, before. And I think that that's what happened with this album too.

I feel like I went through some of these things after the album came out. And which kind of shocked me how much, but how much I related to it. But I just absolutely, I absolutely love this album.

It was my most listened to album, all five of my, on my Spotify wrapped. My top five songs were all from this album. The only show the top five was probably the top thirty one.

But yeah, it just had a blockbuster year this year. It ended up having the second best selling week in history. With 2.6 million units consumed in the first week.

She's only beaten by Adele's 25 album, which was a little over 3 million units in 2015. She's just swift. What's crazy to me is that I feel like 2023, everybody was like, that's the year of Taylor.

Somehow she managed to make 2024 pretty much about her too. With the heirs who were officially grossing over 2 billion. The book that she had came out sold 814,000 copy units in two days.

One of them was for me, of course. And so, just, oh my goodness, it was just such a good album. And I, if you're a tortured poet, you should listen to it.

AHS: Absolutely. You know, Tyler, I, it's totally spot on with the album has to grow on you a bit. Like it's, at first I was just, and I think it's just cause it's very lyric heavy.

Like it's not that she, her other albums aren't, but it just, yeah, it took a minute for me, but man, it's a phenomenal album. And she really shows her writing prowess. Not that she hasn't with her other albums, but it's just, I don't know, this one just is different to me.

TG: Yeah, I agree, I agree.

JS: Well, I'm gonna admit something right here right now. I've become a horrible music listener when it comes to new music. While artists are still putting forth fantastic albums, it's never been easier for me as a music fan to ignore them.

And ever since I started subscribing to Spotify, I've stopped buying physical copies of music. I have become an increasingly worse album listener. So really, it comes down to artists in which I've been listening to the most often.

And this year has been Cody Jinks, Charley Crockett, and Zach Top, all of whom put out fantastic albums. Jinks’ changed the game, Crockett's $10 Cowboy and Top's Cold Beer and Country Music. So I'm gonna go with Zach Top's Cold Beer and Country Music, it harkens back to the country music that I first fell in love with, 90s country, with its more traditional country themes and sounds and terrific songs, like I Never Lie, Things to Do, Use Me, Lonely for Long, and many more.

It's only Zach Top's sophomore album. So, I think we're gonna see a lot of great stuff from him in the future as well. So Zach Top's Cold Beer and Country Music is my album of 2024.
Aprille, what do you have?”

AHS: You know, I've been back and forth on this because I, so Miranda Lambert released Postcards from Texas. Her and she is my all-time favorite artist. So I, but I'm not gonna be able to pick her album this year, which actually makes me really sad because I love Miranda.

I loved that album. It was wonderful. And it's probably one that I'm gonna go back to for, you know, many, many years, like down the road.

But for whatever reason, Cowboy Carter really hit me in a special way this year. And the strangest thing about that, and this is why I'm choosing this as my album for the year, it's her eighth studio album by Beyoncé. It was released in March.

And truthfully, well, it's the second planned in a trilogy of albums. It was followed by Renaissance. And I have never been a huge Beyoncé fan.

Like, I've liked her music, like it's nothing against her. I've just never really gotten into her discography in the past. Like, you know, there's been a song or two I've liked, but I've never consistently listened to an album.

But there was so much in this. Obviously, I'm a big country music fan, so I was very excited about this album. I wanted to see what she would do.

Do I think, you know, we've done a podcast on this in terms of like, do we think it's country and this whole conversation around genres? And she, you know, pokes fun at that whole concept in this album. I just thought it was so unique.

You know, it's not pure country, but she's got country influences. She has, you know, it's a little pop, a little country, a little R&B, western, Americana roots. It's just a little bit of everything.

And, you know, she's got 27 songs on there. It's an hour and 18 minutes, I believe. And obviously, some of the songs are just kind of more short intros.

But it's still just impressive. What she was able to do with this album and make it appeal to so many different types of people. I just, I don't know.

I loved it.

JS: Yes. And that episode that you referenced that we did on Beyonce's Cowboy Carter was in April of this year, if people want to go back and check that out. So that brings us to our favorite song of the year.

And this may be something that, there's a lot of songs that are in the running for me. So, this may be something that if you ask me a week from now, I might have a different answer. But I had the pleasure of seeing Joe Stamm Band perform Flower of the Everglades at the Peacemaker Festival in Fort Smith, Arkansas, back in October.

And I can say for certain, that's one of the few times a live performance of a song has ever made me teary-eyed. It was already one of my favorites of the year from his Allegheny EP. But hearing the tale of a woman refusing to give up her home in the eye of a powerful storm and the reasons why one would do such a thing was a memorable moment for me.

Stamm, along with Charles Wesley Godwin, who both co-wrote the song and collaborates on it vocally, have crafted such a beautiful tragedy of a woman who grew up an orphan, married a rich man, found the home she always dreamed she'd one day have, and going down with it in a blaze of glory. Flower of the Everglades, the first time I heard it, sounded like an instant country classic, and I'm sure it'll always remain that way for me. Aprille, what was your favorite song of 2024?

AHS: Oh, gosh. So, you know, there was a lot of good music released in 2024. You know, I'm pretty sure I know what Tyler's song is gonna be, so I'm not gonna pick that one.

It's a Taylor song, so I'll let him jump into that one, but I'm pretty sure that was one I would definitely make one of my top songs. You know, a lot of people, American Aquarium is one of my favorite bands.

JS: Aprille, go ahead and take it, because I know Tyler doesn't actually have a Taylor Swift song.

AHS: Oh, really? Okay. Well, I'm gonna act.

Okay, fantastic. I'm gonna take, I Can Do It With A Broken Heart. That actually was the most, I believe that was one of my top songs.

I was actually gonna pick Texas Hold'em. So that's, it's hard, right? Texas Hold'em was such a fun song for me this year.

It was actually my top listen to song. But man, I really wanted to include some Taylor this year, just because The Tortured Poets Department was amazing. I Can Do It With A Broken Heart really let fans into her world when she's completely broken down and putting on this amazing, just groundbreaking concert tour and just being devastated from a relationship.

I mean, that is just giving fans that insight. It really is so relatable because how, and that's the crazy thing about Taylor Swift because it's like, how can someone like me relate to this amazing pop star who's living this life and just has all this crazy opportunity. But man, I would sing the I Can Do It With a Broken Heart so hard because it's just, and I related to it my own way of different things that I was struggling with.

So I think that that's really what makes that song brilliant. Just because it can relate to so many different people situations. So I hope I didn't take your song, Tyler.

TG: No, I will say that one was definitely like when I just wrote an article just a few weeks ago for my four favorite songs that was in my top. Definitely top four of the year. That song, I tell you, when I say that it was my third most listened to song on Spotify wrapped.

Surprised it wasn't number one, honestly. But that song, I can't tell you how many times this year where I listened to it going to work, knowing that I was going to have to smile. And for people that don't know, I work at Chick-fil-A and we're known for being very overly friendly.

And there were a lot of days I did not feel like being overly friendly because of a lot of things going on. And I listened to that song in my car so many times to hype myself up, to tell myself I could hit my marks, like I can grin like I'm winning even though I was completely falling apart. And it definitely is the top, definitely in my top four.

So that was a great choice.

AHS: Sorry, I was just going to say real quick, I love how it's such a depressing song, but it's so upbeat, which is, again, it's kind of you have to tread that line, right? Of being okay in public, especially if you're working or whatnot, and just kind of, but understanding that the backdrop is, you may be really going through something. And so I just love that how she played with both the lyrics and just the sound of the song is just so cool.

TG: Oh, yeah. Top tier.

JS: What was your number one?

TG: Okay, so I know that it could be kind of hard to, you know, with me telling that story, it could be kind of hard to understand why I wouldn't choose as my number one. But, you know, but the one that I was the most excited about this year song wise, it's called Good Luck Babe by Chappell Roan. And love this song so much.

I actually didn't know who Chappell Roan was. I, until, there's a lot of fans of Taylor Swift at my workplace. And, you know, when they kind of moved on from The Torture Poets and then I never did.

You know, they were telling me about this artist that I had to listen to. They were like, oh, you like Taylor, like you should like Chappell Roan. And it took me about three months before I finally actually listened to, you know, her.

But I finally did. And when I stumbled across Good Luck Babe, I was like, oh, my goodness, this song is so great. And the reason, you know, because this song, she's talking, basically singing to this woman that she is in love with.

And she's saying, you know, like, you could kiss a hundred boys and bars, but you're never going to stop this feeling you're having for me because it's genuine, it's real. Like you can't take, you can't change what you're feeling. And I think that that's kind of why I chose this one too, because I had this year, I had a lot of people trying to tell me how to feel and when to feel it.

And, you know, I felt kind of constricted to try to believe things that I didn't want to believe. And, you know, feel a certain way. And like, and when she said the lyric in the song that gets me is, you know, you have to stop the world just to stop the feeling.

It's like, you know, just to be aware, like, hey, you know, you're telling people to stop trying to feel things that they're feeling. But, you know, like, you have to stop the world to stop this feeling. And, you know, like, and I just loved that message of that song so much because, you know, it's, you know, it's like trying to turn off feelings.

You know, I'm sure people wish it was a light switch that you could just turn on and off, you know? And it's like, but that is not the way the world works. And in some cases, unfortunately.

But it's, you know, it's just such a fantastic song and it's nominated for record in Song of the Year. And I really, you know, I know Taylor's nominated for Fortnite for Song of the Year. And that's a Grammy that I've really wanted her to win for years.

But I definitely would. I don't even think that she would deserve it for Fortnite over Good Luck, over Good Luck, Babe, honestly.

JS: All right, so that does it for our favorites in Pop Culture for 2024. I want to thank Tyler and Aprille for joining me once again and on all the shows that y'all have joined us on for this year. And I can't wait to have you back for more in 2025.

Director: Robert Eggers
Starring: Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult & Bill Skarsgård
Rated: R (bloody violent content, nudity & some sexual content) 
Runtime: 2 hours & 12 minutes

 
Throughout Robert Eggers' interpretation of the Dracula mythos, we hear the word "providence" uttered multiple times, most frequently by Simon McBurney’s servant figure Knock (I wonder if he and Nicholas Hoult consulted with one another). Naturally, one would assume the context of such comments would be regarding the protective care of God in a film about a plague-inducing demon, but providence can also be defined as timely preparation for future eventualities. This latter meaning is, in fact, the outline for what composes much of 2024’s “Nosferatu.” As much of an impression as Bill Skarsgård’s titular character makes throughout the film, it is he who is largely orchestrating said timely preparations (which are sometimes a little too timely), whereas it is Lily-Rose Depp’s Ellen who is the focal point of both the vampire and Eggers’ fascinations. The future eventualities of this particular situation are the unlocking of this young woman’s shame (or sin, as she sees it) to find salvation – whether that be her own, the monster’s or mankind’s is up to the viewer. Initially, Ellen believes she has found such salvation in Thomas Hutter (the aforementioned Hoult), a young man whom she’s recently wed, eager to start a life with and with whom she believes she can remedy her darkness. We learn, of course, that when Count Orlok, Nosferatu, the vampyr, is stirred from his grave by the afflictions of others, he cannot be sated – satisfied - without fully consuming them, which, ironically, feels more like an absolute than the possibility promised by “providence.”

There is undoubtedly an unlimited number of allegorical meanings one could graph onto Ellen’s function, but most interesting about Eggers's film is the idea that this central character embodies the facade of the thing she believes she should be yet is seemingly afraid to embrace her instinctual tendencies while Eggers ensures the film itself is the inverse of as much; following his innate, natural inclinations so far past their conclusions that what we’re delivered is not necessarily what we expect from Dracula (outside of maybe the costumes and language), but moreover it authentically amps up and delivers upon the startling terror of what made (and makes) this long-looming figure of the genre so horrifying over a century after his creation. He, Nosferatu, is more than just the presence of a monster but the enigma that fills us with conflict and dread.

"Come to me. A guardian angel. A spirit of comfort...Anything." 

Ellen opens the film begging for something to save her, but all she hears in return are the soft, hissing breaths of the one she fears. This voice tells her she is not for the living, that she is not for humankind, yet even as Ellen swears her allegiance to these truths, she tries to but cannot resist the fact they ultimately (and very obviously) bring her as much pleasure as they do pain. It is not presumptive to believe Ellen's fate has all but been pre-determined at the hands of this ethereal creature that calls her in the night. We, the audience, quickly learn she too has a sense of life's inevitability, mainly concerning her husband, who works for the previously mentioned Knock (McBurney), who has been "entertaining dealings" with an ancient line of nobility, a foreign count - who some might describe as eccentric (to say the least). Hutter is informed this figure wishes to retire to the small town of Wisburg, where he and his new bride currently reside, and Knock has graciously teed up his protege to settle their client into his new abode from which he should draw a generous commission, something an ambitious newlywed can't rightly refuse. For this exchange to occur, though, this "foreign count" has requested an agent to come to him, in the flesh, to execute the deed as he is too infirm to make the trip more than once. It becomes clear all of this has been orchestrated around Hutter because of Ellen - that providence we spoke of - and as Hutter travels to a small country east of Bohemia known as Transylvania to meet this mysterious figure, the people, the terrain, even the atmosphere all seem to be warping around the black hole that is the castle housing Hutter's client. As a result, both in his travels and once he arrives at the manor, Hutter begins having unusual dreams that lead him to discover the true nature of this bloodline he's encountered. 

The gravitational pull of Skarsgård's Count Orlok is as undeniable as it is terrifying. As the timbre of Robin Carolan's score intensifies, so does the looming presence of Eggers' stark filmmaking style; his use of shadows, like black holes, conveys such a strange yet strong seduction that nothing, incredibly the light, can escape it. Eggers' filmmaking has never favored style over substance, but he has somehow garnered that reputation. If anything, Eggers is one of a select few who balances his multitude of themes and ideas with his affinity for particular aesthetics while allowing the two to feed off one another. At the risk of running too many terrible "jokes" together, it is how the film sinks its teeth into the central focus of Ellen's condition, her suffering, and the root of this shame/confusion/depression that allows for the color palette to appear so zapped of any saturation that it almost seems black and white yet still has such an accelerated pulse and pops of intentional color that one can't help but feel the blood consistently bubbling underneath. What Eggers has always indisputably been exceptional at is building atmosphere, and, if nothing else, Nosferatu is dripping in such a draped dread of sorts, given so much of the imagery feels thinly veiled and kept appropriately in the shadows until it becomes more than that. Eggers employs almost startling reverse shots that initially skew towards letting the air out of the room to somehow transform them into a way for the director to fully emphasize how quickly the titular vampire can manipulate the world around him so that it bends to his will. The word "rat" is contained within the film's title, which is also appropriate as Eggers verifies his ability to push the envelope while utilizing the creatures to go so far past those perceived expectations, the scurrying of the beasts across the cobblestone streets, their squeaks and sounds serving as the chorus to Carolan's score, as if the signal to inform the city of their master's arrival; a fire igniting.

As darkly stylized as this may sound, Eggers doesn't lose his gallows humor. Many of the absurdities in the story come as a result of a contemporary reaction to the speaking patterns and expectations of the time period and, therefore, through the characters themselves. Hoult, who otherwise is required to give something of a stilted performance, is given some of the funnier interactions of the film that play as such because of the stiff, self-seriousness of the Hutter character. Whether this be in reaction to his new bride confessing how she'd "never been so happy as that moment (she) held hands with death," only for him to respond with a blunt, "Never speak these things aloud." or the interactions he shares with Aaron Taylor-Johnson's wealthy shipman, Friedrich Harding, where the two of them laugh heartily (and extendedly) as they discuss one another's financial prospects and how hot their wives are, is so funny it will no doubt garner zero laughs from audience members unsure of whether they're supposed to be laughing or not. Believe it or not, this extends to Skarsgård's interpretation as well, as his vortex of a personality gives way to moments during he and Hutter's early interactions where he so blatantly ignores his inquiries that it can't help but be seen as comical. This is without even discussing Ralph Ineson's Dr. Wilhelm Sievers or Willem Dafoe's Prof. Albin Eberhart von Franz. The former of which does such things as recommending Harding, in Hutter's absence, tie Ellen’s hands to her headboard to help control her night terrors as well as having her wear a corset while she sleeps to help with blood flow (and posture, naturally) as he sedates her beyond belief. Ineson may genuinely give the best delivery in the film though, as he - standing in the background of the shot - asks the Knock character, "Now, my good fellow, why would you do that?" after we see him bite off the head of a bird in a foreground close-up. Meanwhile, Dafoe's take on the Van Helsing-like character who enters halfway through the narrative to largely provide clarity to Ellen and context to the men around her regarding what is actually happening ("Alchemy. Mystic Philosophy. The occult.") is so commanding in a fashion only Dafoe can convey that he saves the film from slipping too deeply into the darkness of its antagonist's shadow.  
 
This is both Depp and Skarsgård's show, though, and the toxic relationship the two of them form forces the burning questions Ellen is coming to terms with around where evil comes from, if it is, in fact, from within or from somewhere (or someone) beyond are what propel the narrative forward. Depp, for all her convulsing and metamorphosizing, must convey all of this confliction she is carrying within through much more than her outward starts and fits, which is in direct opposition to Skarsgård, whose performance is almost entirely physical in both body and sound. Ellen is blameless in her malady and melancholy as modern audiences are likely to see her suppressions of sexuality and the society that expects a very regimented role to be played by such corseted women as the cause for these deep feelings of shame and sin, but in Ellen's journey to find the type of touch and tenderness she seeks, she finds only an outlet that could be correlated to torture. Is it shallow to focus solely on the sexual aspect at play here, or does it make sense to radicalize what is traditionally seen as such a proper time? It's difficult to delineate Eggers’ main objective or takeaway precisely, but it's not hard to see that the broad analogy also works on multiple and deeper levels. Not that any of these ideas are new, necessarily, but by positioning Ellen as this kind of martyr for those who don't seek salvation for their genuine, human desires, “Nosferatu” posits Ellen as man's salvation from themselves. Men's views on the world shape it, and women's opinions on their men shape them. Ellen is or at least becomes aware of as much when asking her friend and Harding's wife, Anna (Emma Corrin) if she ever feels her life is at the whim of another - as if there is something too awful or grave to explain at play. Anna doesn't understand what Ellen is attempting to articulate, but we, the audience, come to understand these shadows Eggers keeps playing with visually, and the screenplay continues to mention throughout are more than foreboding as the curses, confusion, afflictions or whatever we attribute the cause of the maladies and melancholies to be are a manifestation of the realization that there is no evil that can't be defeated once we work up the nerve to come face to face with it; even a badass Bill Skarsgård performance.

Director: James Mangold
Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton & Elle Fanning
Rated: R (language) 
Runtime: 2 hours & 21 minutes

 
As with Johnny Cash before James Mangold's 2005 film, “Walk the Line,” I had no close affiliation with or personal connection to Bob Dylan before seeing Mangold's latest musical biopic, “A Complete Unknown.”
​
After seeing “Walk the Line,” I wanted to not only consume as much of Cash's music as I could but learn as much about his and June Carter's life and the time around which the movie was based, as well as what happened after. All of this is to say that the question of whether “A Complete Unknown” would be successful or not was then going to naturally rest upon how invested I became in the life and music of Dylan post-screening. Maybe it’s because I had more time on my hands as an 18-year-old in 2005, but while I certainly enjoyed Mangold’s adaptation of Elijah Wald’s Dylan Goes Electric! book - admire it even for many of its choices - I don’t know that I feel as compelled to go down the long and winding road that is both Dylan’s biography and discography. Or maybe it is simply that Cash had a more charismatic personality and was, therefore, easier to be drawn to, as is exemplified by a scene-stealing Boyd Holbrook in this film. Dylan is, of course, a more enigmatic figure, and Mangold seems to have understood this and that his approach to the respective films made about each of these men would need to be as wildly different as the men themselves.

It is notable in this genre that “A Complete Unknown” features neither of Dylan’s parents in any capacity - roles typically utilized in the first act to not only propel our aspiring protagonist out of their comfort zone but also continue to serve as motivation to remain as disconnected from the life they knew as a child and on becoming as famous as they need to be to have earned themselves their own biopic. There is no such device in “A Complete Unknown,” the first sign Mangold is breaking from a tradition he helped instate and the first indicator he is catering his storytelling to his subject even as his filmmaking remains the handsome, sturdy and reliable type that looks to modestly enlighten and wholly entertain while offending only those who've already claimed “I'm Not There” as the only necessary Dylan feature. It is the understanding of this objective that helps define Mangold's successes (and some of his shortcomings) here, as his job is not necessarily to demystify but to capture the essence of this mysterious and often difficult individual so that a new generation might come to understand why Dylan became so crucial to the young, noisy activists of the ‘60s as well as to remind that same generation that "there was a time when the old songs were new."

Beginning in 1961 as a 20-year-old Robert Zimmerman AKA Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) hitches a ride to New York to find Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy), who is suffering from Huntington's disease in a New Jersey hospital. We are simultaneously introduced to Pete Seeger (Ed Norton), a passionate champion of folk music, who sees something in the young singer/songwriter and welcomes him into the fold. The early conversations between these two about the music they like and Seeger's belief that "a good song can get the job done without the frills" of such things as drums and electrified instruments are key in many ways. This clash with Dylan's more eclectic tastes and affinity for the likes of Little Richard and Buddy Holly lays the foundation for the film's central conflict but never paints Norton's interpretation of Seeger as the one-dimensional antagonist of the piece. There is also plenty of life documented before these differences bubble over, events that continue to mold these two singing and strumming men into the different pillars of musical history they will come to represent before the event this film uses as its climax. There is, naturally, the introduction of a handful of key players in the Dylan story and how they each lend themselves to different facets of Dylan's personality, facets we don't always know if the man is making up for his own myth or if he is innocently seeking not actually to be defined by one thing or another. In what is maybe the third scene of the film, we are introduced to Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro), whom Dylan seems to find disagreeable for her strenuous songwriting skills but is taken with due to her pretty face and even prettier voice (maybe too pretty). In a moment of uncertainty and in a sequence that documents the final night of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the two share a passionate night together while Dylan's then-girlfriend, Sophie Russo (Elle Fanning), is out of town. Russo is a stand-in for Suze Rotolo, the girl on Dylan's arm on the cover of his first studio album of originals, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.

We speak a lot about how artists define themselves but the story of Bob Dylan is largely one of an artist trying to escape such labels and categorizations and instead do what he feels pulled toward - whether that be a specific style of music or a particular kind of woman. As suggested in the previous paragraph, literally all of the drama in Mangold's film derives from Dylan chasing what he wants with little regard for those he hurts or leaves in his wake – Norton’s performance as Seeger being maybe the most heartbreaking of these disappointments. It is in these dynamics that Mangold finds his tension as opposed to trying to shape turmoil from outcomes we know already do or do not come to fruition. Not that we don't necessarily know how things turn out for Dylan musically or romantically, but we find more authenticity within this intentionally mysterious subject in the more nuanced, personal moments, thus allowing for that authenticity to then be relayed into what might typically be the more contrived moments in a music biopic. More specifically, there tends to always be an attempt to extract some tension around whether these individuals are going to make the best choices for themselves when it comes to launching successful careers. Such tension inherently creates two different experiences for those who are familiar with the artist and those who are getting their first insights into an individual’s backstory. This is present in “A Complete Unknown” from the early Folk City scene in which I, a Dylan novice, half-expected him to fumble his big opportunity but was somewhat surprised by how effortlessly he sees it through. It is not until the next scene in which Dylan is late for a meeting with agent extraordinaire Al Grossman (Dan Fogler) and Columbia Records Exec. John Hammond that Dylan shows his greener tendencies when he isn't as accustomed to the etiquette of a professional recording studio. Dylan is meant to record covers so Columbia can place a "younger face on folk music," and while he might experience growing pains through each of these, otherwise exceptionally rare, steps he is never met with outright resistance, nor do any complications arise that actually seem to threaten the viability of Dylan's overarching quest to prosper as an artist. 

Now, I highly doubt Dylan's ascent through the folk ranks in New York and Greenwich Village in the early ‘60s was as easy or as quick as the film makes it seem, but to give the impression of Dylan's aura and songwriting skill being as monumental as it has become memorialized to be said talent is immediately recognized as such by anyone he plays for. It doesn't hurt Mangold has assembled a cast that not only kind of effortlessly inhabits the characters and the period but also the essence of these people at this point, which is obviously why the film carries this same spirit. Chalamet is, of course, the heart and soul of the film, and for as easily as these performances can slip into parody these days, the actor doing all his own singing and strumming accumulates that aforementioned authenticity all the more. Further, Chalamet is playing Dylan at arguably the most transformative time in his life. Chronicling only about four years from '61 through to the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, “A Complete Unknown” not only sees Dylan find a platform on which to stand but also the choices he makes once he takes command of this platform. We see how hungry, as Chalamet portrays him, Dylan is for the stage and any opportunity to perform but also for the spotlight and the fame that comes with it despite his initial instinct to recoil once he achieves such. One can only imagine how hard it might be to get inside the head of a figure so difficult to pin down, but Chalamet can embody both the uncertain kid from Minneapolis and the defiant poet who goes electric in a convincing fashion.

Mangold and co-writer Jay Cocks layer in the introduction of Fanning's Sophie, the relationship she and Dylan spark and how this moves in tandem with the developing feelings and partnership between Dylan and Baez to craft a narrative (as well as said tensions) from an otherwise fabled origin story that helps pace the film and Dylan's arc within the parameters of his career with a consistently engaging and propulsive tone; one that, despite the audience's varied familiarity with the music, makes each recording and writing session or live performance feel as (pardon the pun) electric as it likely did to experience these words set to song for the first time - the framing of "The Times They Are A-Changin'" as something of a break-up letter is elevating indescribably, especially as the cheering audience joins in as if it's a planned sing-a-long. Barbaro and Fanning are both excellent in the ways their roles call for them to be. Baez is the seasoned professional who calls Dylan on his shit and relishes the improvisational style of their relationship, while Sylvie only questions his counters politely and serves as more of a mother figure, taking care of him and educating him on the ways of the world during these transformative, fundamental years in his life. It should also be said that Joaquin Phoenix does not make an appearance as Johnny Cash here to signal the continuation of the Mangold Cinematic Musicverse, but that Holbrook's interpretation of the “Man in Black” will make you yearn for another Johnny Cash film in which he's the star.

“A Complete Unknown” uncovers something meaningful even if it didn't necessarily make me want to listen to every record or dig up everything I could about Bob Dylan afterward.

Considering “Babygirl” comes from the same filmmaker as “Bodies Bodies Bodies” the most surprising (and disappointing) thing about writer/director Halina Reijn's latest is its lack of decisiveness in tone. Neither as cheeky as it needs to be nor as edgy as it believes itself to be, this film about a female CEO balancing the traditional expectations of the wife role with the attitude of someone who has broken the glass ceiling focuses explicitly (wink, wink) on the dissatisfaction of her sexual experiences more so than how this cloying frustration correlates to the gray area between ambition and morality and how this conflict coats more than one area of Nicole Kidman's character's life. All of this culminates, somewhat ironically, in not so much a satisfactory climax but more in a confused, impossibly unserious position where no one involved seems to be on the same page.
​
I did enjoy how Reijn incorporated the word “e-mail” multiple times; each time, it is used as an urgent excuse in its corporate setting despite the mood with which it's spoken, indicating little more than superfluous excuses. This, along with an immaculate George Michael needle drop and an unhinged Harris Dickinson performance (who is unfortunately in a different film than the one Reijn landed on), give “Babygirl” enough to recommend further to those who might already be interested but having watched this with my wife - someone who watches several films a year, but who I would fully classify as an "average movie-goer" and whose reaction certainly shaded my reception of the film - concluded our screening by stating, “Well, I’m so happy after 19 years he figured out how to finger his wife.” The nuance is acknowledged, but this reaction highlighted the broader miscalculation of tone resulting from going for something more abstract instead of embracing the natural silliness that comes with sensuality.

“The Last Showgirl” is a movie that allows its players to have those abstract yet encapsulate conversations we always imagine we'll have with the crucial people in our lives, conversations we no doubt need to have and need to hear but are rarely afforded the opportunity because of how life often works out - which is to say, not like we imagine. It's also a question of timing as such moments feel like they must be saved for the right one, which is difficult to recognize in the day-to-day doldrums of making life functional. Gia Coppola and Kate Gersten, through their crafting of this film, give us the opportunity, if not to have these conversations ourselves, to at least witness a very bittersweet version of one, epitomizing something philosophical in such a concise manner that it's difficult to not both cheer for as well as feel deeply moved by it.
​
Pamela Anderson is an elemental being. Embodying the idea of a Vegas showgirl, the likes of which are trotted out by the hundreds in any given performance of this ilk yet unrivaled in her singularity. The inclusion of Kiernan Shipka's storyline and the baggage Billie Lourd brings to this is crucial without the presence of either of them, resulting in conclusions that undermine the point of the film. Dave Bautista is the perfect ethos bridge between the logic and emotion the film reaches for. Jamie Lee Curtis should have won her supporting actress statue for this. Jason Schwartzman shows up in an all-time clutch appearance.

“The Last Showgirl” is one for the ages.

This is Amy Adams' most fascinating film performance in nearly a decade while being Scoot McNairy's second performance this year as the biggest cuck on the planet.

​There’s a single, one-second shot in “Nightbitch” that - if it isn’t meme’d for all eternity - both me and probably Adams, as well, will be greatly disappointed.

I also appreciate the sprinkling of ideas around the silliness and self-absorption of being an artist and the surprising relief of letting go of your past dreams and ambitions (despite knowing they will always gnaw at you). This is nicely punctuated by a Weird Al Yankovic needle drop, to which Adams actively sings along in what is absolutely the most forced part of a performance in which she literally transforms into a canine.

Ultimately, of course, this is about the vitality of striking a balance between giving your life over to your children and retaining your own sense of identity and how much one's own sanity depends on maintaining said balance. There is nothing necessarily novel about the message itself, yet how it is conveyed, unfortunately, only bumps up against some interesting portrayals rather than fully devolving into feral territory.

As someone who has always taken the obstacles life throws my way as enough to deal with, I have, in turn, always found it difficult to understand and sometimes sympathize with those who can't get out of their own way - creating hurdles in their own minds, sometimes based on experience, sure - but the more confounding perpetrators are those who do as such and then complain about it as if a single, personal choice can't resolve these issues: changing their way of thinking. It's a complicated web, and there are often many layers to people's stories and identities that have compiled these internal obstacles, shaping who they've become, which is exactly what writer/director Mike Leigh is exploring in “Hard Truths.”
​
Through Marianne Jean-Baptiste's Pansy, an angry, mean-spirited woman who annoys the viewer as much as she does everyone in her own life, we meet someone intent on picking fights in almost every encounter to feel something or fill a void she seems too ashamed to admit she let open. Her marriage is loveless, her 22-year-old son is grown and still lives at home (God bless Moses, though), and they are all she feels she has to show for her life. She is angry because she is disappointed in herself. As much as Leigh probes the human condition through Pansy, his screenplay is almost equally intent on exploring the ramifications of Pansy's bad-tempered behavior on those closest to her.

About halfway through the film, we get seemingly random scenes featuring Pansy's sister's (Michele Austin) children (Sophia Brown and Ani Nelson) who are grown, with careers, and dealing with conflicts and prejudices in their workplaces, which is ultimately emblematic of the movie as a whole. While technically centered around Jean-Baptiste's heartgrating Pansy, this film is about the difference between the strong and the bold. Hurling insults loudly at strangers you disagree with could be considered a bold move, but those who are mature enough to rise above such behavior because they think through scenarios while simultaneously considering the multitude of reasons the bold might hold such a position, that takes strength and genuine wisdom. Leigh isn't simply paraphrasing the idea that "bullies act out because they're damaged too" either but is instead taking it a level beyond by showing how those strong enough to bear the burdens of life must also bear the burdens of the less adept, whether through damage or by choice.

Rags to riches is one of the many tropes “The Fire Inside” utilizes to structure the story of Claressa Shields within the sports drama pantheon, but first-time feature director (and noted cinematographer) Rachel Morrison uses these familiar building blocks to mold something fresh while still delivering the kind of feel-good, heartfelt sports drama featuring a child if not necessarily a team of children that frankly, they don’t make anymore. 
​
Said freshness primarily comes from the honesty of Shields’ story, which the film doesn’t try to shy away from. Beginning in 2006, in the dead of winter in Flint, Mich., we are first introduced to an 11-year-old Shields making her way to a gym for the first time, meeting Bryan Tyree Henry’s Jason Crutchfield - the coach who will inspire and change the course of her life - and as the motifs play out we get a sense of the tone and direction this story might take. And then. Then, the film will make slight choices, such as having the young Claressa instinctively back away from Crutchfield the first time he goes in to congratulate her with a hug.

This style of presentation continues throughout, whether in juxtaposing the breakfast situations at Claressa’s house, who has a borderline negligent single mother, with that of Crutchfield, who has a family of his own and seems as present with them as he is when coaching boxing voluntarily. These aspects are continually fleshed out as we move forward five and six years shortly after that; the film is never afraid to show the minutiae of Shields’ particular circumstances.

As much naturally crescendos when what would typically be the climactic, triumphant moment comes right at the hour mark, leaving another 45 minutes for Morrison and Barry Jenkins’ screenplay to explore what makes Shields’ story so singular. The film makes it clear why Shields is drawn to the sport of boxing, and her no-frills approach to as much when speaking to the press conveys more about her character and background in a handful of seconds than most films can manage, period.

The revelation is that Claressa’s biggest battles weren’t inside the ring - even when on the biggest stage possible - but instead came in the form of a complete rejection of what comes after being crowned the best in the world based solely on one’s sex. Shields faces a mad, cruel world yet somehow finds a way through by remaining as sincere as she does uncompromising, which is the same attitude Morrison brings to “The Fire Inside.”