Pop Screen

One of our hosts loves it. One of them hates it. Normally such podcasts end in a mushy centrist compromise, but such things are not possible when dealing with Southland Tales, the sprawling sci-fi satire that derailed the promising career of Donnie Darko whizkid Richard Kelly. Debuting at a very volatile Cannes, it was recut after a disastrous reception, and Graham has watched both cuts. Mark has watched the same cut twice, but that was an accident.Join us as we piece together the film's prescient world of mass surveillance and Republican green energy tycoons - something that probably seemed a lot more far-fetched 20 years ago - as well as consulting the ancient texts to ponder where this fits into The Rock's ascent to movie stardom, whether Sarah Michelle Gellar was drawing on her experiences with 2000s-era celebrity for her role as a porn star turned chat show host, and the vexed question of what the hell the film is about. Teen horniness may not be a crime, but is Southland Tales guilty or innocent?You can join our neo-Marxist cell over at Patreon, where you'll get a bonus episode of this show every month - we're currently readying one on the new Street Fighter movie - plus Rob's franchise review show They'll Love Me When I'm Dead, Graham's self-explanatory The Arts Hole, and our end-of-month round-up show Last Night... Plus, weekly articles on classic TV science fiction in Dimension of Imagination and Outside the Blue Box. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky and Facebook to find out more.

Pop Screen's Halloween month concludes with this cult '80s horror comedy, in which a standard plot for the decade's teen movies - two wannabe frat boys go on a trip to find the perfect stripper, with Gedde Watanabe in tow playing a racial stereotype - is gatecrashed by Grace Jones as a genuinely imposing queen vampire. Silent, seductive, and prone to chewing people's throats out with her teeth, Jones's character here probably haunts Russell Harty's nightmares.Rob Spencer of Caliber 9 from Outer Space joins Graham again to discuss this curious artefact, which seems to lie in between about three or four classically '80s subgenres that are never combined. We also reveal which legendary graffiti artist provided Jones's body paint, discuss the different grades of '80s sleaze movie, wonder whether horror directors understand their own movies' subtexts, and more. Get your teeth into it!If you want to help us get into the best frat house on campus - actually, please don't - you can donate to our Patreon, where we've just released the latest of our monthly bonus episodes of Pop Screen about Bad Hair - the movie, not the early morning problem. Plus Graham's other podcast The Arts Hole, weekly articles on classic science fiction, our end-of-month round-up show Last Night... and more. Follow us on X, Instagram, Bluesky and Facebook to find out more.

You'd think any movie with the stars of Bill and Ted that came out in 1993 would be a sure-fire hit. You'd think so - but that would reckon without how hard Alex Winter tries to alienate the audience in Freaked, the cult horror-comedy he co-directed, co-wrote and starred in. As arrogant teen comedy star Ricky Coogin, Winter delivers an unforgettably grotesque performance even before he's turned into a half-human half-gremlin thing by mad scientist Randy Quaid, playing himself.But wait - where's Keanu? He's in here, but you won't spot him, unless you listen to Graham and Rob unpick the film's many hidden cameos. Find out which classy character actor plays a talking cow, and which future blockbuster director got his start as one of the puppeteers. Plus, we reveal which celebrity cameos were cut at the scripting stage, discuss the cult Austin punk outfit Butthole Surfers' history with the film, and Rob's confession about his former screen name makes Graham properly lose it.If you don't want to see us sacked for greenlighting too many weird podcasts, you can back us on Patreon where we're about to release a Patreon exclusive episode of this show - Graham and Rob reunite for Justin Simien's hirsute horror Bad Hair! Plus, Rob looks at the history of the Muppets in They'll Love Me When I'm Dead, Graham and Mark talk their dream adaptations in The Arts Hole, weekly articles on The Twilight Zone and Doctor Who, and much more. Follow us on Twitter, Bluesky, Instagram and Facebook to find out more.

Is it time to reassess the '90s Street Fighter movie?That's right, Pop Screen is entering the arena of public opinion and fighting for the death this week as we attempt to persuade you that Steven S. DeSouza's 1994 Street Fighter adaptation is both an intentional comedy and a good one at that. That doesn't mean everyone is in on the joke - but some of the people who aren't are the ones that justify us doing an episode on this in the first place, so thanks Kylie!Join Graham and Simon as they discuss the film's justly legendary Raul Julia performance, DeSouza's place in the '80s action screenwriter hierarchy, and the singers and rappers who star in the upcoming remake. We also accuse a major contemporary artist of plagiarising this very movie - tune in to find out who we slander! - and talk about our video game nostalgia. Press X to continue.Our Patreon delivers a roundhouse kick to the face of extra content, with a bonus episode of this show every month - Venom: Let There Be Carnage is the latest one - plus Rob's franchise review podcast They'll Love Me When I'm Dead, Graham's self-explanatory The Arts Hole, weekly articles about The Twilight Zone and Doctor Who, plus our end-of-month round-up show Last Night... Follow us on Bluesky, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date.

You wouldn't think a film with a name like Steve would prompt such a wild variety of tangents, but it's all here, from Graham's hatred of eggs to Mark's attempt to restart the War of the Roses. Yes, we're talking about Steve, the Netflix film starring Cillian Murphy and co-starring everyone from Tracey Ullman to Little Simz, the latter fresh off the back of making Graham's Album of the Year 2025 with Lotus.As well as giving you the 101 (FM) on Simz, we also talk about what the film does and doesn't get right about its '90s setting, and its pre-fame cameo for a currently-big British comedian. And since Mark and Graham are currently over on Patreon running The Geek Show's arts and culture podcast The Arts Hole, they also talk about Max Porter's source novel and the many interesting changes made in adapting it for screen. Don't worry if that sounds a bit highbrow, we also insult Ricky Gervais's terrible new cartoon.As mentioned, Patreon backers get podcasts not available anywhere else, like The Arts Hole and Rob's franchise review show They'll Love Me when I'm Dead, plus our end-of-month round-up Last Night... There's also a Simbi-themed bonus episode of this very show coming up, as well as weekly articles about The Twilight Zone and Doctor Who. Follow us on Instagram, Bluesky, Twitter and Facebook to find out more.