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Pop culture in high spirits
'MaXXXine' closes a grisly trilogy in style

Mia Goth and Halsey in MaXXXine. Justin Lubin/A24 hide caption

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'MaXXXine' closes a grisly trilogy in style

The new movie MaXXXine stars Mia Goth as an adult-film actress who gets her big break in Hollywood, only to be revisited by horrors from her past. Set in 1985 Los Angeles, it's the final film in director Ti West's beloved horror trilogy that began with the movie X. MaXXXine also features performances from Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Debicki, and Giancarlo Esposito.

'MaXXXine' closes a grisly trilogy in style

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Bowen Yang thinks being present is overrated

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Bowen Yang thinks being present is overrated

The Pop Culture Happy Hour team is off today, so we're bringing you an episode of the NPR podcast Wild Card with Rachel Martin. This episode is an interview with Bowen Yang. He is the first Chinese American cast member on SNL, the co-host the podcast Las Culturistas, and he starred in the rom-com Fire Island. He talks to Rachel about living too much in the present, hard truths from Tina Fey, and why the afterlife should have a rollercoaster.

Bowen Yang thinks being present is overrated

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Megan Thee Stallion sheds her skin on 'Megan'

Megan Thee Stallion performs during the 2022 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival. Rich Fury/Getty Images hide caption

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Megan Thee Stallion sheds her skin on 'Megan'

A lot has happened to rapper Megan Thee Stallion over the last couple of years including a highly publicized trial after being shot by a former friend, a messy breakup, and a feud with artist Nicki Minaj. She confronts all of that and more on her boastful and vulnerable new album Megan. But she also has fun on playful tracks like 'Down Stairs DJ' and 'Otaku Hot Girl' that are odes to self-pleasure and her anime nerddom.

Megan Thee Stallion sheds her skin on 'Megan'

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Yes, chef: 'The Bear' has a lot going on in its third season

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Yes, chef: 'The Bear' has a lot going on in its third season

The Bear just returned for its third season and it's still one of the most stressful and most interesting shows on TV. Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) and Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) are launching their new fine dining restaurant, but he's estranged from some of the people who are closest to him just as he sneaks up on a new level of success. The series is streaming now on Hulu.

Yes, chef: 'The Bear' has a lot going on in its third season

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In 'A Quiet Place: Day One', Lupita Nyong'o makes silence golden

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In 'A Quiet Place: Day One', Lupita Nyong'o makes silence golden

In the post-apocalyptic world of A Quiet Place, aliens kill anyone who makes a sound, forcing humans into a near-silent existence. The new movie A Quiet Place: Day One takes us back to the beginning, but this time through the eyes of a terminally ill cancer patient played by the excellent Lupita Nyong'o.

In 'A Quiet Place: Day One', Lupita Nyong'o makes silence golden

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In 'Kinds of Kindness,' the cruelty is the point

Emma Stone in Kinds of Kindness. Yorgos Lanthimos/Searchlight Pictures hide caption

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In 'Kinds of Kindness,' the cruelty is the point

Kinds of Kindness is a weird, dark, and bleak film. It's directed by Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things) and it re-teams him with Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe, along with Jesse Plemons. Each actor plays different characters in three different stories — which all involve someone going to extreme measures to regain something they've lost.

In 'Kinds of Kindness,' the cruelty is the point

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Lily Gladstone's 'Fancy Dance' is a road trip worth taking

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Lily Gladstone's 'Fancy Dance' is a road trip worth taking

The new film Fancy Dance offers something all-too-rare on screen: contemporary Indigenous perspectives, front and center. Lily Gladstone plays a woman trying to keep it together under stressful circumstances. Her sister's gone missing, and she steps in to look after her young niece (Isabel Deroy-Olson). The pair take what turns out to be a rocky road trip and a unique bonding experience.

Lily Gladstone's 'Fancy Dance' is a road trip worth taking

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Will they or won't they? Unpacking TV's eternal question

Ayo Edebiri and Jeremy Allen White in season two of The Bear. Chuck Hodes/FX hide caption

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Will they or won't they? Unpacking TV's eternal question

Jim and Pam. Mulder and Scully. Janine and Gregory. Carmy and Sydney. Meredith and McDreamy. You know how it goes: two television characters with obvious chemistry who fight or look at each other longingly. You know that there's only one question: will they, or won't they? Today, we break down the different types of will-they-won't-they couples and discuss some of the best and worst couples in television, including Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Cheers, Grey's Anatomy, Dawson's Creek, and more.

Will they or won't they? Unpacking TV's eternal question

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Is 'The Acolyte' a Star Wars Force to be reckoned with?

Amandla Stenberg as Mae in The Acolyte. Lucasfilm Ltd./Disney+ hide caption

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Is 'The Acolyte' a Star Wars Force to be reckoned with?

The new Disney+ Star Wars series The Acolyte is a murder mystery. Someone is killing great Jedi masters, and while we learn the killer's identity early on, the real mystery driving the series is why they're doing it. It stars Amandla Stenberg as Force-sensitive twins Osha and Mae, and Squid Game's Lee Jung-jae as Osha's former Jedi master. By the time it's finished its eight-episode run, The Acolyte may shed new light on the nature of the Force, and the hidden history of the Jedi.

Is 'The Acolyte' a Star Wars Force to be reckoned with?

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June Squibb's 'Thelma' is the wrong grandma to mess with

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June Squibb's 'Thelma' is the wrong grandma to mess with

Financial scams are an unfortunate phenomenon, but what happens when a fraudster messes with the wrong grandma? The very fun action-comedy Thelma imagines exactly this scenario. The movie stars June Squibb as a woman scammed by someone pretending to be her grandson. She then enlists her old friend (the late Richard Roundtree) to help get her money back.

June Squibb's 'Thelma' is the wrong grandma to mess with

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HBO's 'Fantasmas' is new and different and uniquely itself

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HBO

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HBO's 'Fantasmas' is new and different and uniquely itself

The brilliant and idiosyncratic new HBO series Fantasmas has a simple plot. Creator and star Julio Torres searches New York City for an earring he lost at a club. In the execution, that quest gets transformed into something epic and surreal and queer in every sense of the word. He keeps bumping into random New Yorkers whose stories play out in a series of sketch-like vignettes. They are played by actors including Emma Stone, Bowen Yang, and Tilda Swinton.

HBO's 'Fantasmas' is new and different and uniquely itself

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'Bridgerton' closes out a crowded third season

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'Bridgerton' closes out a crowded third season

The second half of Bridgerton's latest season just dropped on Netflix, and naturally the course of true love continues to not run smoothly. Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) may have finally declared their feelings for each other, but there's still a lot left to figure out. We previously talked about the first part of the third season in May, so today, we're diving in everything that happens in the conclusion.

'Bridgerton' closes out a crowded third season

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We debate the sweatiest movie of all time

Is Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing the sweatiest movie of all time? Anthony Barboza/Getty hide caption

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We debate the sweatiest movie of all time

Whether they're lightly perspiring, gently glowing, or soaked through from sweltering, people in the movies sweat a lot. But what movie has had people sweat the very most? With summer underway, we are debating what is the sweatiest movie of all time — including Do the Right Thing, Dog Day Afternoon, Y tu mamá también, and Body Heat.

We debate the sweatiest movie of all time

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