PopaHALLics #125 "Who Are You, Who Who, Who Who?"
We review the new "Dr. Who" ... but the Halls are hearing a lot of other Whos, too. Who's zooming who in the comedy "Argylle" and the thriller novel "The Poison Bed"? Who am I, asks the daughter of a prisoner in the acclaimed memoir "Somebody's Daughter." And who's at fault in the creepy TikTok dance cult? It's enough to make a pop culture fan say "Who-eeee!"

Streaming:

• "Dr. Who," Disney +. The 15th Doctor (Nigerian-born, Scottish-raised Ncuti Gatwa, in photo above) and his companion Ruby Sunday (Millie GIbson) have adventures from dinosaur days to war-torn future worlds in this entertaining coproduction by Disney and the BBC.
• "Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult," Netflix. This 3-part documentary explores the unsettling details and "dark realities" that occur after TikTok dancers join a management company and its associated church.
• "Godzilla Minus One," Netflix. In this emotionally-driven Japanese film, an Academy Award winner for special effects, a failed kamikaze pilot seeks to protect his makeshift family and find redemption when Godzilla heads for Tokyo. One of the best Godzilla films ever.
• "Argylle," Apple+. In this spy spoof, a reclusive author (Bryce Dallas Howard) gets swept up into real-life espionage when one of her novels cuts too close to home. With Henry Cavill, Samuel L. Jackson, Sam Rockwell, Dua Lipa, John Cena, and more.
• "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World," Max, Prime, Hulu, & others. In this imaginative, clever 2010 comedy, a bass player (Michael Cera) must win the heart of the enigmatic Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) by video game-like duels with her 7 Evil Exes. Look at this supporting cast: Kieran Culkin, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Evans, Jason Schwartzman, Brie Larson, Anna Kendrick, and Bill Hader as "The Voice."

Books:

• "Somebody's Daughter: A Memoir," by Ashley C. Ford. A poor black girl in Indiana, the daughter of a man in prison, comes to question her environment and identity. "A classic in the making," says bestselling YA author John Green.
• "The Poison Bed," by Elizabeth Fremantle. In this thriller set in the Jacobean Court of 1615, a famed couple is imprisoned on suspicion of murder. Ah, but can we really trust Lord Robert or Lady Frances' separate accounts of what happened?
• "Romantic Comedy," by Curtis Sittenfeld. In this comic romance, a female writer for a SNL-style show invents a rule that ordinary, shlubby guys can wind up with beautiful, successful women, but the reverse is not true. Then a dreamy pop star hosts the show ...

Click the links above to watch and read what we're talking about.

PopaHALLics #124 "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Pop, Love, & Understanding?
Multiverse mayhem, bodice-ripping romance, and female comedians! Dueling Joel Edgertons! Music by a rising young singer/songwriter and a crafty popsmith of old! Steve and Kate return with a little something for everyone.

Streaming:

• "The Boys in the Boat," Prime. George Clooney directed this fact-based movie about the University of Washington rowing team's quest to compete in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Joel Edgerton plays their coach.
• "Dark Matter," Apple TV+. A college professor (Edgerton again) finds himself abducted into an alternate version of his life in this sci-fi thriller. Can he find his way back to his family and save them from, in essence, himself?
• "Loot," Apple TV+. Season 2 finds Maya Rudolph's super-rich character still ineptly trying to do good. The comedy has more of a focus this time on side characters, who turn out to be weird in a funny way.
• "Hacks," Max. In this smart, blistering, yet intimate comedy, legendary Vegas comedian (Jean Smart) is paired with an entitled, unemployable young writer (Hannah Einbinder) in the hopes of revitalizing both's careers.
• "Bridgerton," Netflix. Season 3 of Shonda Rimes' period bodice-ripper finds possible romance between dweeb-turned-hunk Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and secret gossip columnist Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan).

Books:

• "Night Train" and "All My Colors" by David Quantick. An Emmy-winning TV writer ("Veep") writes clever horror novels. "All My Colors" is like a great lost "Twilight Zone" episode: When no one else remembers a bestselling book, a writer with no talent churns it out—and bad things start happening. In the surreal, gory "Night Train," a woman wakes up on a train speeding through the darkness with no idea who she is or what she's doing there. She heads for the front of the train, with each railroad car more nightmarish than the last.

Music:
Our hosts are listening to very different pop artists. Kate's enjoying breakout singer/songwriter Chappel Roan ("Pink Pony Club," "Femininomenon"), while Steve's humming Nick Lowe tunes like "Cruel to Be Kind" and "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, & Understanding" thanks to a reissue of his 1979 LP "Labour of Lust." Both are on our latest playlist!

Click through the links to watch, read, and listen to what we're talking about.

PopaHALLics #123 "Pop Tarts & Pop Sweets"
What can we say about Jerry Seinfeld's new movie about Pop Tarts? How about: You'd be better off taking a bite of the Spanish Inquisition ("The Familiar"), teenage murder ("Under the Bridge"), a murderous con man ("Ripley"), the Ku Klux Klan ("A Fever in the Heartland"), even an apocalyptic wasteland ("Fallout").

Streaming:

• "Unfrosted," Netflix. Seinfeld's directorial debut is a relentlessly silly film about the creation of Pop Tarts. Seinfeld, Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, Amy Schumer, and many other comedians star in this tale of the early '60s race between the Kellogg's and Post companies to create a square gooey-filled pastry.
• "Fallout," Amazon Prime. Most of this drama based on the popular video game franchise takes place hundreds of years after a nuclear war. A perky vault dweller goes to the desolate surface in search of her abducted father; a squire becomes a "knight" in a motorized suit of armor; and a sentinent zombie who dresses and acts like a Clint Eastwood spaghetti Western creates havoc wherever he goes. Imaginative and violent, with an odd, goofy sense of humor.
• "Ripley," Netflix. In this limited series, Andrew Scott (the hot priest in "Fleabag," Moriarty in "Sherlock") plays the latest incarnation of Tom Ripley, Patricia Highsmith's scheming con man. Dakota Fanning and Johnny Flynn also star in this neo-noir psychological thriller.
• "Under the Bridge," Hulu. Eight teenagers are accused of murdering a 14-year-old girl in this "American true-crime" miniseries. Oscar nominee Lily Gladstone plays an investigator while Riley Keough plays Rebecca Godfrey, who wrote the book that inspired the miniseries.
• "Byzantium," for rental or various channels with ads. Gemma Atherton and Saiorse Ronan ("Brooklyn") play two nomadic female vampires surviving on their wiles in this visually stunning, atmospheric 2013 film. Director Neil Jordan ("The Crying Game") reinvigorated vampire movies with his version of Anne Rice's "Interview with a Vampire."

Books:

• "A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them," by Timothy Egan. This true story explores the second coming of the Klan in the 1920s and their leader, a grifter named D.C. Stephenson, who had so much power in Indiana at one time that he said "I am the law." He was undone by a trial that featured the dying testimony of a young woman he had abducted, raped and tortured.
• "The Familiar," by Leigh Bardugo. When a disgraced secretary tries to regain the favor of Spain's king, a scullion with a gift for "little miracles" becomes involved in an effort to defeat the hated English. Unfortunately, the Spanish Inquisition does not look kindly on her use of magic.