Cinema Eclectica

We've covered the odd world of The Comic Strip Presents... on Pop Screen before, when Mark and Graham looked at their Kate Bush-starring TV epic Les Dogs. But they also made big-screen films, the first of which featured even more pop stars - Lemmy, Paul McCartney, Shane MacGowan, Bill Wyman, Sandie Shaw, Jools Holland and more - and made even less sense.This week, Mark and Graham reconvene to discuss Peter Richardson's Eat the Rich, it's baffling casting decisions, infectious tabloid satire and quite a lot besides. As well as the film, we also talk about Bob Vylan at Glastonbury, Richardson's unmade Comic Strip film on Boris Johnson, Fiona Richmond, the pleasures of old episodic TV, Alex Cox's beef with The Comic Strip team, and the clashing rhetorical styles of Britain's godforsaken current crop of party leaders. Listen before we're arrested!If you want to help fund our legal defences, you can donate to our Patreon where you'll get a bonus episode of this show every month - we

In the middle of a not-great summer for musical icons, one death hit us particularly hard. It's Sly Stone, the mercurial, genre-hopping singer, producer and songwriter at the heart of Sly and the Family Stone, a funk Prometheus who suffered too much for bringing humanity its finest grooves. And, as it turns out, subject of a new documentary by Aamir "Questlove" Thompson, called Sly Lives!, or: The Burden of Black Genius.Joining us for the first time in far too long is Dreaming Machine's Joe to talk about the music of Sly and Thompson alike, as well as the broad spectrum of interviewees in Questlove's film. Jam and Lewis, D'Angelo, Andre Benjamin (without his flute) - they're all here, all giving their own personal take on the movie's provocative subtitle. We also cover the early days of drum machines, Questlove's previous film Summer of Soul, the backlash cycle and Jack Antonoff. Fresh!If you want us to take you higher, we release a monthly bonus episode on our Patreon, p

Berry Gordy founded perhaps the most famous independent record label in history - Motown - co-wrote some of the most enduring hits of the soul genre and dated Diana Ross. Yet he still had an unfulfilled ambition to... produce a martial arts movie? Apparently yes, and The Last Dragon was the result. A peculiar blend of kung-fu thrills, slapstick comedy, music-industry melodrama and charmingly naïve romance, you may be surprised at how well it all works.This week, Graham is joined - for the first time in too long! - by The Geek Show's Ben to discuss this extremely odd and thoroughly charming movie, along with the Wu-Tang Clan's love of Shaw Brothers samples, star Vanity's thoughts on Madonna, the unexpected early appearance by a very notable character actor, and so much more. It's an episode that will give you The Glow, whatever the hell The Glow is.If you want to help us get our squeaky-voiced girlfriends a spot on a local VJ's show, you can donate to our Patreon where you'll get a bonus episode of this show e

Hey hey! Micky Dolenz was a Monkee, and once he stopped Monkeeing around his career took him to some unusual places. Few stranger than this one-off BBC television drama, part of the Premiere strand of single plays. It's a bleak, eccentric snapshot of a now almost unrecognisable time when Hell's Angels patrolled the streets, single parenthood was a mark of shame and British television channels could afford to make shows.In the first in a two-part look at Premiere's pop connections - which will conclude over on our Patreon - Mark Cunliffe joins us again to talk about the often grim lives of the film's cast, the strange niches they often got cast in, and their connections to everyone from Joan Collins to Saddam Hussein. We also discuss Cliff Twemlow, and Graham makes a confession that risks his career...As noted above, we've got a sequel to this episode coming out which Rocky Horror fans won't want to miss - and you won't miss it if you join our Patreon, where you'll also find wee

We all understand the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, so long as nobody has any follow-up questions. But did you know that the son of the guy who came up with it has several songs on the Shrek franchise soundtracks? This is Mark Oliver Everett, frontman of the band Eels, and this week's film, Parallel Worlds Parallel Lives, sees him untangle his strange quantum inheritance.Join Graham and Jeff, long-term Eels fans both, as they discuss this movie's surprisingly accessible treatment of quantum mechanics, its links to Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, and struggle to get to grips with the double-slit experiment. We also talk about the heartwrenchingly autobiographical qualities of Eels's music, share stories from their gigs and talk about the often subversive places where their music appears in popular culture. It's not just Shrek!God damn right, we've got a beautiful Patreon, and if you support us you can get a bonus episode of this show every month - this week Graham an

You can't stop the music, although a lot of people wanted to when The Village People's 1980 movie musical came out. Released in the wake of the infamous "Disco Demolition Night" in which rock fans burned disco albums, its appeal to its natural constituency was blunted by its strange tone. A film that is extremely squeamish around sexuality yet far freer with the drugs and nudity than a PG-certificate film ought to be, it's as mismatched as the band's famously eclectic stage outfits, though much less successful.Join Graham and Film Stories's Mark Harrison as they explore Can't Stop the Music's part in the creation of the Golden Raspberry awards, the surprisingly heavily contested origin of the 'YMCA' dance, Caitlyn Jenner's acting abilities and the Village People's post-fame afterlife from bar mitzvahs to - oh yes - Presidential Inaugurations. Plus, find out which controversial film was shooting at the same time as this, and why Mark's tangents need to

What better time for a crossover than a comic book adaptation? This week, Graham is joined by Andrew and Mick, the two hosts of Behold!, to examine the 2024 remake of James O'Barr's cult comic The Crow. Famously the source for a 1994 film starring Brandon Lee, that star's on-set death sparked rumours that the property was cursed, rumours that can only have increased once people saw this.Entering Pop Screen's airspace thanks to its decision to cast FKA Twigs as the hero's doomed love Shelly, the trio discuss her music and acting as well as the largely-ignored wider Crow mythology, the puzzlingly miscast films of Rupert Sanders, Bill Skarsgard's strengths and limitations as a leading man and the film's unexpected debts to Paddington 2. Also opera - the entire art form - catches some strays.If you want to help us reach a state of eusexua, you can donate to our Patreon, where you'll get a bonus episode every month - there's one imminent right now, dealing with the great Miles D

Look at our [stuff]! Yes, it's time for Pop Screen to don its neon balaclava and tackle one of the most iconic and divisive pop movies of the 2010s - Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers. With Selena Gomez and Gucci Mane in the cast, Skrillex on the soundtrack and James Franco playing a character who is legally distinct from Riff Raff, it has more showbiz connections than you'd expect from a director whose previous movie was shot on VHS and involved people in latex masks having sex with garbage bags.Join Graham and Robyn as they discuss the film's value as a time capsule, the past and future of its mostly Disney Channel-drawn stars, Korine's journey from Kids screenwriter to EDGLRD (yes, that is the name of his streaming service) and so much more. We also hear a joke about John Landis that genuinely appalls Graham, and the police show up. Not a moment too soon.If you want to add to the tally we've got from robbing a convenience store, we have a Patreon where you can find an exclusive bonus

You know you're dealing with a slightly classier type of pop star movie when the director has a knighthood, and Sir Steve McQueen's Blitz is no exception. Despite getting no love at this year's Oscars - it's no Emilia Perez, eh, the Academy? - it's still an ambitious, multi-stranded tale of one boy's adventure through the underworld of World War II-era Britain. It tackles racial prejudice, community organising, McQueen's usual theme of the communal role of music and... wait, is that Paul Weller?Maybe it was inevitable that the former frontman of the Style Council and the Jam would end up in a film where people do, indeed, end up down in the tube station at midnight. But there's more to it than that, as Weller superfan Mick points out. Rejoining the show after previously tackling the Style Council movie Jerusalem, he talks to Graham about the many near-misses of Weller's screen career, as well as the many palpable hits of McQueen's. And, since this podcast was recorded l

One year ago, a very good boi and a steel-drum cover of 50 Cent became the most unexpected Oscar-season obsessions this side of Karla Sofia Gascon's tweets. It's Anatomy of a Fall, of course, and if you're thinking "Where's the Pop Screen connection?", look closer - you've got former Savages frontwoman turned "personal album"-maker and prolific collaborator Jehnny Beth playing the nanny, the real hero of the film. Real hero? Well, yeah - she saves the dog.Join a flu-riddled Graham as he reteams with Film Stories's Mark Harrison to discover, once and for all, whether she did it or not, talk about Sandra Huller's incredible 2023, uncover what was originally going to replace that immortal Fiddy needle-drop, and discuss this thoughtful, grown-up hit in the only way men of their generation can: through Simpsons references and repurposed gags from The Day Today.Not everyone can afford a house like the one in this film on a writer's wages, so we'd be grateful i

As soon as we heard the tragic news about David Lynch's death, we knew we had to do one of his films on Pop Screen. But which one? Most of Lynch's films feature some sort of musician cameo - and, to answer your next question, we've already done his version of Dune. But there's only one that caught the industrial, trip-hopping, nihilistic zeitgeist of the late '90s, and that's Lost Highway. Join Graham and Rob as they discuss Lost Highway's iconic soundtrack, featuring Trent Reznor, Rammstein, David Bowie and Barry Adamson. We also talk about its on-screen cameos from Henry Rollins, Marilyn Manson - come back! - as well as the cut one from Scott Ian, and the movie's other cut scenes and multiple enigmas. Plus chat about Jack Nance, The Straight Story, and everything we'll miss about the unique Eagle Scout from Missoula, Montana. Like the Man From Another Place says, let's rock! We recently failed to steal five hundred dollars from a sleazeball we accidentally killed with

It's suppertime! Yes, after our review of 2024 Pop Screen is back to its old tricks with a look back at 1986's Little Shop of Horrors, the horror-comedy-musical powered by an unforgettable voice performance from none other than The Four Tops's Levi Stubbs. As the "mean green. mother from outer space" Audrey II, Stubbs made Academy Awards history - but you'll have to listen to find out how... Join Graham and Mike in their weird world as they discuss the songs and set-pieces both added to and taken from the stage musical, as well as the film's relationship with the Roger Corman film it's inspired by. We also unearth Little Shop of Horrors's unexpected connection to Kurt Vonnegut, its successfully unreal soundstage aesthetic, its cameos for everyone from John Candy to Miriam Margolyes... and THAT original ending. If you want to keep us from being bought out by World Botanical Enterprises, you can join our Patreon where we're just about to drop an exclusive bonus episode

You've heard the first half of our retrospective of 2024's cinema on The Uncut Network, now Pop Screen takes over for an even more epic second half - and that's just the bit where we all argue about The Substance. Join Graham, Robyn, Rob, Kat, Simon, Mike, Faye, Aidan, Andy and - in spirit if not in person - Ygraine as they run down their favourite UK releases from July to September. Which one reminds Aidan of Robert Altman? Which one does Kat think sums up modern motherhood? And which one features hundreds - possibly thousands - of beavers? From Oscar frontrunners like Anora to instant cult favourites like Strange Darling, from multiplex smashes like The Wild Robot to British debuts like Sky Peals, from the guts and gore of Terrifier 3 to the guts and glitz of, er, Guts and Glitz, this is your definitive guide to everything that mattered at the movies in the back end of 2024. And, at the end, our festival-going contingent give you some tips for what to look out for in 2025... And we've got more! Over on our

Marvin Gaye! Originator of conscious soul, Motown legend and surely the coolest man ever to be called "Marvin", he had the kind of raw charisma that you'd think the movies couldn't get enough of. In fact, his acting roles were few and far between, with this curious Vietnam-vets-versus-bikers B-movie the most prominent of them. In Pop Screen's last show of 2024, Aidan returns to discuss with Graham the legacy of Roger Corman, the bitter glory of Here My Dear, director Lee Frost's super-sleazy entry onto the Video Nasties list, and why the discovery of unreleased tracks by Marvin Gaye could be bad news for a British sitcom legend. Also, after last week's cameo from Mark's dog, another animal makes an appearance... We'll be back in a fortnight's time with our Best of 2024 show, but in the meantime you can donate to our Patreon, where you'll get an exclusive episode of this show every month, plus regular written reviews of Red Dwarf, The Twilight Zone, The X-Files and classic Asian genre cinema, plus our Patreon

Last Christmas, we gave you a Christmas special, and this year we're doing the same because we're not very imaginative. This year, to save you from tears, we're doing Paul Feig's Wham-inspired romantic comedy Last Christmas. It was poorly received on its 2019 release, but as was generally the case with 2019 we didn't know how good we all had it. Now, it's settling in to become a Christmas favourite, with all the cheesy appeal of a Netflix or Hallmark movie filtered through two key talents - Feig and screenwriter Emma Thompson - who actually know what they're doing. Join Graham, Mark and show favourite Dexter (Mark's dog) as they discuss George Michael's legacy, the recent documentaries about him, the connection between the former Yugoslavia and the KLF, and how this film gets the most out of its often-miscast stars Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding. Plus appreciations of supporting player Ritu Arya and Jason Statham, the latter of whom isn't in this movie but I dunno, the conversation just went that way. If you

The 1990s! A time when Hollywood's brightest minds were trying to solve the impossible problem of how to make a whole movie from those comic book thingies. Nowadays, they're trying to work out how to stop doing that, but that hasn't decreased the charm of things like Rachel Talalay's Tank Girl, a post-apocalyptic slice of pop feminism in which Lori Petty's titular antihero fights a scenery-chewing Malcolm McDowell while also - and there is no polite way to say this - getting it on with mutant kangaroos. One of whom is Ice-T. It's fair to assume you won't be seeing this in Phase Whatever of Marvel, but plenty of people have sought it out since its legendarily unsuccessful initial release. On this episode, we're joined again by comics expert Andrew from Behold! podcast in order to properly assess the film's position in comic-movie history, talk about its quintessentially '90s soundtrack and tease out its connections to alt-rock icons like R.E.M., Devo and Bjork. Please note that our statement that Margot Robbie

In all the annals of Hollywood flops, Heaven's Gate stands tall. Michael Cimino's follow-up to The Deep Hunter, a film beloved by seemingly everyone other than Jane Fonda at the time, it bankrupted its studio and became a byword for commercial failure. But what if we told you... it was good? Admittedly you might not be as surprised as people once were. Since its 1980 release, Heaven's Gate has been restored and reassessed, and now Graham and Mark are teaming up to give it a few more flowers. We also pay tribute to its star, the late, lamented Kris Kristofferson, a man who practically exemplifies the concept of a solid dude. From a film about hate comes an episode about love. It's gettin' dangerous to be poor in this country, but if you've got the money to spare we'd love to get your support over on Patreon. We're just about to launch our review of the original Twilight Zone, to add to our ongoing written series about Red Dwarf, The X-Files and classic Asian genre cinema. All this plus our end-of-month round-u

Bow before the mighty Thor! That's Jon Mikl Thor, obviously, the musclebound Canadian hard rocker whose mix of riffs and strongman stunts never quite led him to rock Valhalla. Not that it stopped him trying, and Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare was his biggest swing at the big leagues. On paper, it's a canonical hard rock horror movie, right down to the not-exactly-a-stretch casting of Thor as the frontman of a rock band. In practice, it is far, far stranger than that. Join Graham and Jeff as they discuss the film's alarmingly phallic puppets, its inexplicably long driving sequences and the insane third-act twist that seals its cult movie legend. We also discuss the twisty career of Thor himself, not least the time when he got a new manager who wanted to reshape his career path based on the channelled wisdom of the New Age entity "Seth". The '70s, everyone! If you want to hear us talking about rock - rock! Rock! - as well as several other musical genres, you'll find a monthly bonus episode of this show on our Patreon,

Phoebe Bridgers! Snail Mail! Fred Durst?! The list of Pop Screen-qualifying cast members is only the beginning of the weirdness in Jane Schoenbrun's sophomore film I Saw the TV Glow. Released in the UK after a wait almost as punishing as the film's devastating time-jumps, it's the story of two kids who really, really like a TV show. That is, if you're satisfied with a surface-level reading. If you're not, allow Graham and Robyn to take you through the film's multitude of trans and queer readings, its nods to 1990s telefantasy classics from Buffy to Twin Peaks, its use of - and critique of the abuses of - nostalgia, its subtle coding of each time period it's set in, and of course its soundtrack, whose mix of modern artists and '90s vibes has already made it a cult classic independent of the film it's soundtracking. We also discuss Harmony Korine's short films, the weirdness of early internet video and so much more. It's for the ladies, the fellas and the people who don't give a [censored] - which, we now reali

It's time for Pop Screen's Halloween month, and as luck would have it one of the biggest new horror films of the year has plenty of pop connections. The final instalment in a trilogy which started with X, MaXXXine takes the story of Maxine Minx through to the '80s, and finds Halsey and Moses Sumney waiting for her there. Join Graham and Andrew from Behold! podcast as they dive into the film's period detail, which of its supporting actors get away with their outrageous accents, and the magic of Mia Goth. We also discuss Halsey's collaboration with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Moses Sumney's enviable satellite connection, and that world-class Buster Keaton scene. It's a film with balls, alright. Over on our Patreon, we're getting ready to drop a Patreon exclusive episode on Satan's Bed, an absolutely bizarre obscurity starring Yoko Ono with lots of strange stories attached to it. Subscribers also get monthly written reviews of classic Asian genre cinema, weekly reviews of The X-Files and Red Dwarf, and our en