The Popcornhead Podcast

Here it is Cornheads! The final episode of the year and season 3.This week we're looking at not only The Muppets Christmas Carol, but we're also looking at the legendary Charles Dickens, and his original novel.If you don't know the basic premise of A Christmas Carol, where have you been? But anyway, the novel follows an old miser called Ebenezer Scrooge, who on Christmas Eve is visited by various ghosts throughout the night.Enjoy this episode, have a merry Christmas, a happy holiday, happy Hanukkah, happy Kwanzaa, whatever you do, just be sound and enjoy it.Thank you for listening and giving us your time, we're taking a break for a while but we WILL be back.All the love xFollow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

This week we are looking at Stanley Kubrick's final film, Eyes Wide Shut, released in 1999, starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.Set during Christmas, the film follows a doctor who finds out his wife has been thinking about having an affair, and he embarks on this night long odyssey in New York City, which leads him to sneaking into this highly secretive masked orgy.We go down a real rabbit hole in this episode, exploring the concept of class, the ruling elite, and some very powerful, very secret societies.We also answer some listener questions and talk a bit about Christmas music!Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

This week we are looking at David Lynch's Blue Velvet!Blue Velvet is a film that's hard to categorise in the traditional sense. There are various elements going on when you look at it from mystery, Neo-noir, psychological horror, thriller, surrealist, dreamlike, but when you take all these elements and cook them up in David's signature style you're left with Lynchian.Blue Velvet was arguably the film that would set the tone for the remainder of David's filmography, including of course the TV series Twin Peaks.Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

This week we're looking at The Substance!The film follows Elisabeth Sparkle, a fading starlet of the screen, who starts using a black market drug that temporarily creates a younger, and “better” version of herself, which leads to some pretty nasty side effects.We talk body image, the standards of female beauty, references to The Picture of Dorian Gray, Sunset Boulevard, and Vertigo, and of course the concept of addiction in the film.This is, in my opinion, one of the finest films of 2024, with some bold and daring filmmaking from Coralie Fargeat! The Demi Moore-aissance is well and truly upon us!Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

This week we're looking at Planes, Trains & Automobiles!This one is a real holiday favourite for me, hilarious and heartwarming, as Neal Page (Steve Martin) tries to get home to his family for Thanksgiving, with the unwanted help of Del Griffith (John Candy).Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

We've done it Cornheads, a quarter century of episodes!To celebrate this momentous occasion this week we are looking at the monumental Chinatown, directed by the controversial Roman Polanski, with one of the greatest screenplays ever written from the late great Robert Towne, and starring the immortal Jack Nicholson alongside Faye Dunaway.This is undoubtedly one of my top 5 favourite films, and it always will be, it's nothing short of magnificent.This episode is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. Please take the time to rate and review the pod, and wherever you listen don't forget to hit the subscribe button, do me a favour here, and I'll love you forever.Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

This week we're looking at Richard Linklater's School of Rock!Dewey Finn, an enthusiastic and somewhat obnoxious guitar player gets kicked out of his band. In his struggle to pay the rent, he ends up posing as his room mate Ned Shneebley, so he can work as a substitute teacher in a prestigious Prep school.One of the greatest family films of the last 30 years, heartwarming and inspirational, with a terrific performance from Jack Black.It was a film that parents could enjoy more than kids, but also introduced a new generation to classic rock music.Let's rock, let's rock, today.Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

This week we're looking at Happiness!One of the most controversial films of the 90s, this film will absolutely split the room believe me.The film is about emotionally isolated individuals, desperate for some sort of fulfilment in life. What makes the film so interesting and controversial is how it tries to find the humanity in, for the most part, the worst kind of people.If you're a fan of very very dark humour, this is for you, but good luck.Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

This week we're looking at Wes Craven's Scream.Scream had an enormous impact on the horror genre and helped shape what horror cinema would become since its release in 1996.Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

We're back with a bang, or should we say stab?This week we're looking at Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.One of the founding fathers of the slasher genre, Psycho shocked audiences worldwide, and changed cinema forever.Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

This week we're doing our 2nd Popcornhead Special, taking a look at some of the most iconic soundtracks from the 90's, from hit singles, to original scores and songs, to bangin soundtracks.We'll be taking a break for a couple of weeks and will be back with some iconic slasher stuff in time for Halloween!Thanks for listening, things are certainly on the rise! If you want to help us out, subscribe, rate, and review wherever possible.Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

In this weeks episode we're looking at Wim Wender's Perfect Days.The film follows Hirayama, a public toilet cleaner in Tokyo whose tranquil and peaceful life of isolation becomes gradually invaded by outside forces.This is a truly beautiful and introspective film about the small joys of life, mindfulness, and living in the present.We also talk beposke Japanese toilets, director Wim Wenders, living outside the modern world, the contrast of Western and Japanese culture, and our own mental health issues.If you or anyone you know suffer from mental health issues, remember there is always support out there, whether it be from friends or professionals. It's important we look out for each other. It can be just as easy as talking or listening to someone.Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

In this weeks episode we're looking at David Lean's The Bridge on the River Kwai.Set during World War II, in a Japanese POW camp, Colonel Nicholson and his men are tasked with building a railway bridge over the River Kwai for the Japanese army. What might appear as a typical WWII film on the facade becomes a compelling psychological drama that explores the futility of war.Some of this episodes hot topics include; David Lean's controversial casting choices for Alec Guinness, Japan being sly during WWII, my love of hentai and yaoi, the characters of Nicholson and Saito and their respective journeys, if the film could be considered a satire of the British Empire and the class system.Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

In this weeks episode we're looking at David Fincher's Se7en.The film follows Detectives Mills and Somerset, who become embroiled in a case involving a serial killer driven by the seven deadly sins.We also talk potato blights, Van Morrison's latest record project, my impending death, In The Name of The Father set in space, Friday nights for Kevin Spacey, some biblical teachings, art references, sluggards, crusades of violence, among other things.Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

This week we're looking at Edward Zwick's Glory, which follows the true story of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the Union Army's first African-American regiments during the American Civil War.We also talk about the historical context of the build up to these events, Matthew Broderick's driving, some of the myths surrounding the Civil War, the supposed Lost Cause of the Confederacy, among other BURNING topics.Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube!Please rate, review, and subscribe wherever you can!Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

This week we're doing a spoiler free review of Fede Álvarez's Alien Romulus.We look at the Alien franchise, the use of practical effects in film, and give our overall impressions. We also touch on the trailers we saw before the film, and talk nostalgia bait!Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

In this weeks episode we're looking at Quentin Tarantino's latest film, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood.The film follows Rick Dalton, a walking piece of nostalgia, struggling with the changes in his acting career in 1969. We also see a day in the life of his stuntman Cliff Booth, and actress Sharon Tate.We also look at the historical context of the Tate murders, Tarantino's revisionist history, and go deep down the Charles Manson wormhole.Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

In this episode we are looking at Billy Wilder's seminal film noir Double Indemnity, which would become a template for the genre.We also talk Raymond Chandler, the Hays Code, Edward Hopper, Wham and George Michael, and of course, Barry from Eastenders.Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

In this weeks episode, we're looking at Alexander Payne's Sideways. A film that follows two pathetic, middle aged friends as they navigate wine country in Santa Barbara.We also had ourselves a little wine tasting, sampling some of the popular grapes that feature in the film!Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

In this weeks episode, we're looking at Wolfgang Petersen's Troy. We also explore the myth behind this realist adaptation of The Iliad, Odysseus not liking his wife, Paris being a massive simp, and some parallels with the film and the Iraq War!Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

In our first Popcornhead Special, we each pitch our own idea for an Oscar-Bait film, a film made solely for the purpose of trying to win Academy Awards. Expect NHS heroes, Canadian blunders, and out-of-favour Generals.We had a lot of fun doing this episode and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

In this episode, we explore director Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs, starring Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster.We also uncover the three terrifying real-life figures who inspired Ted Levine's infamous composite killer, Buffalo Bill. And we discuss the really important issues like can you take psychotherapeutic advice from someone who's criminally insane? What would Sean Connery pair a census taker's liver with? And does wearing a human suit really make you more sexually attractive?  Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

This week we are looking at Thomas Vinterberg's psychological drama, The Hunt.We also talk witch hunts, conspiracy theories, satanism, among other weird stuff!Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

This week continues our exploration of John Ford's The Searchers.Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

Join us as we take on the gargantuan task of gulping down John Ford's classic western The Searchers. Delving into this cinematic masterpiece, we explore the burning questions: Is it a white supremacist propaganda film? Who's really the film's antagonist? And what led John Wayne to become the cowboy Captain America? This week we nosh down on Messrs Ford and Wayne's strange on and off-set habits, their respective legacies, and controversies, next week we move onto the film itself.Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

A chilling dramatisation of the hunt for a serial killer under an incompetent military dictatorship in 1980s South Korea. Bong Joon Ho's directorial masterclass Memories of Murder showcases the personal and societal changes that take place around the constant threat of a murderer that gripped the country, and rendered the police impotent in their efforts to apprehend him.Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod

I speak for all mediocrities in the world. I am their champion. I am their patron saint.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…

Who wouldn't lap this up? It's ridiculous. Tremendous. Fantastic. Fan-dabby-dozy-tastic…

In our first episode, we track one man's quest to return some videotapes, and he does some other stuff as well...