Look at the film we’re covering on this week’s Pop Screen. Who can say it’s not beautiful? That’s right, this week Graham and Ewan are reviewing True Stories, the sole directorial credit for Talking Heads frontman David Byrne. A drily comic compilation of stories inspired by Byrne’s love of local […]
Podcasts
Christina Aguilera, Cher & Burlesque – Pop Screen 23
Christina Aguilera waited ten years to make her first film, and when she did the reviews suggested she could have waited a little longer. This week, Joe and Graham look at Burlesque, which pairs Christina with one of the most accomplished (Oscar-winning!) singers-turned-actors in history, Cher. It’s a strange mix […]
Joan Jett & Light of Day – Pop Screen 22
On paper, Light of Day has everything going for it. One of the first films Michael J Fox made after Back to the Future, it’s a gritty tale of rock ‘n’ roll as a blue-collar pressure vent, aptly made by the director of Blue Collar, Paul Schrader. Its supporting cast […]
Young Dais & Tokyo Tribe – Pop Screen 21
Pop Screen takes its first dip into the flamboyant world of Japanese director Sion Sono with Tokyo Tribe. Adapting a manga by Santa Inoue, Sono takes the characteristically weird decision to tell it in the form of a hip-hop opera, with dialogue rapped by a mixture of actors and real […]
Frank Zappa & 200 Motels – Pop Screen 20
The prospect of a Frank Zappa episode of Pop Screen is likely to get you either cheering or groaning, which is of course why we’re doing it. This week, confirmed Zappa obsessive Aidan Fatkin joins regular host and Zappa dunce Graham to talk him through the jazz-rock-classical-comedy titan’s career – […]
The Smiths & England is Mine – Pop Screen 19
Today we know Morrissey as a character on The Simpsons, but are you aware he also taught Villanelle how to do local government admin? This is just one of the revelations in Mark Gill’s 2017 film England is Mine, a film about Morrissey’s early life starring Jack Lowden as the […]
Adam Ant & Jubilee: Pop Screen Episode 18
It’s the film that’s so punk, it annoyed even the punks – Derek Jarman’s Jubilee, with its motley cast including Toyah Wilcox, Rocky Horror legend Richard O’Brien, a pre-fame Adam Ant and at least one former tightrope walker, is our subject of discussion this week. Join We Are Cult’s Mark […]
Rhianna & Battleship: Pop Screen 17
It would be fair to say that Battleship, Peter Berg’s $250 million dollar Hasbro adaptation, does not arrive with the greatest of advance press. And yet, on this week’s Pop Screen, our hosts are still astonished at how much goes wrong. Join Graham and Andrew (from Behold! podcast) as we anatomise […]
Phantom of the Paradise – Pop Screen Episode 16
Brian De Palma is not a name commonly associated with campy rock-opera frivolity, but his 1974 film Phantom of the Paradise is closer to Rocky Horror territory than you’d expect from the Carrie auteur. A gonzo melange of Gaston le Roux, the Faust myth and the 1970s music scene before […]
Get On Up – Pop Screen Episode 15
Before we find out if Chadwick Boseman is going to win a posthumous Oscar for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, let’s take a look back at Get On Up, his previous brush with the Academy’s sweet tooth for musical biopics. Widely predicted to be a frontrunner in the 2015 Oscar race, […]