Pop Culture Happy Hour

In the fantastic new film The Blackening, a group of college friends reunite at a house in the woods to celebrate a Juneteenth holiday weekend. For decades it's been a cliché to kill off the sole black character first in horror movies. But The Blackening turns that hackneyed trope on its head by asking: What happens when all the main characters are Black? It's silly, smart, and even a little bit deep.

Bravo's hit reality show Vanderpump Rules has become infamous due to a much-discussed affair between two members of its cast. The whole thing has been nicknamed "Scandoval" and has led to record-breaking ratings, countless memes, and even a joke at the White House Correspondents Dinner. In a world were reality television is synonymous with secret affairs and drama, why is "Scandoval" such a big deal?

In Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts, good space-robots and evil space-robots battle for the fate of the universe. Led by Optimus Prime, the Autobots return to do battle with the forces of the villainous Unicron, and our heroes enlist new helpers along the way. Directed by Steven Caple Jr., the movie stars Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback, Pete Davidson, Michelle Yeoh and more.

In the Netflix comedy series Never Have I Ever, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan plays Devi, an overachieving high schooler, who will go to extreme lengths to climb the social ladder. In the show's final season, Devi's dealing with raging hormones and doing whatever she can to get into her dream college, stumbling a lot along the way.

It's summer, and if you've maybe thought about taking a road trip, you're gonna need road-trip music. You might need a pick-me-up, a sing-along, or something for when you need a break from podcasts. Today we're recommending three songs to blast on your next road trip.

The new film Past Lives follows Nora (Greta Lee), a writer who lives in New York with her husband, and meets up again with a man she knew long ago as a girl in South Korea. Written and directed by Celine Song, the movie is an emotional study of how Nora tries to understand both the path she took and the many paths she didn't.Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour

Love stories are close to many of our hearts. We want to swoon, maybe laugh and cry, we want that romance. Today we're recommending great books for people who love love stories.

The new animated film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is the sequel to the Oscar-winning Into The Spider-Verse. It continues the story of Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), as he battles a new villain, The Spot (Jason Schwartzman). The stakes grow as Miles and Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) face greater conflicts as they traverse the multiverse.

You Hurt My Feelings is the latest film from the writer and director Nicole Holofcener. It stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus as a writer who discovers that her husband (Tobias Menzies) doesn't like her new book. She's rattled so hard that it threatens her marriage. The supporting cast also includes Michaela Watkins, Arian Moayed, and Owen Teague.

The HBO series Barry ended on Sunday. Throughout its run, the dark comedy brought a delicate tonal balance to Bill Hader's hitman-turned-actor. Its sharp take on Hollywood was funny, but it never let us forget that Barry was a violent sociopath. Barry's final season made choices so surprising and emotionally brutal that everything that came before it looked almost light and frothy.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the latest, and fastest-selling game in Nintendo's beloved franchise. Many critics and gamers are declaring it not only the best game of the year, but maybe the best game, period.

The series finale of HBO's Succession was truly a meal fit for a king. Backs were stabbed, alliances were realigned, and a new CEO of the media conglomerate Waystar Royco was crowned. How did the squabbling Roy siblings shake out in the fight to control their family's dynasty?Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour

The Little Mermaid is Disney's latest property to receive the live-action remake treatment. While some scenes match the original film, there are changes. Alan Menken and Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote several new songs for the film. And it stars Halle Bailey as Ariel and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula. The film is directed by Rob Marshall and is in theaters now.

The word "icon" is thrown around a lot these days, but Tina Turner was the epitome of that and more. The legendary pop star died today at the age of 83, leaving behind an indelible legacy that spanned decades across the music world, the stage, and the screen. We talk about her life and career, including her hits "River Deep, Mountain High," "Proud Mary," and "What's Love Got To Do With It."Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour

In the Disney+ show American Born Chinese, Jin is an insecure Chinese-American kid just trying to get through high school when he befriends the new kid in town, Wei-Chen. Wei-Chen is actually a god on a divine quest, and he drags Jin along with him. And the two come to realize they're more alike than they ever imagined.Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour

The Netflix series XO, Kitty is a spinoff of the hit YA book and movie franchise, To All the Boys I've Loved Before. Anna Cathcart returns as Kitty Song Covey, a teenager with a penchant for matchmaking. The show is a mash-up of genres, including rom-coms, Korean dramas, and coming-of-age tales.

More than 20 years into the Fast & Furious franchise, the saga keeps roaring on with the latest installment, Fast X. With a star-studded cast including Vin Diesel and Jason Momoa and many more, the film has plenty of absurd action sequences and logic-defying stunts that have become a trademark. But after all this time, does the magic of fast cars, backyard BBQs and family persist?

In the charming Amazon Freevee sitcom Primo, Rafa is a typical 16-year-old kid navigating life with the help of his enterprising mom and five very colorful uncles. The show was created by journalist and podcaster Shea Serrano and is executive produced by Mike Schur (The Good Place, Parks & Recreation). So unsurprisingly, there's no shortage of pop culture references, silly situations, and a heartfelt moment or two.Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour

The Fast & The Furious debuted as a scruffy car-culture movie, and it was a hit. The franchise, fronted by Vin Diesel, has become a blockbuster machine. In anticipation of Fast X, we're encoring our episode about the legacy of the Fast & Furious franchise.

Book Club: The Next Chapter is a sequel that reunites four legendary actresses: Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen. In this iteration, the ladies jet-set to Italy. It's a light-hearted, very silly romp with a meet-cute, an old paramour, lost luggage, and multiple jokes about meatballs.