8 Comments

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  Comment by Todd Mason — January 11, 2016 @ 9:34 am

  Most disappointing film of the year I saw: SICARIO. Emily Blunt’s character is a veteran Fed Police Commander who is completely–Utterly–unaware of any potential for corruption, much less corruption, in her or any other agency. Sure.

  Kissing Trump’s arse. Pretending to be embarrassed about kissing thus, “News”…”analysts”…

  Trivial, but annoying nonetheless…how bad all the newish late-night broadcast shows are, including Colbert’s, though his is the least bad newish one except for ANIMATION DOMINATION; Fallon’s is no worse than his terrible previous one (despite good musical content). At least the new DAILY SHOW isn’t too shabby.

  FLESH AND BONE. How to make a completely OTT soap opera about the arts and fairly serious matters…leaving it utterly clownish. Any flaws one might see in, say, MOZART IN THE JUNGLE are minimized to near-invisibilty in the supernova of self-important camp in the Starz series. Even GIRLS looks less self-indulgent in comparison.

  The most annoying continuing trend in commercial publishing is the notion that we should all pretend that sf and fantasy isn’t sf or fantasy if it’s popular. Ken Russell’, Andy Weir, Ernest Cline…all very clear that they are sf and fantasy writers. The publishers and publicists say NoNoNo Heaven Forfend. Theoretically intelligent people asked me Why was THE MARTIAN sf?

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  Comment by Todd Mason — January 11, 2016 @ 9:37 am

  My spell-checker turned Karen Russell into Ken Russell above.

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  Comment by Rob S — January 11, 2016 @ 8:07 pm

  My mom’s cancer.
  Donald Trump.
  The Dress.
  hover boards.
  “Walking The Room”
  All the mass shooting.

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  Comment by Rob S — January 11, 2016 @ 8:08 pm

  I meant to erase “Walking The Room.” that happened last year.

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  Comment by Todd Mason — January 12, 2016 @ 1:47 pm

  Sorry to read of your mother’s cancer…yes, 2015 was a real downer of a year on the personal front for a lot of us, as noted in the discussion (happily not even for all the participants, though). I chose to focus on PopCult to keep from breaking down around 3.

  WALKING THE ROOM the podcast?

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  Comment by Bob Dukart — January 12, 2016 @ 4:24 pm

  My worst of 2015 before hearing the podcast.
  1. Letterman retiring. I know he could not get a younger audience nor beat the Tonight show but you would have to follow him since 1982 to know what he meant to loyal followers. He turned TV upside down and thumbed his nose at convention and what was previously considered comedy. To me, he was addictive and the reason why I bought my first VCR. I always felt I was one of the group that “got him”.
  2. Joe Cocker dying. He died at the tail end of 2014 and I hated him at first but he was a true original. I loved his raspy voice, bold brass filled bands, and inspirational black backup singers. He never wrote songs but took other’s and made them sound truly different and original. When I hear With A Little Help From My Friends and You Can Leave Your Hat On, I get chills and feel giddy.
  3. Donald Trump. Reminds me of Hitler in that he appeals to the disenfranchised and finds scapegoats. He is the true rich man who no one ever said no to (except a farmer in Scotland who would not sell him his land for golf). He is a bully with no sense of civility, manners, nor an understanding of where a classy person draws the line.
  Now that he is a poster boy for ISIS videos, he should be very proud.
  4. Divorces. Gwen, Hallie, Yolanda, Kaley, Megan Fox, Jennifer Garner, and Hillary Duff all got divorced this year. It just goes to show that when you are young, marrying a hot women is usually one of a mans prerequisites. Yet, it probably works out better if you use the criterion of being friends, having things in common, and sharing a sense of humor and then using good looks as a bonus. I used to think that Hallie Berry was a victim but maybe she is not as great a catch as you might think.
  5. Death, violence, and feeling duped. Everyday we hear of black people being shot, mass shootings, terrorist violence, and revered people not turning out to be what we thought. We are getting so numb to it all, it just keeps happening and nothing changes. For all the good the U.S. does, I sometimes think that we are controlled by the NRA, drug cartels, and self absorbed politicians.
  I have felt duped by the mayor of Chicago and his police, Jared Fogel, Bill Cosby, Charlie Sheen, the child porn addict from Glee, the anti gay marriage Kentucky clerk, pro athlete domestic violence, Mel Gibson, Roger Goodell, and football concussions. God help us all.

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  Comment by Maria — January 13, 2016 @ 9:58 am

  Long time listener, first time writer. I never comment on your episodes because for the most part even though I may become annoyed at something, it’s never enough to write about. This episode however, annoyed me so much that I have to comment. I don’t know who Pam Aldon is and now I never want to know. She ruined both Pop My Cork episodes

  So big deal she’s a single mother. That is the most overused phrase in the history of phrases. I could have created a drinking game for every time she said that. It sucks that you’re doing that by yourself but strap on those big girl panties and just get it done without complaining or whining. She says she has three daughters however she knows absolutely nothing about pop-culture. Somewhere there is a disconnect. I can’t be around my 10-year-old granddaughter without learning about songs of the moment, the “it” celeb, the TV show of the moment and just about anything to do with pop culture. So she’s either too busy and someone else takes care of them or she’s not paying attention. Either way the show was not her private therapy session – Her resolution segment just made me want to gag. I’ll give her this, she’s either the best self promoter and manipulator I’ve ever heard or she really is screwed up.

  I look forward to these episodes, believe it or not, as I like to hear everyone’s opinions. But she ruined both episodes this year and I hope you never ask her back.

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  Comment by Rik — January 13, 2016 @ 1:19 pm

  RE: Too many Disney Princess reimaginings – I’m SO sick of those, but I do enjoy that they’ve been so oversaturated that ridiculous parodies are coming out now. A few amazing ones I’ve seen lately:
  “This is what Disney Princesses would look like if they were tried for war crimes in the Nuremberg Trials!”
  “Disney Princesses reimagined as cement mixers!”
  “Disney Princesses reimagined as devastating extinction level meteor collisions!”

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