Pop My Culture
  • June30th

    First of all, let’s be clear.  Vanessa is writing this.  Cole is somewhere setting a jet or something.    Because I am a woman I will issue a DISCLAIMER: I am not a regular viewer of the program and I AM drinking.  I am also hanging out with my friend Mandy (hey girl!) and she is also drinking.   (So you can picture it- we are on the couch with one of my dogs.  Mandy is a small beautiful Australian.  I am none of these three but I am feeling rambunctious tonight.)

    OVERALL NOTE: Take anything bitchy I say with a grain of salt.  Bottom line:  these are all amazing performers and I love how positive the program is.  As a whole, the show frustrates me, because I’m pretty sure my body didn’t come with some standard issue joints.  How do they DO that?

    IT BEGINS: The show kicks off with what I am CERTAIN is Anne Hathaway in a Marilyn Monroe costume.  I didn’t know she was on this show!  And why can’t she afford a better wig?   Oh, it’s NOT Anne Hathaway!  It is a completely different person who can’t afford a better wig.  And her name is Cat Deely and apparently she is the Ryan Seacrest of the show.  (I tell this comparison to Mandy, and she says, “She’s not like Ryan Seacrest at all! Isn’t he wee? Isn’t she a monster?  He would be like a little parrot on her shoulder!”)

    Boom! Flash! Dancers run out, do a fun Westside Story-esque strut and shimmy- then STRIKE A POSE. I love it when people strike poses!

    Now, we go to the judges!:

    Read More

  • June25th

    Since Cole is too busy being chauffeured around Vegas in a gold limousine to trouble himself with watching this week’s results show, this recap is being guest written by TV/pop culture/dancing Asians fan Heather (@HeatherRecently on Twitter). Cole will be back next week, assuming he didn’t lose a tooth (or find a baby) during his absence.

    Cat introduces the show looking gorgeous in one-shoulder red dress and cherry red lipstick. She uses a cocktail analogy that somehow implies a hangover. I can only assume this is directed at Debbie Reynolds, who took Wadi with her to the assisted living community last night and played strip bingo into the wee hours of the morning (citation needed). Read More

  • June23rd

    The Top 20 took the stage for the first time since…last week…and we’re quickly reminded via fuzzy flashback (though it’s nice to see Nigel lit like Norma Desmond) that two couples will be going home on tomorrow night’s results show. After the opening credits, Cat Deeley appears, wearing a doily-covered bright yellow dress—with her height, it reads very Big Bird-ish, and I don’t mean that as an insult. The couples come out for their introductory five second dance flashes, and then it’s time to meet your—JUDGES! Wait—she said it! CAT SAID JUDGES! Did she read my recap last week? I feel somehow responsible. You’re welcome, America. There’s Nigel! And…orange you glad Mary Murphy is here? Then comes the first genuine surprise of the night—joining the panel is film and dance legend Debbie Reynolds! They show a quick clip from Singin’ In The Rain, and Debbie says “It’s fantastic to be alive!”  She really is a treasure, and her sound bites only got better as the night went on. Read More

  • June22nd

    Kevin Pollak guest on Pop My Culture Podcast

    Cole, Vanessa, and our favorite Usual Suspect Kevin Pollak (“Casino,” “A Few Good Men,” and “Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show”) talk Game of Thrones, Ryan Dunn vs. Roger Ebert, Doug Hutchison’s craddle robbing, poker, meeting William Shatner, an Oscar party with Lemmon & Matthau, Hugh Hefner, keys to doing impressions, chunky Prefontaine, the Million Dollar Mystery debacle, summer camp, Vincent Gallo, wearing squibs, the Kevin blender, celebrity tweets, Martin Scorsese, and Kevin’s unusual gig hanging out with Ice-T and Coco on Richard Branson’s private island.

    Leave your answer to the firsts question (the first impression you ever did) for a chance to win a Usual Suspects DVD signed by Kevin!

     

    Kevin Pollak interviewed by hosts Cole Stratton and Vanessa Ragland

  • June17th

    We’re very excited to announce the premiere of Culture Pops, a brand-new video series for ChinaShopMag starring Vanessa and Cole! It’s a fun, goofy look into–what else–pop culture with your two hosts as they show you cool L.A. venues and interview folks from entertainment and people on the street. There’s even appearances by Pop My Culture friends!

    Episode one features the historic Roxy on the Sunset Strip and it’s owner, Nick Adler, as well as a visit to Montreal with Knight Rider‘s Deanna Russo, and other surprises. Please take a look…and rate it high, would ya? We’ll love you unconditionally for it.

    Check out the premiere episode HERE

    –Cole and Vanessa!

  • June17th

    Before I launch into the results show, let me just say this:

    This episode has an M. Night Shymalanian twist that YOU WON’T SEE COMING.

    Except that I just warned you about it.

    It’s Thursday, so it’s time to trim the dance fat, so to speak. Cat appears in a cute pink number and kicks off the opening titles. Then it’s time for a full-cast opening number, set to M.I.A.’s “Xr2,” a thumping electronic dancehall number that quickens the pulse a bit. The dancers wardrobe is very gothic-slutty-Clockwork Orange, complete with Droog canes. The movement is very fierce, strong, precise and a little weird, which means this has to been a Sonya Tayeh routine. Which it is. It’s a fairly strong opener, but it feels like another attempt to capture the magic of that Wade Robson/Roisin Murphy “Ramalama (Bang Bang)” routine from seasons past. Did I just out myself as a hardcore regular watcher? I believe I did. Read More