PopaHALLics #157 "Ho Ho Pop"

PopaHALLics #157 "Ho Ho Pop"

On our last episode of 2025, we discuss new movies including the latest "Knives Out" and "Hamnet," and books including a great take on the Lennon-McCartney relationship. Plus Kate looks back at "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"!

In Theaters:

• "Hamnet." Academy-Award winning director Chloe Zhao and author Maggie O'Farrell explore how the loss of a son inspires William Shakespeare's "Hamlet." Starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal.

Streaming: 

• "Wake up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery," Netflix. In the third installment of Rian Johnson's detective series, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig, in thumbnail photo) investigates a murder mystery "with biblical proportions" in a small town. With Josh O'Connor, Josh Brolin, and Glenn Close.
• "The Family Plan 2," Apple TV. In this action comedy sequel, the Morgans' trip to London at Christmas is complicated by a "ghost from the past." Starring Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Monaghan, and Kit Harrington ("Game of Thrones").
• "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Hulu. Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her friends (including Alyson Hannigan and Nicholas Brendon) battle vampires and the terrors of high school in this series (1997-2003).

Books:

• "John & Paul: A Love Story in Song," by Ian Leslie. This fresh take on the Beatles examines Lennon and McCartney's relationship from 1957 to 1980 through songs, both their favorites and their originals.
• "Brightly Shining," by Ingvild H. Rishøi. Two young sisters struggle to make a Christmas for themselves as their father struggles with unemployment and alcoholism.
• "Mr. Splitfoot," by Samantha Harris. This contemporary gothic novel interweaves two timelines, one about two orphans in the 1980s and the other about a mysterious walking pilgrimage decades later.

The "fair use" doctrine of U.S. copyright law allows for limited unauthorized use of copyrighted material for purposes such as comment and education.

Chapters

• 1:13 "Wake Up Dead Man"
• 5:30 Christian Love, Not Christian Punch
• 6:00 Not. a MAGA-Friendly Movie
• 9:05 Escaping the Escape Room
• 9:54 "Hamnet"
• 12:28 Jessie Buckley a Revelation
• 15:20 "Brightly Shining"
• 18:07 "Family Plan 2"
• 19:49 Jon Snow Plays the Bad Guy!
• 21:00 "Mr. Splitfoot"
• 23:44 "John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs"
• 24:13 Songs Offer Insights into Their Creative Partnership
• 26:23 "Behind the Music Hits with Drew Savage" Podcast
• 27:38 "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
• 29:14 Creator Joss Whedon a Terrible Human Being