As impossible as it seems, there are people who can still do original things with superheroes - and it's no surprise that one of those people is Boots Riley. One part of the deliciously funky activist hip-hop act The Coup, he turned to directing with 2018's outrageous comedy Sorry to Bother You and followed it up with this singular Amazon Prime series about a reclusive giant teenager who yearns of being like his favourite superhero.



There's more to it than that, of course, and the series takes aim at the one element of superhero stories that this famously self-mocking genre rarely touches, namely their politics. As well as featuring Walton Goggins as a billionaire superhero whose attitudes are more in line with America's actual billionaire class than Batman or Iron Man, the show also gives Graham and Rob the opportunity to talk about class, disability, lost media, animation, practical effects and - in Graham's case - make a truly, truly unfortunate slip of the tongue.



Show solidarity with us by donating to our Patreon, where you can get a bonus episode of this show every month, plus a whole other podcast - the unclassifiable miscellany that is Last Night... - and weekly reviews of The X-Files, The Twilight Zone and the side-projects of Doctor Who stars in Outside the Blue Box. Follow us on Instagram, Bluesky and Facebook for more info

Boots Riley (The Coup) with I'm a Virgo - Episode 148

Pavement are a scrappy, bewildering band, so it's only fair that they get a scrappy, bewildering biopic - or is it? A hybrid of documentary, spoof, situationist prank and an off-Broadway jukebox musical that somehow actually happened in reality, Alex Ross Perry's Pavements throws the ultimate slacker band into a hall of mirrors in order to ask the question: what does it mean to never sell out?



This week on Pop Screen, Graham and Simon tackle all four dimensions (it'll make sense later, probably) of Perry's film: Simon from the viewpoint of an ARP fan who wasn't previously familiar with the band, and Graham... well, you'll find out on the episode, as well as discussions of the difference between West and East Coast snark, the lost original cut of the film, the unexpected afterlife of the band in Beabadoobee songs and Spotify weirdness, and Graham's sensible opinions about New York.



There is no castration fear, but there is a Patreon where you can get a bonus episode of this show every month - we've just done Ice Cube's instantly notorious War of the Worlds - as well as weekly written reviews of The Twilight Zone, The X-Files and Doctor Who. We also have an end-of-month round-up podcast, Last Night, for everything that doesn't fit anywhere else. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook to find out more.

Pavement in Pavements (2024) - Episode 147

We've covered the odd world of The Comic Strip Presents... on Pop Screen before, when Mark and Graham looked at their Kate Bush-starring TV epic Les Dogs. But they also made big-screen films, the first of which featured even more pop stars - Lemmy, Paul McCartney, Shane MacGowan, Bill Wyman, Sandie Shaw, Jools Holland and more - and made even less sense.


This week, Mark and Graham reconvene to discuss Peter Richardson's Eat the Rich, it's baffling casting decisions, infectious tabloid satire and quite a lot besides. As well as the film, we also talk about Bob Vylan at Glastonbury, Richardson's unmade Comic Strip film on Boris Johnson, Fiona Richmond, the pleasures of old episodic TV, Alex Cox's beef with The Comic Strip team, and the clashing rhetorical styles of Britain's godforsaken current crop of party leaders. Listen before we're arrested!


If you want to help fund our legal defences, you can donate to our Patreon where you'll get a bonus episode of this show every month - we've just covered Amazon's instantly-notorious War of the Worlds adaptation - plus weekly written articles on Doctor Who, The Twilight Zone, The X-Files and a whole exclusive podcast - Last Night... - that you can't get anywhere else. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for more.

Lemmy, Paul McCartney and More in Eat the Rich - Pop Screen 146

In the middle of a not-great summer for musical icons, one death hit us particularly hard. It's Sly Stone, the mercurial, genre-hopping singer, producer and songwriter at the heart of Sly and the Family Stone, a funk Prometheus who suffered too much for bringing humanity its finest grooves. And, as it turns out, subject of a new documentary by Aamir "Questlove" Thompson, called Sly Lives!, or: The Burden of Black Genius.


Joining us for the first time in far too long is Dreaming Machine's Joe to talk about the music of Sly and Thompson alike, as well as the broad spectrum of interviewees in Questlove's film. Jam and Lewis, D'Angelo, Andre Benjamin (without his flute) - they're all here, all giving their own personal take on the movie's provocative subtitle. We also cover the early days of drum machines, Questlove's previous film Summer of Soul, the backlash cycle and Jack Antonoff. Fresh!


If you want us to take you higher, we release a monthly bonus episode on our Patreon, plus a whole extra podcast - the unclassifiable miscellany-fest that is Last Night... - that's not available anywhere else. All this and weekly written reviews of The X-Files, The Twilight Zone and Doctor Who! Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for more.

Sly Stone in Sly Lives! - Episode 145

Berry Gordy founded perhaps the most famous independent record label in history - Motown - co-wrote some of the most enduring hits of the soul genre and dated Diana Ross. Yet he still had an unfulfilled ambition to... produce a martial arts movie? Apparently yes, and The Last Dragon was the result. A peculiar blend of kung-fu thrills, slapstick comedy, music-industry melodrama and charmingly naïve romance, you may be surprised at how well it all works.


This week, Graham is joined - for the first time in too long! - by The Geek Show's Ben to discuss this extremely odd and thoroughly charming movie, along with the Wu-Tang Clan's love of Shaw Brothers samples, star Vanity's thoughts on Madonna, the unexpected early appearance by a very notable character actor, and so much more. It's an episode that will give you The Glow, whatever the hell The Glow is.


If you want to help us get our squeaky-voiced girlfriends a spot on a local VJ's show, you can donate to our Patreon where you'll get a bonus episode of this show every month, plus weekly written reviews of The Twilight Zone, Doctor Who and The X-Files. There's also a monthly podcast - Last Night... - covering all the viewing experiences we can't fit in anywhere else, and none of it's available anywhere else. Find out more by following us on Instagram, BlueSky and Facebook.

Motown Records Does the Last Dragon - Episode 144

Berry Gordy founded perhaps the most famous independent record label in history - Motown - co-wrote some of the most enduring hits of the soul genre and dated Diana Ross. Yet he still had an unfulfilled ambition to... produce a martial arts movie? Apparently yes, and The Last Dragon was the result. A peculiar blend of kung-fu thrills, slapstick comedy, music-industry melodrama and charmingly naive romance, you may be surprised at how well it all works.
This week, Graham is joined - for the first time in too long! - by The Geek Show's Ben to discuss this extremely odd and thoroughly charming movie, along with the Wu-Tang Clan's love of Shaw Brothers samples, star Vanity's thoughts on Madonna, the unexpected early appearance by a very notable character actor, and so much more. It's an episode that will give you The Glow, whatever the hell The Glow is.
If you want to help us get our squeaky-voiced girlfriends a spot on a local VJ's show, you can donate to our Patreon where you'll get a bonus episode of this show every month, plus weekly written reviews of The Twilight Zone, Doctor Who and The X-Files. There's also a monthly podcast - Last Night... - covering all the viewing experiences we can't fit in anywhere else, and none of it's available anywhere else. Find out more by following us on Instagram and Facebook.

Hey hey! Micky Dolenz was a Monkee, and once he stopped Monkeeing around his career took him to some unusual places. Few stranger than this one-off BBC television drama, part of the Premiere strand of single plays. It's a bleak, eccentric snapshot of a now almost unrecognisable time when Hell's Angels patrolled the streets, single parenthood was a mark of shame and British television channels could afford to make shows.


In the first in a two-part look at Premiere's pop connections - which will conclude over on our Patreon - Mark Cunliffe joins us again to talk about the often grim lives of the film's cast, the strange niches they often got cast in, and their connections to everyone from Joan Collins to Saddam Hussein. We also discuss Cliff Twemlow, and Graham makes a confession that risks his career...


As noted above, we've got a sequel to this episode coming out which Rocky Horror fans won't want to miss - and you won't miss it if you join our Patreon [www.patreon.com/thegeekshow], where you'll also find weekly articles on Doctor Who, The X-Files and The Twilight Zone, plus an end-of-month podcast (Last Night...) that rounds up the wide variety of things we've been watching recently. Follow us on Instagram, BlueSky and Facebook to find out more.

The Monkees' Micky Dolenz with Premiere: Story without a Hero - Episode 143

We all understand the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, so long as nobody has any follow-up questions. But did you know that the son of the guy who came up with it has several songs on the Shrek franchise soundtracks? This is Mark Oliver Everett, frontman of the band Eels, and this week's film, Parallel Worlds Parallel Lives, sees him untangle his strange quantum inheritance.


Join Graham and Jeff, long-term Eels fans both, as they discuss this movie's surprisingly accessible treatment of quantum mechanics, its links to Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, and struggle to get to grips with the double-slit experiment. We also talk about the heartwrenchingly autobiographical qualities of Eels's music, share stories from their gigs and talk about the often subversive places where their music appears in popular culture. It's not just Shrek!


God damn right, we've got a beautiful Patreon [www.patreon.com/thegeekshow], and if you support us you can get a bonus episode of this show every month - this week Graham and Robyn are re-teaming for a second round with The Weeknd... There's also an end-of-month miscellany podcast Last Night..., as well as reviews of The Twilight Zone, The X-Files and many more features that aren't available anywhere else. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to find out more.

Eels in Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives - Pop Screen Episode 142 

You can't stop the music, although a lot of people wanted to when The Village People's 1980 movie musical came out. Released in the wake of the infamous "Disco Demolition Night" in which rock fans burned disco albums, its appeal to its natural constituency was blunted by its strange tone. A film that is extremely squeamish around sexuality yet far freer with the drugs and nudity than a PG-certificate film ought to be, it's as mismatched as the band's famously eclectic stage outfits, though much less successful.


Join Graham and Film Stories's Mark Harrison as they explore Can't Stop the Music's part in the creation of the Golden Raspberry awards, the surprisingly heavily contested origin of the 'YMCA' dance, Caitlyn Jenner's acting abilities and the Village People's post-fame afterlife from bar mitzvahs to - oh yes - Presidential Inaugurations. Plus, find out which controversial film was shooting at the same time as this, and why Mark's tangents need to have a Burial soundtrack.


If you'd like to help us help Steve Guttenberg make it in the music biz, you can donate to our Patreon [www.patreon.com/thegeekshow], where we're publishing regular reviews of The Twilight Zone and The X-Files, plus Outside the Blue Box, our series about what Doctor Who's cast and crew do in their time off. All this and a monthly bonus podcast! Find out more by following us on Instagram and Facebook.

The Village People in Can't Stop the Music - Pop Screen 141

What better time for a crossover than a comic book adaptation? This week, Graham is joined by Andrew and Mick, the two hosts of Behold!, to examine the 2024 remake of James O'Barr's cult comic The Crow. Famously the source for a 1994 film starring Brandon Lee, that star's on-set death sparked rumours that the property was cursed, rumours that can only have increased once people saw this.


Entering Pop Screen's airspace thanks to its decision to cast FKA Twigs as the hero's doomed love Shelly, the trio discuss her music and acting as well as the largely-ignored wider Crow mythology, the puzzlingly miscast films of Rupert Sanders, Bill Skarsgard's strengths and limitations as a leading man and the film's unexpected debts to Paddington 2. Also opera - the entire art form - catches some strays.


If you want to help us reach a state of eusexua, you can donate to our Patreon, where you'll get a bonus episode every month - there's one imminent right now, dealing with the great Miles Davis. Plus monthly reviews of classic Asian genre cinema in Fantastic Asia, weekly write-ups on classic TV science fiction and a nice everything-and-the-kitchen-sink podcast to round off each month in the form of Last Night... Follow us on Instagram and Facebook to find out more.

FKA Twigs in The Crow (2024) - Pop Screen Episode 140

Pop Screen is The Geek Show's new podcast tackling movies starring, about or by pop stars - and that's all genres, from rock to hip-hop, jazz to disco. Each week Graham and one of his stable of trusty co-hosts picks a pop movie and examines its history, its film-making and its music in-depth. It's an irreverent ride through an oft-misunderstood strain of cinema, from era-defining masterpieces to kitsch atrocities.

Graham Williamson

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