Oscar Nominations, Black Panther, Kelela – IP 108

It’s been a long, strange, sometimes underwhelming trip to the Oscar Nominations but we’re here to share our immediate reactions. We give you our thoughts on why certain movies are heading to the red carpet and others got snubbed and we also try to make sense of why the film Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri has become a frontrunner. We celebrate nominations for Get Out, The Big Sick, Logan, Mudbound and Lady Bird and share our gratitude to whomever was genius enough to book Tiffany Haddish to announce the nominations.

Plus, Sean makes his case for why Black Panther should have received an Oscar nomination THIS year! He’s not joking!

And we end the show with The Big Sell. Sean rates Amita’s Big Sell from last time, Kelela’s “Frontline,” and then Big Sells Amita an article by Alissa Wilkinson (one of his favorite culture critics) on the backlash against Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri. Read it HERE

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Best Movie Performances of 2017 – IP 105

We have spent hours upon hours sitting in dark theaters watching some of the most talked about films of the year and are ready to share our final “Best of” list of 2017!

This year, we’re focusing on the performances that captivated us, made us laugh, cry and gave us all the feels. From Daniel Kaluuya’s portrayal as a boyfriend slowly awakening to the horrors of his girlfriend’s family in Get Out to Saoirse Ronan playing a emotional teenager in Lady Bird, to the complex relationship between Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart in Logan, 2017 has gifted us with some incredible performances by some of our favorite actors and a few new faces as well.

Amita’s Favorite Performances:

  • Frances McDormand in Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri 
  • Michael Stuhlbarg in Call Me By Your Name
    • Read how Michael Stuhlbarg and Director Luca Guadagnino crafted this pivotal scene here
  • Brooklynn Prince in The Florida Project
  • Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird
  • Kumail Nanjiani in The Big Sick
  • Denzel Washington in Roman J. Israel, Esq.
  • Betty Gabriel in Get Out
  • Allison Janney in I, Tonya
  • Sally Hawkins in The Shape of Water

Sean’s Favorite Performances:

  • Patrick Stewart & Hugh Jackman in Logan
  • Samuel L. Jackson as the voice of James Baldwin in I Am Not Your Negro
  • Timothée Chalamet in Call Me By Your Name
  • Jason Mitchell in Mudbound
  • Laurie Metcalf in Lady Bird
  • Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out 
  • Octavia Spencer in The Shape of Water

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Interview with Dee Rees & Charles King of Mudbound, 100th Episode, Inside Pop Quiz – IP 100

After two years, and thousands of hours of tv viewing, music listening and theater attending . . . Inside Pop’s 100th episode has arrived! Join us as we celebrate 100 episodes of pop culture obsession!

First up, we present our interview with director Dee Rees (Pariah, Bessie) and Charles King, Executive Producer, CEO and Founder of Macro. The pair sit down with Sean to discuss their new film, Mudbound; and in addition to sharing a behind the scenes view of their epic new film, they also discuss their unique working relationship; why they both choose to work in film AND television and their future plans to tell diverse stories.

Next, we celebrate our 100th episode with a special edition of the Inside Pop quiz called, ” You Don’t Know Me Inside Pop . . .Quiz!” Sean and Amita quiz each other on how well they know . . . their own podcast. Can you guess who has won the equivalent of the Inside Pop EGOT? Can you name all of the inductees in Sean’s ‘House of Hyperbole’? Play along to see if your attention span and your memory is better than ours.

And we present the 100th edition of the Big Sell. Sean’s rates Amita’s Big Sell from last week, the artist Makoto Azuma, and sells Amita John Legend’s cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock.”

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Stranger Things 2 premieres, 2 Years of Inside Pop, Produced By NY, BigSell30 Wraps – IP 98

We’ve come along way, baby! This week Inside Pop celebrates two years of weekly pop culture podcasting!

We start with a round-up of the Producers Guild of America’s Produced By NY conference. We attended this event along with 100s of other television and film producers and gathered information about some major upcoming projects including Black Panther, Mudbound, Marshall, The Post, Call Me By Your Name, The Shape of Water and more! And we share some great stories with you!

Then we review the first few episodes of Stranger Things 2. One of us is as happy as Dustin playing Dig Dug to be back with the gang from Hawkins. The other is worried the series may be in danger of repeating itself.

Finally we wrap our #BigSell30 day challenge and discuss some of the pop culture we consumed over the past 30 days. And Sean rates Amita’s Big Sell from last week (a photo project from Stefan Draschan) and Big Sells her on a new documentary about George Michael.

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