PopaHALLics #63 "Transformers (Not the Robots)"
The streaming options and books in this episode have one thing in common: The characters or real people face challenges or experiences that transform their lives, from a comet threatening life on Earth to an obsessive classics professor to a headless knight who vows to kill his attacker in a year. (You read that right.) Strap in as Steve and Kate discuss:
Streaming:
- "Don't Look Up," Netflix. This dark satire uses a planet-killing asteroid as a metaphor for mankind's inability to take serious action against climate change. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep and more star.
- "I'm Your Man," Hulu or rental. In this German romantic comedy, a female scientist reluctantly agrees to take part in an experiment living with the perfect man—a humanoid robot who looks like that guy from "Downton Abbey."
- "The Green Knight," rental. Loosely based on an epic poem, this film finds King Arthur's headstrong nephew Gawain (Dev Patel) embarking on a perilous quest.
- "Encanto," Disney +. Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the songs for this charming animated adventure about an "ordinary" girl trying to fit into her magical family.
Books
- "Miss Dior: a Story of Courage and Couture," by Justine Picardie. The muse for French fashion designer Christian Dior was his sister, who survived a Nazi work camp.
- "The Hunger" and "The Deep," by Alma Katsu. These novels exquisitely meld historical research and the supernatural—one about the ill-fated Donner Party, the other about the sinkings of the Titanic and its sister ship the Brittanic.
- "The Latinist," by Mark Prins. Power, ambition, and obsession play out in this novel inspired by the myth of Daphne and Apollo.
- "The Postmortal," by Drew Magary. This smart, funny, and scary novel examines how one man's life—and the world—changes when scientists discover a cure for aging.
You'll also learn the celebrities people think we look like. We're flattered AND confused.
