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Stephen Thompson Stephen Thompson is a host, writer and reviewer for NPR Music and Pop Culture Happy Hour. He appears frequently on All Songs Considered and NPR newsmagazines.
Washington, DC - May 03, 2016: Stephen Thompson CREDIT: Matt Roth
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Stephen Thompson

Monday

Neil Innes, Monty Python Collaborator And Rutles Member, Dead At 75

From left to right: John Cleese, Neil Innes, Michael Palin and Eric Idle dressed as Arthurian knights on the set of Monty Python and the Holy Grail in 1974. John Downing/Getty Images hide caption

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John Downing/Getty Images

Music News

Neil Innes, Monty Python Collaborator And Rutles Member, Dead At 75

The singer and writer performed in The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, appeared in Monty Python and the Holy Grail and later formed the Beatles pastiche, The Rutles, with Eric Idle.

Friday

'Little Women' Is A Dynamic Sister Act

Laurie (Timothée Chalamet) and Amy (Florence Pugh) in Greta Gerwig's adaptation of Little Women. Wilson Webb/Columbia Pictures hide caption

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Wilson Webb/Columbia Pictures

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Little Women' Is A Dynamic Sister Act

Greta Gerwig was nominated for an Oscar for directing 2017's Lady Bird. She's following it up with an adaptation of Little Women that features two of her Lady Bird stars, Saoirse Ronan and Timothée Chalamet. Ronan plays Jo, the free-spirited March sister. She's joined by Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, and Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern and Meryl Streep. Gerwig also wrote the script, which makes some changes to the story and the structure of Louisa May Alcott's book.

'Little Women' Is A Dynamic Sister Act

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Wednesday

'Cats' Is The Dirty Litter Box Of The Soul

Taylor Swift as Bombalurina in Tom Hooper's Cats. Universal Pictures hide caption

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Universal Pictures

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Cats' Is The Dirty Litter Box Of The Soul

What has ears, tails, Andrew Lloyd Webber music, and the Idris Elba/Taylor Swift duet you've been waiting for all your life? That's right, it's Cats, the new film adaptation of the musical that became a surprise smash in the 1980's. The movie directed by Tom Hooper, who also made the Les Miserables adaptation that won Anne Hathaway an Oscar. Cats wrestles with how to present a variety of cat characters, dance numbers, and even a drug-induced catnap.

'Cats' Is The Dirty Litter Box Of The Soul

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Friday

'Star Wars': The End Is... Sigh

Rey (Daisy Ridley) returns in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Jonathan Olley/Lucasfilm Ltd. hide caption

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Jonathan Olley/Lucasfilm Ltd.

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Star Wars': The End Is... Sigh

It's time to say goodbye to a story that began in 1977 with a movie then known as Star Wars. Nine films later, this branch of the saga concludes with Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker. In this chapter, director J.J. Abrams attempts the almost impossible by trying to bring all this in for a landing. Scavenger Rey, her friends Finn and Poe, and the mysterious Kylo Ren are all back for one last lap, and so are brief glimpses of many faces from movies past.

'Star Wars': The End Is... Sigh

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Wednesday

Our 15 Favorite Things Of 2019

It was undeniably the year of Lizzo. Bill McCay/Getty Images for iHeartMedia hide caption

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Bill McCay/Getty Images for iHeartMedia

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Our 15 Favorite Things Of 2019

We loved a lot of things in 2019. And now, as the year comes to a close, it's time to give you just a taste of some of our favorite things of the year. We've got movies, music, television, and theater. (Support your local station at donate.npr.org/happy)

Our 15 Favorite Things Of 2019

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Monday

Thursday

Wednesday

'Marriage Story': For Better Or Divorce

Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson in Marriage Story Wilson Webb/Netflix hide caption

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Wilson Webb/Netflix

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Marriage Story': For Better Or Divorce

What's the opposite of a love story? It might be the new Noah Baumbach film Marriage Story, starring Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson as a couple we meet when they're just starting their divorce. For the next two hours, we watch them argue and negotiate over how to separate and how to co-parent their young son. Marriage Story also stars Laura Dern and Ray Liotta as aggressive divorce lawyers and Alan Alda as a gentler hand who tries to give less combative representation. Baumbach both wrote and directed the film, which is now streaming on Netflix. And the film recently picked up six Golden Globe nominations.

'Marriage Story': For Better Or Divorce

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Monday

All Songs Considered: The Year In Music 2019

Clockwise from upper left: Burna Boy, Big Thief, Lizzo, Tyler, The Creator, Billie Eilish, Better Oblivion Community Center Courtesy of the artists hide caption

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Courtesy of the artists

All Songs Considered

All Songs Considered: The Year In Music 2019

Lizzo, Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X dominated the headlines this year, but 2019 was much more than that. We look back at the music we'll remember most and the marks it left on our cultural landscape.

ASC Year in Review 2019

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Friday

Settling The Scorsese: 'The Irishman'

Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Ray Romano in The Irishman. Courtesy of NETFLIX hide caption

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Courtesy of NETFLIX

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Settling The Scorsese: 'The Irishman'

The movies and the mob have made a winning combination for decades. The Godfather, Goodfellas, The Departed — and that's on top of television projects like The Sopranos. Now, Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese brings you The Irishman, and he's put together quite a cast. Robert DeNiro plays a hit man, Joe Pesci is his boss, Al Pacino is Jimmy Hoffa, and that's before you even get to Harvey Keitel, Bobby Cannavale, Ray Romano and others. In a sign of some of the changes shaking up the industry, The Irishman comes to you via Netflix, and is available to stream now. (Donate to a local station at donate.npr.org/happy)

Settling The Scorsese: 'The Irishman'

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Wednesday

Get Out Of Bed For 'The Morning Show'

Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston, and Steve Carel in The Morning Show. Courtesy of Apple TV Plus hide caption

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Courtesy of Apple TV Plus

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Get Out Of Bed For 'The Morning Show'

Apple TV Plus launched a few weeks ago, and its highest profile series was unquestionably The Morning Show. Apple spent a massive amount of money on it and landed a cast that includes Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell. It's the story of a morning news show that winds up in turmoil after the male anchor is fired following allegations of sexual misconduct. Aniston plays the female anchor left to pick up the pieces with a new partner, and Witherspoon is the local reporter who unexpectedly gets hired by the show after she goes on a rant while she's working at her previous job and the video goes viral.

Get Out Of Bed For 'The Morning Show'

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Tuesday

Friday

Play Your Cardigans Right And See 'A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood'

Tom Hanks stars as Mister Rogers in A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood. Lacey Terrell/Sony Pictures hide caption

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Lacey Terrell/Sony Pictures

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Play Your Cardigans Right And See 'A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood'

Who can possibly play Fred Rogers? That's a question that the new film A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood tries to answer with a performance from Tom Hanks as the beloved TV host. In the movie a journalist played by Matthew Rhys has a transformative experience with Rogers that reshapes his relationship with his troubled father. A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood is directed by Marielle Heller, who most recently made the Melissa McCarthy film Can You Ever Forgive Me? It uses unconventional techniques to place the journalist's story within Rogers' land of make believe.

Play Your Cardigans Right And See 'A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood'

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Wednesday

Get A Clue, Go See 'Knives Out'

Ana de Armas as Marta Cabrera and Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc in Knives Out Claire Folger/Lions Gate Films hide caption

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Claire Folger/Lions Gate Films

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Get A Clue, Go See 'Knives Out'

Whodunit? Was it Jamie Lee Curtis? Chris Evans? Michael Shannon? Don Johnson? Toni Collette? This is the question at the center of the marvelous new comedy Knives Out. The film is directed and written by Rian Johnson, of films like Looper and Brick as well as Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The stellar cast goes on and on to include Ana de Armas, Daniel Craig, LaKeith Stanfield, and, playing the man in the whodunit to whom it was done, Christopher Plummer.

Get A Clue, Go See 'Knives Out'

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