Plus: 'Bridgerton,' 'Inside Out 2,' and 'House of the Dragon'

View this email online by Linda Holmes Welcome! It was the week when a major theater chain changed hands. It was the week of a big hot dog beef. And it was the week when a briefly reunited band warmed our hearts. Let's get to it. Under Paris is the hit shark movie of the summer I will be the first to admit I didn't even know there was a French shark movie until I saw it appear at the very top of Netflix's top 10 movies. And it's not as if it's hiding anything about its topic: It's called Under Paris. You know why? Because it's all about sharks under Paris. Specifically, it's about sharks in the Seine. Initially, there are just a couple of sharks. But then, there are a lot of sharks. And the movie is apparently an enormous hit, although/because it is, while not as silly as Sharknado, very silly. Under Paris (aka, to me at least, Sharknadeau) begins as a standard menacing-creature story. Sophia (Bérénice Bejo, Oscar nominee for The Artist) is a scientist studying sharks in the vicinity of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (a real, depressing thing). She and her team get a signal from one of their tagged sharks, named Lilith, and several members of the team go on a dive to obtain a blood sample. This dive does not go well (I mean, I suppose it goes OK for Lilith), leaving Sophia traumatized. Sofie Gheysens/Netflix A few years later, a shark-saving group in Paris alerts Sophia that they know where Lilith is: in the Seine. Now, sharks in the Seine are not a real thing, but perhaps the only upside of climate change is the expansion of options for disaster movies. After all, a movie like this can throw its hands in the air and say, "Honestly, you don't know what's possible now that you can go to the beach on Christmas, do you?" So: sharks in the Seine. Not just that, but multiplying sharks in the Seine. Of course, Paris has an arrogant, careless mayor who, like all government officials in shark movies, suffers from a pathological failure to be adequately afraid of sharks. She has only one priority: making sure that the upcoming triathlon goes off without a hitch. That's right: The Seine is infested with ravenous sharks at the very moment when crowds of swimmers are about to throw themselves into the Seine at a highly public event. Mon dieu! Now, if it were you or me, perhaps we think to ourselves, "Better to cancel the event in advance than have it canceled on account of all the swimmers being devoured," but no, the mayor of Paris has no such caution. For the first half or so, Under Paris unfolds like a fairly classy suspense film about a rarely seen threat. It does not look cheap in the way Sharknado did, for instance. It's quite competently shot and edited, it's tense, and it's frightening. In other words, it gets the job done. In the second half, the movie goes fully bazoo. Certain arguments about the sharks' intentions are resolved when some participants in those arguments are eaten. You get your first of a couple of overhead shots of a shark leaping out of the water, mouth first, the better to show you someone in its jaws (heh) who is thinking, "This seems bad." Crowds run in terror. Blood gushes. If you are watching the movie in the original French (which I recommend) and you have the English subtitles on, you will see a lot of the caption "[panicked screams]." All this to say: It's not hard to understand why this is such a hot property at the moment. It gives you half of a fairly normal movie and half of an absolutely wacky one. About half of it is suspense, and about half of it is full-on creature horror, incredibly bloody and with a very (very) high body count. And at the end, there's no question that just as these sharks are under Paris, the next ones will be under London (or New York, or wherever). If you're looking for a popcorn movie and you don't mind a lot of cartoonish gore, you could do a lot worse. Newsletter continues after sponsor message We Recommend The story of what happened to the three stars of The Blair Witch Project is frustrating, to say the least, and it's a good reminder that being part of a highly successful project doesn't always mean getting rich. We have an episode coming about the second half of the third season of Bridgerton, but in the meantime, tide yourself over with this Kathryn VanArendonk piece with the laudable (and accurate) title, "Bridgerton just can't pull off a climax." I will be sitting down this weekend to watch Brats, the new Hulu documentary about the "Brat Pack" actors of the '80s, directed by one of its members, Andrew McCarthy. Eric Deggans wrote a very thoughtful review of it this week. Listen to the Podcast Sponsor-Free Support your favorite pop culture junkies AND listen without sponsor interruptions with a subscription to Pop Culture Happy Hour+! Learn more and sign up at plus.npr.org/happy. Learn More What We Did This Week Dakota Johnson in the film Am I OK? Emily Knecht/Max   NPR's big summer movie preview is out, so get ready for all the big and small entries. Glen spoke with Margaret H. Willison about the new movie Am I OK?, which is streaming on Max. Aisha, Stephen, Glen and I ran down some of our favorite graduation moments in pop culture, and if you think I got into a little Beverly Hills, 90210 business, you are correct. The Apple TV+ adaptation of Presumed Innocent, starring Jake Gyllenhaal in the role once inhabited by Harrison Ford, was originally going to be my newsletter topic this week, but I realized I'd said most of what I had to say in our episode, where I chatted about it with Ronald Young, Jr. and Roxana Hadadi. Stephen, Aisha and Regina G. Barber talked about Pixar's Inside Out 2, and I personally know I will be happy to see Joy again. And of course, Glen is on your side in your most challenging moments, so he's here to remind you who's who and what's what as a new season of House of the Dragon starts this weekend. Don't Forget to Vote And a reminder: we want to hear your opinions about summer snacks. Are you Team Iced Tea or Team Lemonade? What’s the best treat at Dairy Queen? Click here to cast your votes. The results will be revealed at a virtual live event for Pop Culture Happy Hour+ supporters on Thursday, June 27 at 6:00 p.m ET. Sign up for PCHH+ at plus.npr.org/happyhour to get access to the event. (Once you’ve signed up for PCHH+, make sure to set up your special feed, where you’ll see a special bonus episode from May 31 with instructions on how to register for the live event. Email plus@npr.org for any extra assistance.) What's Making Us Happy Every week on the show, we talk about some other things out in the world that have been giving us joy lately. Here they are: Regina G. Barber: Delicious in Dungeon Aisha Harris: Tuesday Stephen Thompson: IDAHO’s new album Lapse Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+. Your support helps make our show possible and unlocks access to our sponsor-free episodes. What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: pchh@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Music, Books, Daily News and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Pop Culture Happy Hour emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy