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Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'Trainwreck' And 'Ant-Man'

Amy Schumer and Bill Hader in <em>Trainwreck.</em>
Universal Pictures
Amy Schumer and Bill Hader in Trainwreck.

Two movies are up to bat this week for our conversation with our pal and producer emeritus Mike Katzif, and the bottom line: we like 'em both.

First up is Amy Schumer and Judd Apatow's Trainwreck, which I wrote about last week (and talked about on the air), but which we have more time to explore here. We talk about the movie's stance toward monogamy, its unavoidable Apatovian looseness, the charms of Bill Hader, the bold (and, for some of us, tear-inducing) vulnerability of Amy Schumer, and lots more. It's a good movie.

Also good: Ant-Man, Paul Rudd's introduction to superhero life. Despite the departure of Edgar Wright from the director's chair, we feel like this one has a lot to recommend it, from Rudd himself to a welcome light touch and enjoyable heist-movie bones.

As always, we close with what's making us happy this week. Stephen is happy because he's created a playlist based on a very specific work experience he'll be happy to explain. Glen is happy because he made it to New York to enjoy a coveted (by me) theatrical experience that he, too, will be happy to explain. Mike is happy about a new record that is, for the moment, completely free. And I am happy about heading out for a lot of television updates, which I'll be serving up for ... well, a couple of weeks. So hang in there.

Find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter: the show, me, Stephen, Glen, producer Jessica, also producer Kiana, and pal and producer emeritus Mike.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Linda Holmes is a pop culture correspondent for NPR and the host of Pop Culture Happy Hour. She began her professional life as an attorney. In time, however, her affection for writing, popular culture, and the online universe eclipsed her legal ambitions. She shoved her law degree in the back of the closet, gave its living room space to DVD sets of The Wire, and never looked back.