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Critical and Curious

Charisse L'Pree

Exploring pop “trash” through the lens of media history and theory, as well as representations of race, class, and gender with the Ambassador of Pop Culture, Bob Thompson, and Charisse L'Pree, professors at the Newhouse School at Syracuse University.
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Top 10 Critical and Curious Episodes

Best episodes ranked by Goodpods Users most listened

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December Keanu

Critical and Curious

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08/17/19 • 78 min

In this episode, we discuss Generation Um... (2012) and Knock Knock (2015), two films from wildly different genres with common themes. In both films, Keanu plays an aging man eager to reclaim his youth opposite two younger women eager to offer themselves as solutions to his midlife crisis. Charisse L’Pree and Lani Diane Rich of Chipperish Media discuss the goals of film, gendered roles, and the deployment of rape fantasies in pop storytelling.

Trigger Warning: Discussion of rape.

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Kao Keanu

Critical and Curious

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07/25/19 • 75 min

In this episode, we discuss Keanu’s embrace of East Asian legends and the free will of warriors in Man of Tai Chi (2013) and 47 Ronin (2013). Despite geographic similarities, the two films are wildly different in their storytelling and authenticity: whereas the former features Keanu taking a back seat to the world of Tiger Chen in his directorial debut filmed mostly in Chinese, the latter features Keanu artificially inserted into Japanese history. However, he plays characters in both films that are narratively marked as mixed, thus engaging with his own multiracial roots, and inspiring the title of the episode: kao, or warrior in Hawaiian.

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Supernatural Keanu

Critical and Curious

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05/05/19 • 71 min

In this episode, we discuss Keanu Reeves’ other worldliness in Constantine (2005) and The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008). Both of these stories are adaptations of earlier content, and, in choosing these films, Keanu repeats his status as reluctant savior, continues to problematize the concept of free will, and embraces the jadedness that he has been “dress rehearsing” for decades. We talk about the philosophy of Keanu Reeves and the tricky business of auteur theory in these critically panned films.

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Teammate Keanu

Critical and Curious

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04/19/19 • 71 min

In this episode, we talk about Keanu Reeves’ venture into sports comedies between Matrix movies, including The Replacements (2000) and Hardball (2001). Both movies are loosely based on true events, establishing characters that are both dynamic and cliché. We talk about how Keanu talks back to the sports comedy genre, the use of specific songs in both films, and his ever present reluctant hero, which manifests in a complicated representation of the White Savior.

This episode is dedicated to the memory of Lorraine Branham, Dean of the Newhouse School at Syracuse University who passed on April 2. She was a wonderful captain who led our team over the past decade through some very trying times for the media industry.

It’s been an honor sharing the field of battle with you.

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Matrix Keanu

Critical and Curious

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04/01/19 • 61 min

In this episode, we celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Matrix with an extended analysis of Keanu Reeves’ character Neo across all 3 films in the franchise: The Matrix (1999), The Matrix Reloaded (2003), and The Matrix Revolutions (2003). We talk about the Wachowski’s masterpiece as a culmination of Keanu Reeves’ career to date and the series’ legendary status in popular culture.

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Romantic Keanu

Critical and Curious

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03/31/19 • 73 min

In this episode, we discuss A Walk in the Clouds (1995) and Feeling Minnesota (1996). The duality of Romantic Keanu is evident in these two films: one has an abundance of sentiment and the other, an absolute dearth. However, both films feature good guy Keanu saving the damsel in distress, often at his own peril, and the complex emotions from him that we have come to love. Lani Rich (chipperish.com) joins us to talk about the story structure of romances.

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Thriller Keanu

Critical and Curious

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03/24/19 • 69 min

In this episode, we discuss Johnny Mnemonic (1995) and Devil’s Advocate (1997). With these films, Keanu embraces projects in which he is deeply interested, taking pay cuts and criticisms to work with William Gibson, Robert Longo, and Al Pacino. We discuss the nature of free will and dependency, the Bible, and the duality of self in these two films and across all of Keanu’s films to date.

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Classic Keanu

Critical and Curious

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03/15/19 • 87 min

In this episode, we discuss Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), Much Ado About Nothing (1993), and Little Buddha (1994). In each of these roles, Keanu brings his own interpretation to classic characters, which is met with harsh critique and high praise. We talk about his accents, his brownface, and how these films capitalize (rightly or wrongly) on his blank innocence. NOTE: This episode runs long in order to address all three films.

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Cop Keanu

Critical and Curious

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03/08/19 • 58 min

Keanu Reeves capitulated into Hollywood in the early 1990s with Point Break (1991) and Speed (1994). These two roles established him squarely and a thoughtful action hero. We discuss the psychological backstory in Point Break and the lack of in Speed, the evolution of Keanu’s Everyman, and the metaphor of Los Angeles on screen.

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John Wick Keanu

Critical and Curious

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09/03/19 • 77 min

In the final episode, we discuss Reeves’ newest long-term project, John Wick with three films to date, John Wick (2014), John Wick Chapter 2 (2017), John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum (2019). We explore the fetishization of violence, the complexity of forgiveness and vengeance, and the march toward absurdity that inevitably accompanies franchise films. With John Wick, Keanu proves that he is the hardest working man in show business, laying bare his kinesthetic acting methodology and his commitment to the craft.

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  • FAQ

    How many episodes does Critical and Curious have?

    Critical and Curious currently has 38 episodes available.

    What topics does Critical and Curious cover?

    The podcast is about Media, Popculture, Podcasts, Education, Movies and Tv & Film.

    What is the most popular episode on Critical and Curious?

    The episode title 'December Keanu' is the most popular.

    What is the average episode length on Critical and Curious?

    The average episode length on Critical and Curious is 55 minutes.

    How often are episodes of Critical and Curious released?

    Episodes of Critical and Curious are typically released every 8 days, 6 hours.

    When was the first episode of Critical and Curious?

    The first episode of Critical and Curious was released on Oct 1, 2018.

    Show more FAQ

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