Pop Culture Happy Hour: Our Favorite Movies On Tubi

Date: February 26, 2026
Host: Stephen Thompson (NPR)
Guests: Rhianna Cruz (freelance music and culture journalist), Jordan Morris (writer, co-host of "Jordan Jesse Go" and "Free With Ads" podcasts)

Episode Overview

The Pop Culture Happy Hour panel dives into the world of Tubi, an ad-supported streaming platform with an "eclectic" collection of movies, ranging from obscure indies to classic films and cult genre gems. Host Stephen Thompson, along with guests Rhianna Cruz and Jordan Morris, share and discuss their top picks from the Tubi catalog, celebrating the unique, sometimes offbeat assortment that gives Tubi its “video store in the ’80s or ’90s” vibe.

Key Discussion Points & Film Recommendations

The Tubi Experience: Curated Chaos and Algorithmic Serendipity

• Jordan Morris on Tubi’s Catalogue:
  • “It is such a fun website. Cause it feels like you're browsing a video store in the 80s or 90s...Tubi just has this feeling of like, what is this? Hundreds of what? Okay, you know, you can just press play as long as you're fine with a bunch of car insurance ads that are a little louder than the movie.” (05:12)
• Rhianna Cruz on Discovery:
  • “Browsing on it and picking, you know, a random movie, it feels like you're getting, like, a curated screening. It's a movie that feels like it should be given to you by somebody else. And that's like, you have to watch Hundreds of Beavers.” (06:19)

Jordan Morris’ Picks

1. Hundreds of Beavers (03:19)

• Description:
  • 2024 indie black-and-white slapstick comedy directed by Mike Cheslick.
  • Follows a farmer plagued by mascot-suited beavers over two hours of visual gags and game logic.
• Why He Loves It:
  • “It looks like a Charlie Chaplin movie...one of those beautiful things that you would never see on Netflix. Peacock would never. It is so funny.” (03:31)
  • Unique to Tubi’s offbeat and welcoming selection.
• Memorable Moment:
  • “It's just farmer for two plus hours trying to kill as many beavers as possible. It looks like a Charlie Chaplin movie.” (03:57)
• Notable Quote:
  • “Tubi is if that bin became a website...It's kind of a curated madness, you know?” (07:21)

2. Color Out of Space (11:45)

• Description:
  • 2019 cosmic horror/body horror, based on H.P. Lovecraft, starring Nicolas Cage as an alpaca farmer.
  • Psychedelic meteor lands, reality unravels with “great practical makeup effects,” “trippy,” “weird,” and “very shocking.”
• Why He Loves It:
  • “Cage is just caging all over the place. He's at 10, but the movie is also at 10, and I think that's why it works so well. It's just hoot.” (13:08)
  • Appeals to fans of midnight movies or horror “sickos.”
• Fun Fact:
  • “It was directed by Richard Stanley, who was the original director of The Island of Dr. Moreau, starring Val Kilmer and Marlon Brando.” (12:56)
• Notable Quote:
  • “I don’t think we could do this segment without mentioning at least one Nic Cage movie. I would say that Nic Cage’s movies compose probably 30% of Tubi’s content.” (11:26)

Rhianna Cruz’s Picks

1. Mambo Italiano (07:42)

• Description:
  • Early-2000s gay romcom, “kind of similar to But I’m a Cheerleader.”
  • Centers on Angelo, son of Italian immigrants, navigating coming out to his family and romance with Nino.
• Why She Loves It:
  • “At the time it was refreshing and it still is to have a gay movie that felt real but also healthy. It's a very healthy movie. It's very sweet, honestly.” (08:22)
  • Paul Sorvino shines as Angelo’s dad.
• Notable Quote:
  • “It's really oversaturated in Technicolor. It kind of plays like a sitcom a little bit. Like the humor is very sitcom esque.” (08:41)
  • “Tubi’s algorithm is honestly really good and really based. Cause it gives me things that I...” (11:11)
• Why It’s Overlooked:
  • “The title might as well be that's Amore...I would not think what you just described. So that's a good example of a movie that a lot of people who would enjoy that movie are gonna miss it because the title suggests something it’s not.” (10:16–10:50)

2. Petey Wheatstraw (13:38)

• Description:
  • 1977 Rudy Ray Moore blaxploitation comedy/horror, aka “Petey, The Devil’s Son-In-Law.”
  • Petey, a comedian, is killed by rival comics, makes a deal with the devil to resurrect—on the condition that he marries the devil’s daughter.
• Why She Loves It:
  • “Every single thing I could tell you about this movie does not do it justice…I think he's one of America's most innovative and forward thinking gifts to the cinematic medium, frankly. And I think Petey Wheatstraw is the clear example of that.” (15:19 / 16:12)
  • Celebrates Tubi’s depth in Black cinema and blaxploitation genre preservation.
• Memorable Moments:
  • “The first scene...is Petey Weedstraw delivering like a rhyming prologue as what he does in Dolemite...There’s a graphic reenactment of Petey Wheat Straw's birth in which he comes out as a fully sized child. There's some genuinely horrifying images...yet it's one of the funniest things I've ever seen.” (16:00)

Why Tubi? Panel’s Reflections

• Jordan Morris:
  • “Tubi is great for a certain kind of movie lover who wants to watch The Apartment but also wants to watch Petey Wheatstraw.” (16:55)
• Rhianna Cruz:
  • “I could search the word ‘shark’ on Tubi and have 30,000 shark movies at my disposal to watch. I love that and that's why I love the platform so much.” (17:04)
• Panel Consensus:
  • Tubi evokes the feeling of spinning the dial on cable or rummaging through a bin of dusty VHS tapes—a source for the obscure, the classic, and “curated madness” (07:35, 16:55, 17:55).
  • Endure a few repetitive ads and you’re rewarded with a trove of unexpected gems.
• Notable Joke:
  • “Nick Cage is on Tubi a lot, but just below him is Ian Ziering.” (17:20)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “When you're describing it to people, it should sound like you're making it up as you go.”
  —Jordan Morris on Hundreds of Beavers (03:19)
• “Curated madness. I'm here for it.”
  —Stephen Thompson (07:35)
• “You had me at the But I'm a Cheerleader comparison.”
  —Jordan Morris, on Mambo Italiano (09:39)
• “Tubi’s algorithm is honestly really good and really based. Cause it gives me things that I...”
  —Rhianna Cruz (11:11)
• “Cage is just caging all over the place. He's at 10, but the movie is also at 10, and I think that's why it works so well.”
  —Jordan Morris on Color Out of Space (13:08)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:40] – Guests introduced
• [03:19] – Jordan’s pick: Hundreds of Beavers
• [06:16] – Rhianna’s experience seeing Hundreds of Beavers
• [07:42] – Rhianna’s pick: Mambo Italiano
• [11:26] – Jordan’s pick: Color Out of Space
• [13:38] – Rhianna’s pick: Petey Wheatstraw (and discussion on Black cinema on Tubi)
• [16:43] – Tubi as a trove for classics and cult gems
• [17:20] – Panel reflects on genre diversity (“shark movies”)
• [18:06] – Show wrap-up and invitation for listener recommendations

Conclusion

Pop Culture Happy Hour’s deep dive into Tubi highlights the platform’s role as a nostalgia-fueled, genre-rich haven for adventurous movie fans. The episode offers four standout, highly unique recommendations—spanning indie slapstick, queer romcoms, cosmic horror, and vintage blaxploitation—while championing the serendipity and fun of “just pressing play” on something you’ve never heard of. For movie lovers tired of algorithmically sanitized mainstream streamers, Tubi provides unpredictable, delightful chaos… for free (with a few memorable ads).

Find the PCHH team and share your own Tubi discoveries at facebook.com/PCHH.