The Pop Culture Pundit

Kate’s Greats are awards given to movies, TV shows, and music that the author has viewed and/or listened to over the past month. These awards may celebrate underrated, overlooked, or obscure moments of pop culture that may not otherwise get the attention they deserve. Other times, they will celebrate the buzziest pop culture–but will always have a fresh take. Award categories may include, but are not limited to, ‘Goofiest Thriller’ and ‘Tiniest Mustache’ (the latter of which Timothée Chalamet wins by a landslide). May the best, worst, boldest, and weirdest win. 

Best Album Cover: Music, Fashion, Film (2026)

^{Charli XCX via YouTube}

How do you follow up an iconic album cover? By making another iconic album cover, of course. The artwork for Charli XCX’s new album Music, Fashion, Film is a very literal interpretation of its title, featuring singer John Cale, fashion designer Marc Jacobs, and director Martin Scorsese. Charli worked with Cale on her companion album to Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights; Marc Jacobs was at the 2026 Met Gala with actress Rachel Sennott, who starred in Charli’s “360” music video; and Martin Scorsese, of course, is one of the best directors of all time with features including Taxi Driver, The Wolf of Wall Street, and The Departed (the latter of which won Best Director). Brat may be dead, but pop culture is still thriving with Charli XCX by our side. 

Best Celebrity Wedding: Dua Lipa and Callum Turner

^{Universal Pictures via YouTube}

Wedding bells are in the air for so many celebrity couples this summer–not just Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce as rumors say. Pop singer Dua Lipa and perhaps-maybe future James Bond actor Callum Turner married in not one, but two separate ceremonies this past month. The way they met could be a literal rom com: both were reading the same book, Trust by Hernan Diaz, and happened to have just finished the same chapter, to which Turner allegedly said, “so we’re on the same page.” Lucky then, that Turner is starring in actual rom com this summer called One Night Only (which, in an intriguing but not-so-rom-com description has been called “The Purge but for getting laid.”) If it performs well at the box office, could we perhaps be seeing this power couple on the screen soon with Turner taking over as 007 and Dua Lipa singing the theme song? Pretty please, that would cool! 

Best Press Tour: Tomdaya Promoting Spiderman: Brand New Day 

^{Spider-Man via YouTube}

Remember what I said earlier about celebrities getting married? Actors Tom Holland and Zendaya secretly tied the knot earlier this year, and every time I see them doing interviews together it makes my day. Holland and Zendaya met on the set of the first MCU Spider-Man movie all the way back in 2017; nine years later, it feels full circle to see them now married. He has a nickname for her! They have coordinating outfits! But wait–there’s more! The couple is additionally starring in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, also coming out in July, so the power couple press tour is really just beginning. 

Best Running Joke in a Movie: Colman Domingo Having a Fake House Built Around Him, Disclosure Day 

The best part about Steven Spielberg’s new alien drama Disclosure Day is Emily Blunt, who brings incredible depth to her role as a meteorologist given the gift of feeling empathy so deep she can help contact aliens. But the funniest part of Disclosure Day is the fact that Colman Domingo’s character, Hugo, is having a model home built around him in nearly every scene he’s in and no one ever comments on this. In his first scene, the structure is just being built. But by the last one, there’s a full blown fake house sitting in a fire department so Emily Blunt’s Margaret can re-live her abduction to be in touch with her alien-given powers. It’s crazy, it’s incredibly detailed, and Colman Domingo’s voice is so calming I could listen to him read a phone book all day. Or, I guess since it’s the age of iPhone, my contacts list. 

Best Album: you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love by Olivia Rodrigo 

^{There are cats in this music video! Olivia Rodrigo via YouTube}

The last album I truly loved was probably brat in 2024 (yes, I did have a brat summer, did you?) Well, Olivia Rodrigo’s new album, you seem pretty sad…, has immediately vaulted itself into my favorite albums list because of its incredible scope and ambition. Tracking the rise and fall of an intense relationship, Olivia begins with the giddy, bubble-gum chewing “drop dead” and ends with the vulnerable “cigarette smoke” that fades away like a dying light. But there’s so much depth in-between with the soaring, piano-to-pop “stupid song,” Sex and the City-inspired “maggots for brains,” and the punk rock “expectations.” Olivia Rodrigo is immediately in the lead (in my books) for Album of the Year; and I just know the aforementioned “expectations” and “my way” will certainly be in my Spotify wrapped. Bravo.