The messages students receive through popular media such as movies, television, the internet, and music videos have a powerful influence and can shape their thinking. A national survey of media use by 8- to 18-year-olds found the average adolescent spends over seven and a half hours daily with entertainment media (KFF 2010). Rather than viewing popular media as competition, teachers must use students' experiences to enhance science instruction. With precise planning, a teacher can create meaningful learning opportunities while avoiding the dull, cliched "movie day." This article describes the use of popular media to enhance instruction of simple machines and energy transfer. Used effectively, popular culture can foster active thinking at key points in a lesson sequence, such as introductory pretest, formative review, homework practice, application, extension, or even summative assessment. (Contains 2 figures and 2 online resources.)