Year: 2017

PopCult Book Club July 2017 Review

The Fisherman (2016, Word Horde)
Written by John Langan

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Abe lost his wife to cancer after only two years of marriage. Dan lost his wife and two children in a car accident. These two men have bonded in their grief by fishing in and around the Catskills and the Ashokan Reservoir. One day Dan suggests they try Dutchman’s Creek, a body of water Abe isn’t familiar with and can’t seem to find on any of his maps. Dan seems to know where the creek is and on a rainy Saturday morning, they head out. A fateful stop at a diner in the area leads to them to hear the story of how Dutchman’s Creek got its name and a warning to stay away from this place.

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Movie Review – Furious 7

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Furious 7 (2015)
Written by Chris Morgan
Directed by James Wan

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In the wake of the events of Fast & Furious 6, the crew is being hunted by Deckard Shaw, the brother of the previous villain. Deckard starts his reign of terror in Tokyo, taking responsibility for the death of Han back in Tokyo Drift. Hobbs is next on the list, and he survives, warning Dominic Toretto to protect his people. A covert ops team with the U.S. government offers to help Dom track down Shaw if he aids them in obtaining a computer program called God’s Eye. Created by a hacker Ramsey, the program will use all digital devices on the planet to find whomever you want. Ramsey has been abducted by a mercenary named Moses Jakande who wants to know where she has stashed the God’s Eye. So pretty much your standard simple action movie.

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Twin Peaks: The Return – Episode 11 Breakdown, Thoughts, and Analysis

Part 11
Written by Mark Frost & David Lynch
Directed by David Lynch

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A trio of young boys play catch outside their home. The ball rolls across the road, and the eldest goes to retrieve, only to find a broken and bloodied Miriam crawling out of the woods. So she survived the attack by Richard Horne which makes her able to testify against him one day.

Over at the Fat Trout Trailer Park, Becky receives a phone call telling her Steven was seen with another woman. She calls Shelly in a rage saying she needs Shelly’s car and gets a handgun she has hidden away. Becky steals the car when her mother arrives, but Shelly hangs onto the hood only to be thrown. Carl Rodd finds Shelly and gets her a ride back to the Double R. We learn Bobby is Becky’s father. Carl radios Maggie at the PD and gets Shelly in contact with Bobby.

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Comic Book Review – Deathstroke Rebirth Vol.1

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Deathstroke Vol.1: The Professional
Written by Christopher Priest
Art by Joe Bennett & Carlo Pagulayan

deathstroke vol 1Some call him a mercenary. Some call him an antihero. But as his partner Wintergreen states in this collection, Slade Wilson is always going to be a villain. And he is a villain with a complicated history. He was once married with two sons, Grant and Joseph. His life as the assassin Deathstroke led to an enemies list that stretches for miles and one of these enemies targeted his family. Around the same time, he learned of a daughter he had with a Hmong sex worker and headed off to Southeast Asia to find her. In the present day, Slade reels from losing one son, having one son near murdered, the collapse of his marriage, and the fractured relationship with his estranged daughter Rose. Rose is a pretty tough character in her own right, a clairvoyant killer called Ravager. Slade decides he wants to bond with his kid and what better way than to investigate who put a hit out on her?

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Movie Review – Fast & Furious 6

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Fast & Furious 6 (2013)
Written by Chris Morgan
Directed by Justin Lin

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Dom and Brian arrive at the hospital just in time for Mia’s birth. Life is going well for the Toretto clan in the wake of the Rio job. Dom is living with Elena and starting over. Everything is flipped upside down when Hobbs shows up with a photo of Letty taken days prior. Letty is in the employ of international terrorist Owen Shaw and is the hook Hobbs needs to get Toretto’s crew to help him out. The team travels to London where they begin to uncover a large scale plan to construct a device that could cripple an entire nation’s defense network. The clock is ticking as Dom attempts to get Letty back and stop Shaw’s plans in their tracks.

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Twin Peaks: The Return – Episode 10 Breakdown, Thoughts, and Analysis

Part 10
Written by Mark Frost & David Lynch
Directed by David Lynch

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I wouldn’t say this episode does much to further the mysteries of the series so far. Like last week’s episode, this is tying together the plots and weaving it all together.

We start with Richard Horne paying a visit to Miriam, the school teacher who witnessed his hit-and-run. She stays inside her trailer home telling Richard she’s already told the police and has sent a letter to Sheriff Truman detailing her account of the event. Richard barges into her home and beats her mercilessly off camera. He leaves the trailer with the gas oven running and a candle lit. A quick call is made to Deputy Chad, who is working with Richard on the drug trade, and he’s told to intercept the mail at the Department.

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Movie Review – War for the Planet of the Apes

War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
Written by Mark Bomback & Matt Reeves
Directed by Matt Reeves

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Following the events of the previous film, a military unit is now hunting Caesar’s community as they attempt to live their lives in peace in the redwood forests outside of San Francisco. The film opens with a horrific ambush on the jungle outpost, and Caesar attempts to be merciful in dealing with the captured soldiers. This backfires, and more tragedy strikes the apes. Finally, Caesar can take no more. He heads out with some trusted allies to find the Colonel behind these attacks and end the conflict once and for all. There are surprises along the way as he learns more about the Simian Flu and its effects on humans as well as gaining new allies. All this comes to a head when Caesar finds the outpost of the Colonel and learns his plans for apes and his fellow humans.

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Movie Review – Fast Five

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Fast Five (2011)
Written by Chris Morgan
Directed by Justin Lin

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Dominic Toretto is on his way to prison when Brian O’Conner and Mia show up to bust him out. Months later, Brian and Mia show up in Rio de Janeiro to meet up with Vince, from The Fast & The Furious. Dom is on his way, and Vince has a job involving hijacking a train for cars belonging to local crime kingpin Reyes. Turns out one of these cars actually holds vital information to Reyes’ drug empire and Dom uses this as an opportunity to get rich. The DEA was transporting the cars on the train and want their evidence back. They dispatch Agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and his team to recover the car and take down Toretto and crew. To pull off the heist of Reyes’ fortune, Dom is going to need help and calls in Gisele, Han, Tej, Roman Pearce, Leo, and Santos. All of these people come together to make an insanely crazy action movie.

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The Revisit – Donnie Darko

Donnie Darko (2001)
Written & Directed by Richard Kelly

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Donnie Darko is a troubled teenage boy living in Middlesex, Virginia. He has bouts of chronic sleepwalking and sees a psychiatrist for his many emotional problems. His parents constantly worry about him while trying to raise his two sisters, his mother especially has Donnie on her mind at all times. Then a strange twist of fate occurs. An airplane jet engine crashes down on the house, right on top of Donnie’s room. However, he has been pulled from sleep, wandering to the local golf course where he encounters Frank, a man wearing a ghoulish bunny rabbit suit. Donnie is told the world will end by the close of October and from there he is encouraged to commit acts of vandalism that are seemingly random. However, there is a pattern to all the things Frank has Donnie doing and only, in the end, will the truth be revealed.

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Movie Review – Fast & Furious

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Fast & Furious (2009)
Written by Chris Morgan
Directed by Justin Lin

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Five years have passed since The Fast & The Furious, and Dominic Toretto has set up shop in the Dominican Republic. His girlfriend Letty and partners, including Han from Tokyo Drift, are hijacking fuel tankers for money. The heat has increased too much, so the crew disbands and Dominic decides he will leave Letty to draw the heat off of her. Months later, while working Panama City, he learns that Letty has been killed and returns to Los Angeles to attend her funeral in secret. At the same time, Brian O’Connor has inexplicably been allowed to become an FBI Agent despite a continued pattern of lawbreaking. He is pursuing an arms dealer named Braga who wouldn’t you know it, is connected to Letty’s death. Plus, Brian and Mia rekindle their relationship from the first film, because he super serious didn’t mean to betray them all and really loves her.

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