December 2021 – Page 2 – PopCult Reviews

Movie Review – C’mon C’mon

C’mon C’mon (2021)
Written & Directed by Mike Mills

I’ve never understood the mentality of older people to look down on children. In recent years, young people’s thoughts have been fundamental to me as it is apparent that the generation in power has no idea how to get us out of our current problems. I don’t think it’s because of my job teaching, because I have met many teachers who view young people with great disdain. It’s possibly attributed to being surrounded by incompetent adults as a child that I’ve ended up in this place. Mike Mills seems to also be interested in hearing what young people think, and his latest film is all about really hearing children’s views on the world, being confident that a young person can handle the heaviness life can bring.

Movie Review – Quo Vadis, Aida?

Quo Vadis, Aida? (2021)
Written & Directed by Jasmila Žbanić

In July 1995, Bosnian forces took the city of Srebrenica. This was part of the Bosnian War, a three-year civil war that followed the dissolution of Yugoslavia. Ethnic and nationalist groups fell into conflict; proto-fascist forces targeted Muslim populations. The Bosnian War is a complicated subject to talk about, just purely from how complex the internals of these regions are. It was never a clear war with one side versus another, but lots of smaller players as well. Quo Vadis, Aida? tells a very personal story about one of many brutal events that saw the mass culling of people while the United Nations/NATO seemed powerless to do anything. Through this story, we’re forced to contemplate what it would be like to then live beside the very people responsible for such swaths of deaths.

Movie Review – Nightmare Alley (2021)

Nightmare Alley (2021)
Written by Guillermo del Toro and Kim Morgan
Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Having just watched the original Nightmare Alley a week ago, I was a little uncertain how I’d feel about this remake. Guillermo del Toro, like the Wachowskis, is a filmmaker I respect but don’t necessarily enjoy much of their work. It’s clear del Toro is presenting his vision without many studio-directed tweaks and cuts. I’ve begun to think of him as a more thoughtful Tim Burton, someone whose style is matched by the substance of his work. With Nightmare Alley, he comes to the table with a solid narrative to work with. He even manages to go with the novel’s original, bleaker conclusion than the 1947’s softened conclusion. However, the movie feels too sterile due to an over-reliance on modern digital cinematography.

Movie Review – The Matrix Resurrections

The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
Written by Lana Wachowski, David Mitchell, and Aleksandar Hemon
Directed by Lana Wachowski

It came as a surprise when I saw a new Matrix film in production. It seemed like a film series that, while successful, was done. Yet, Lana Wachowski decided to make a stand-alone film that revisits this world. I would argue that this doesn’t work as a coherent, cohesive movie but is a fantastic piece of therapy put on the screen. What I mean by that is that Lana has stated in interviews that the idea for Resurrections came out of her grief following the death of her parents. She expressed that she felt such an aching loss from their passing and found herself drawn to two of her favorite characters: Neo and Trinity. In this way, Resurrections is part of Lana’s healing process, and thus I enjoyed it more than most big-budget movies I’ve seen in a while.

Comic Book Review – Black Hammer ’45/Black Hammer-Justice League

Black Hammer ’45 (2019)
Written by Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes
Art by Matt Kindt

Black Hammer/Justice League: Hammer of Justice (2020)
Written by Jeff Lemire
Art by Michael Walsh

Black Hammer has been a fascinating experiment in superhero fiction, helmed by the immensely talented Jeff Lemire. Starting in 2016, he created a narrative about superheroes trapped in a small town who have to hide their powers. From there, he expanded and created a larger universe that serves as his personal commentary on all sorts of subgenres and archetypes within American comics. There have been some comparisons to Watchmen, but I don’t really think there are many similarities other than one writer’s voice at the center. Lemire has much more reverence for the medium than Alan Moore did or does. With both of these mini-series, Lemire can play around with tropes and, in one instance, DC’s superhero stable of characters.

Movie Review – The Matrix Revolutions

The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
Written & Directed by Lana and Lily Wachowski

And so the Matrix films came to a close (for a time) with this third picture. Revolutions was filmed back to back with Reloaded, taking a cue from Peter Jackson’s recent Lord of the Rings marathon shoot. However, there’s a distinct split in the feel of the two movies. Reloaded was packed to the brim with spectacle inside the Matrix, while Revolutions spends very little time in that world compared to the other two movies. Revolutions rushes towards its climax, leaving some questions left hanging. It also chooses to spend a lot of time with characters we don’t know that well. In the end, it took the wind out of the sails that the first movie had built up so well and would leave the series a semi-cult classic.

Movie Review – The Matrix Reloaded

The Matrix Reloaded (2002)
Written & Directed by Lana and Lily Wachowski

After the unexpected success of The Matrix, it was clear to all parties involved they were going to make more. The Wachowskis had initially toyed with the idea of expanding the story but didn’t necessarily have every detail hammered out. To say The Matrix Reloaded builds on the first movie would be an understatement. It is chock full of everything from the first picture ratcheted up a thousand percent. That means more ambitious action set pieces and also more philosophical talking, both showcasing a level of indulgence that is incredibly satisfying but also a tad disappointing. As is the case with almost all media, there’s something to be said for budget constraints and creators being forced to be creative. When you get access to high-end special effects tools, that can lead to movies that get lost in themselves.

Comic Book Review – Strange Adventures

Strange Adventures (2021)
Reprints Strange Adventures #1-12
Written by Tom King
Art by Mitch Gerards and Doc Shaner

Tom King’s work is such a perfect distillation of the current state of mythic media in America today. On the surface, it looks incredible; he has some of the best artistic collaborators out there right now. Mitch Gerards delivered some gorgeously dynamic work in Mister Miracle and continues here. Alongside Gerards, handling flashbacks is MVP Doc Shaner. In an interview, King stated that Shaner draws comics the way people imagine they should look. He is definitely right on that one; it’s a beautiful combination of classical forms and sparks of more modern comics art. You will love each page of this series as it presents some gorgeous visuals. Yet, King himself is a troubling figure. He’s become a punching bag for the eye-willingly ignorant comicsgate right-wing morons. They are right to not like him, but they do so for all the wrong reasons.

Movie Review – The Matrix

The Matrix (1999)
Written & Directed by Lana and Lily Wachowski

There are likely few other films in the last 25 years to have had such a profound effect on the culture. While The Matrix trilogy is met with mixed feelings in the years that have ensued, its powerfully iconic look was immediately reflected back by the media at the time of its release. In the early 2000s, it was pretty common to see some aspect of the film’s “bullet time” effect parodied in film and television. Even 2021’s Space Jam: A New Legacy includes a moment referencing the opening sequence of The Matrix. It had been a very long time since I’d watched these films; I fell into the camp of people who don’t hate them but just weren’t amazed like others were. My personal Wachowksi favorite is Speed Racer which I thought of while watching these three movies.

Patron Pick – The World of Us

This is a special reward available to Patreon patrons who pledge at the $10 or $20 a month levels. Each month those patrons will get to pick a film for me to review. They also get to include some of their own thoughts about the movie, if they choose. This Pick comes from Matt Harris.

The World of Us (2016)
Written & Directed by Yoon Ga-eun

South Korean cinema consistently surprises me with how well-made it is. It shouldn’t because I’ve been seeking out and watching Korean films for around 14 years. Because movies are so dominated by American-made fare, it’s easy to forget how excellent other cultures are at producing films. The World of Us was a movie that was nowhere near my radar until suggested by Matt as his Patron Pick for December 2021. I did a little research before watching it, and it’s a film cited by Bong Joon-ho when asked about contemporary movies from his country that he recommends. I had no real idea what to expect but knew this would likely be another fantastic picture.