2024 – PopCult Reviews

Movie Review – Santa Sangre

Santa Sangre (1989)
Written by Alejandro Jodorowsky, Roberto Leoni, and Claudio Argento
Directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky

The first (and only, until this film) Alejandro Jodorowsky film I ever watched was The Holy Mountain. That was fourteen years ago and took place on a very eventful night. I was staying at a friend’s place. The following day, Ariana would arrive from Puerto Rico. That night before consisted of eating a very poorly made but extremely potent homemade weed cookie my friend had at his place, eating Indian food for the first time while extremely high, and then watching There Will Be Blood high as balls. We returned to his place, still stoned, and he popped in The Holy Mountain. The film certainly left a mark on me based on those circumstances.

Movie Review – A City of Sadness

A City of Sadness (1989)
Written by Chu T’ien-wen and Wu Nien-jen
Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien

I have to admit I do not know as much about Chinese history as I would like to. I’m going to guess that most people reading this, if they live outside of China, probably fall into that category, too. The relationship between mainland China and the island of Taiwan is complex and has not been made any easier due to Western interference. The political group that fled from the mainland to Taiwan was the Kuomintang, a nationalist organization that pushed far right-wing ideology. Hence, they were driven out by the Communists after the still-dominant party attempted to work the Kuomintang. Modeled after many Western fascist parties, Kuomintang brought their particular twisted worldview to Taiwan, which is what this film is about.

TV Review – The Sympathizer

The Sympathizer (2024)
Written by Park Chan-wook, Don McKellar, Naomi Iizuka, Mark Richard, Maegan Houang, and Anchuli Felicia King
Directed by Park Chan-wook, Fernando Meirelles, and Marc Munden

The portrayal of communism in Western media is fraught with contradiction. It has to be because to honestly present communism would mean capitalism would be critiqued in detail. Part of the ongoing American imperialist project is ensuring no cogent critiques of the dominant economic system happen. This means when communism is presented, it is always a brutal internment camp where people are tortured. This disregards the fact the United States has and continues to operate brutal internment camps where people are tortured. It seems that this behavior isn’t inherent to communism but something people seem to do regardless of the economic system they live under. While The Sympathizer starts out strong, its lead director steps aside three episodes in, and a very neoliberal centrist viewpoint leaves it as an imperfect creation.

Solo Tabletop RPG Actual Play – Sundered Isles Part Four

You can purchase Sundered Isles here.
You can purchase Starforged here.
You can purchase Sea of Sands here.

Read the previous chapter in Jadyn Farani’s journey here.

Oracle: Share Tool

Jadyn is roughly chucked into the torchlit basement cell by two of General Selima’s soldiers. The bar slams shut with a clink behind her. Standing up, dusting herself off, she notices a figure curled up in the corner – Qasim. The rest of the crew of The Erasmus has been split up into different parts of the dungeon. Jadyn rushes over to check on Qasim. He’s conscious but in poor health, his body continuing its transformation due to ingesting muqadas Essence over a year ago. Jadyn can tell he is not doing well and attempts to stabilize him.

Solo Tabletop RPG Actual Play – Mothership Part Three

Jerome pilots the boarding skiff from the patrol ship to the freighter, telling Lowry to keep radio contact up. All they need to do is locate Navarro and make sure she’s safe from herself and not harming anyone else. Jerome will search the freighter to see if he can find what Navarro is desperate to get. He reckons it can be used to get her to comply with questioning. Also, will you remember to feed Princess for me in two hours? Kent says they will do it.

Autism III

Autism I
Autism II

As of today, I am 43, and I would like to reflect and share on this day. I don’t know what else I can do.

Over the last nine months, I feel so much has crumbled away. Like many, I’ve watched as images from the genocide of the Palestinians come across my social media feeds. I can’t make myself look away. That feels gross. It feels like a denial. The least I can do is witness what others are being forced to endure. To witness it is nowhere close to experiencing it. I know I’ve harmed myself by seeing so much of it. I have seen the human body at all ages broken down in every possible way by other humans who see their victims as animals, as vermin. It is naive to act like these behaviors have been dormant since the Holocaust. There have been genocides across the planet almost constantly before & after. This is the first time I’ve seen it all so crystal clear unfolding before me.

Movie Review – The Killer (1989)

The Killer (1989)
Written and directed by John Woo

It felt like the film was over about fifteen minutes into The Killer. The amount of movie crammed into this opening felt like a full meal. I checked the time. 85 minutes to go. John Woo has never been a filmmaker I’ve rushed to see. Of his work, I’ve only watched Hard Boiled and Mission: Impossible 2 before this. I’m not a big action fan, but I enjoy that film genre when it is done well. Part of understanding Woo’s tone and how he approaches filmmaking can be seen in the direct English translation of this film’s title from its Chinese name – “Pair of Blood-Splattering Heroes.” If you’re the kind of person who sees that and says, “Hell yeah,” then you have found your director. My response is not as enthusiastic.

Movie Review – Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989)
Written by Pedro Almodóvar and Yuyi Beringola
Directed by Pedro Almodóvar

As he does in almost all his work, Pedro Almodovar delivered yet another provocative, gorgeous story centered on a woman and complications in her life. It would be easy to denounce this movie as “problematic” if you view art as a surface-level thing without facets and complexity. Almodovar is an exceptionally talented artist who knows this is a film about a profoundly gross relationship. The audience feeling unease throughout is intentional, and the ending is such a perfect note to go out on. The face of our lead shows a sudden realization through the haze of the intense bubble she’s been trapped inside. This is wrong, this is something very dark & twisted she’s trapped within.

Movie Review – The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover

The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover (1989)
Written and directed by Peter Greenaway

From its abrasive opening moments, you know you are in for a unique experience. English gangster Albert Spica (Michael Gambon) has his lackeys toss someone who has failed him out onto the streets as stray dogs wander over. The scene is flanked by a truck full of fresh seafood on one side and a truck of meat on the other. Spica proceeds to begin what will be an endless monologue, yammering in his Cockney dialect as if he is enchanted by hearing his own voice. He says nothing of import. He proceeds to strip & batter the poor man on the ground and then smear dog shit over his body, leaving him there to rot. Spica and his entourage move on to the restaurant he’s purchased, where the criminal believes he can hold court.

TV Review – The End of Evangelion

The End of Evangelion (1997)
Written by Hideaki Anno
Directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki and Hideaki Anno

Apparently, a large enough contingent of viewers were dissatisfied with the ending of Neon Genesis Evangelion, and creator Hideaki Anno produced this follow-up feature that exists parallel to that conclusion. From what I read, it sounded like Anno went back and forth between his original concept and some altered ideas. It is a very jarring experience for the central narrative to suddenly collapse into an internal dialogue between Shinji and mental projections of the important people in life. There’s also a meta-commentary on anime cliches that pops up and a weirdly upbeat ending. Several questions were left unanswered, so it was decided to go back and add more to the finale.