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Spring 2024 Digest

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Patron Pick – Gaza Mon Amour [Bekah]
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Patron Pick – Betty Blue [Bekah]
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PopCult Reviews is place to take deep dive into media & culture from a Left perspective. This isn’t content coming from a lofty, complicated, academic point of view but accessible reviews and analysis. We’re here to celebrate the good stuff and put a critical lens to the media that has saturated culture. Patreon is the best way to show your support for the work we do here. More details are below.

TV Review – Northern Exposure Season Two

Northern Exposure Season Two (1991)
Written by Robin Green, Henry Bromell, Andrew Schneider, Diane Frolov, Ellen Herman, and David Assael
Directed by Stuart Margolin, Sandy Smolan, Nick Marck, Steve Robman, Rob Thompson, Bill D’Elia, and David Carson

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a deftly handled realignment on a show as I have with Season Two of Northern Exposure. While Season One wasn’t terrible, it was pretty one-note until the end. For the most part, the show was a fish-out-of-water story about Joel Fleishman (Rob Morrow), an NYC doctor transplanted to the remote environs of Alaska. There’s only so much you can do with that premise, and by season two, the showrunners understood this and pivoted away from making every episode center on that concept. What we get instead is a wonderfully written & performed ensemble piece that is clearly influenced by the flights of fancy found in shows like Moonlighting.

Movie Review – To Be Or Not To Be

To Be Or Not To Be (1942)
Written by Edwin Justus Mayer
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch

When To Be Or Not To Be was released in theaters, the public wasn’t sure how to feel. It was a film about Europe under the control of the Nazis, but it was also a comedy. Beloved comedian Jack Benny was even dressed up as one as part of a complex plan to trick the Nazis. Benny’s father walked out of the theater in disgust, seeing his son wearing that uniform. Eventually, the actor’s father was convinced to return and ended up watching this film 46 times over its run in theaters. However, some critics found the film to be in bad taste, especially a scene where Benny shaves a dead Nazi to help keep the ruse going. They also felt the film’s setting, Warsaw, made light of the bombing of that city. Lubitsch would always emphasize that his goal was to mock the ideology of Nazis while poking fun at the often shallow nature of actors. I would argue he accomplishes both things exceptionally well.

PopCult Podcast – Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World/Dad & Step-Dad

A whirlwind day in the life of a Romanian woman hustling & grinding to stay afloat. A lazy weekend with two men concerned with the upbringing of a son they share. These strange films make up the podcast this week.

Solo Tabletop RPG Actual Play – CY_Borg Part Two

CY_Borg (Free League Publishing)
Written and designed by Christian Sahlén and Johan Nohr

You can purchase CY_Borg here

You can download the CY_litary De.file_ment solo rules here

Read Part One of Bell’s journey here

Bell descends the rickety metal stairs hidden inside the holobox and emerges into quite an impressive lair. The space has been fine-tuned to suit the needs of its single inhabitant. A chair swivels around, and there she sits, Wick. “Saw you on the CCTV,” she says. “You look like a desperate one. What is it you need?”

Comic Book Review – Daredevil & Elektra Volumes Two & Three: The Red Fist Saga

Daredevil & Elektra Volumes Two & Three: The Red Fist Saga (2023)
Reprints Daredevil (2023) #6-10 & 11-14
Written by Chip Zdarsky
Art by Rafael De Latorre, Marco Checchetto, Manuel Garcia

Despite this being Chip Zdarsky, there was so much of the final act that felt like a totally different direction and tone. And it didn’t work for me. He has leaned heavily into the religious aspects of Matt Murdock, from his strange, retconned friendship with Goldberg to the constant talk of God’s will and prophecies. I get the sense that Zdarsky wanted to play with all the classic Daredevil toys, and this was him getting the Hand out of the toy box along with a few villains, smashing them together while going “pew pew.” I say that because so much substance is lacking here. It feels like a greatest hits album of Daredevil tropes and characters rather than something that moves the hero forward meaningfully. I don’t necessarily blame Zdarsky for that; rather, it is the corporate comic book tendency to allow characters to stagnate and never allow them to change.

Solo Tabletop Review & Actual Play – Notorious: Outsiders Part One

Notorious: Outsiders (Always Checkers Publishing)
Written and designed by Jason Price
Art by Torben Bokemeye

You can purchase Outsiders here

Notorious was one of my first solo tabletop RPGs I played here on the blog in 2023, so when I saw the expansion sequel Outsiders had come out it seemed natural to play. For the unfamiliar, this solo game series takes place in a universe that doesn’t hide its Star Wars influences. You play a nomad, a bounty hunter, who picks up contracts and hunts down their targets on a variety of planets. Much of the gameplay is the same with Outsiders adding more Nomad classes, planets, species, encounters and a Trilogy Mode that incorporates both game’s materials.

Movie Review – Ninotchka

Ninotchka (1939)
Written by Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, and Walter Reisch
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch

Ninotchka is a perfect example of Western anti-communist propaganda. The impetus of this film came from a three-sentence short story written by Jewish Hungarian author Melchior Lengyel. The story went like this: “Russian girl saturated with Bolshevist ideals goes to fearful, capitalistic, monopolistic Paris. She meets romance and has an uproarious good time. Capitalism not so bad, after all.” I can also point to evidence that the U.S. government acknowledged this was anti-Soviet propaganda because when MGM attempted to re-release it during World War II, it was suppressed. After all, the USSR was our ally. It is informative to look at archived material from that time, particularly Western publications like Time and Life magazines, as they often spoke glowingly about the Soviets and even Stalin. It seems they suddenly became “evil” when the United States decided to pivot post-war for their own gain.

TV Review – Foundation Season One

Foundation Season One (AppleTV+)
Written by David S. Goyer, Josh Friedman, Olivia Purnell, Lauren Bello, Leigh Dana Jackson, Marcus Gardley, Caitlin Saunders, Sarah Nolen, and Victoria Morrow
Directed by Rupert Sanders, Andrew Bernstein, Alex Graves, Jennifer Phang, and Roxann Dawson

You’ve bought a reprieve, but war with Empire is inevitable. In the meantime, remember this day, remember what we’re striving towards. I know a thousand years can seem like an eternity, but it’s the blink of an eye when measured against the whole of human history, and it could so easily slip through our fingers if we’re not vigilant. – Hari Seldon (Jared Harris)

Movie Review – Angel

Angel (1937)
Written by Samson Raphaelson and Frederick Lonsdale
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch

Alfred Hitchcock was one of the directors who acknowledged Ernst Lubitsch’s influence on them. These filmmakers made very different types of movies, but sophistication was a common thread. They shied away from exploitation and tried to make pictures that challenged the audience’s intellect – one doing it comedically and the other through suspense. I think Angel is the most Hitchcockian Lubitsch film I’ve seen. While watching it, I was reminded of Vertigo. At the heart of this movie is a woman pretending to be someone else while keeping her private life hidden away. There is a man who pursues her out of curiosity. It’s not exactly like that classic Hitchcock film, but shares some structural threads.

Movie Review – The Merry Widow

The Merry Widow (1934)
Written by Victor Léon, Leo Stein, Ernest Vajda, and Samson Raphaelson
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch

By the mid-1930s, Hollywood was worried by the talk from Washington, D.C., about the content of their films. The puritanical didn’t like what they saw coming from the West Coast, and discussions surrounding potential censoring had started. To head that off, the film industry chose to self-regulate and had then-Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) president Will H. Hays lead the development of a list of restrictions the studios would agree to. Key among these was the removal of nudity (explicit or suggested) or “any inference of sex perversion.” These were among the Don’ts, but there was also a list of twenty-six “Be Carefuls” which included anything related to sex. Thus began an era where American cinema failed to acknowledge a primary tenant of the human experience. But before that was rolled out, we got one of the most expensive & impressive pre-code movies.