Seth Harris

TV Review – The Sopranos Season 1

The Sopranos Season 1 (HBO)
Written by David Chase, Mark Saraceni, Jason Cahill, James Manos Jr., Frank Renzulli, Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess, Joe Bosso
Directed by David Chase, Dan Attias, Nick Homez, John Patterson, Allen Coulter, Alan Taylor, Lorraine Senna, Tim Van Patten, Andy Wolk, Matthew Penn, Henry J. Bronchtein

I was a high school student working at my local library when I first encountered the Sopranos. I think I was thumbing through the newest issue of Time or Newsweek we’d just had delivered and found a full-page ad announcing the premiere of the show. I was a little confused, being someone who only had seen television series on network television. The ad read, “Welcome to the family.” Tony Soprano stood in the center. To his left were the principal members of his crew, and to his right were the members of his family and his psychiatrist. I wasn’t sure if this was a serious drama or a sitcom about a mob boss. We didn’t have HBO at home, so I didn’t think much about it. In my freshman year of college, I probably became aware of the show’s popularity, but it wouldn’t be until around 2003 that I checked out the first season from the library and watched it. Life got in the way, and I never continued the series until now.

Weekly Wonderings – August 10th, 2021

Today I woke up and felt that pang of anxiety again that I hadn’t felt since October/November. I’ve learned my anxiety lives in my gut, so it’s this awful sick to my stomach feeling. I have complete empathy for anyone feeling mental health problems right now. The world is so goddamn terrible, and anyone we’ve chosen to lead us just seems unwilling to do anything about it. I don’t know what the immediate solution will be. I know long term we have to tear down the current structures. In the same way, we moved past feudalism, we must do the same with capitalism until there is real economic democracy in the world through socialism or some similar philosophy. But do we even have the time?

My 10 Favorite Saturday Night Live Cast Members

Throughout 46 seasons, Saturday Night Live has had over 160 cast members. There are ones that are very memorable due to the show spotlighting more often than others. There are ones that were on so briefly most people don’t even know they were on the program (Ben Stiller, Damon Wayans, Robert Downey Jr.). Some cast members are incredibly overrated (looking in Kate McKinnon’s direction), while others are solid MVPs that never got the praise they deserved (did someone say, Ana Gasteyer?). Here are my top 10 favorite cast members (in order of joining the show) of Saturday Night Live with my thoughts on why I love them and a tiny sample of their work.

PopCult Podcast Episode 10

Seth & Ariana look at the slate of films set for release in the latter half of 2021 and talk about their Top 5 Most Anticipated. Then we get into a review of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad.

We’d love to know what you thought of this episode so leave your comments here or leave a voice message on our Anchor page. We might share your comment on an upcoming episode of the show.

You can listen to the podcast here or on Spotify or Google Podcasts.

Comic Book Review – Something Is Killing the Children Volumes 1-3

Something is Killing the Children Volumes 1-3 (2020-2021)
Written by James Tynion IV
Art by Werther Dell’Edera

When it was first published, Something is Killing the Children was a five-issue limited series. However, the reader response was so overwhelmingly positive that instead of doing a series of mini-series, writer James Tynion IV was allowed to make it an ongoing by Image Comics. Like many series at Image Comics, especially since The Walking Dead became a show, this one feels like an extended pitch for the first season of a television program. It’s a rather contained setting with a limited number of recurring characters and lots of seeds for potential mysteries and subplots along the way. But is it any good?

TV Review – When was SNL Funny? Part 9 (of 9)

And so we come to the finale. This chunk of Saturday Night Live where they lost me. I’d watched at varying levels since I was a teenager, but by season 41, I just didn’t find it remarkably funny anymore. It certainly got worse when Trump became president, and the show pivoted into the most shallow critique of him, not on policy ever but instead on what a meanie he was or mocking his hair. Those sort of pointless jokes signals a lack of perspective, in my opinion, a writing staff that has been declawed or never had any, to begin with. All the while, the show made sure to hold up people like Jeff Bezos as heroic and pen jokes for Update criticizing citizen-led protests against Amazon warehouses. SNL affirmed its place as a comedy for the bourgeoisie.

Weekly Wonderings – August 3rd, 2021

So I was gone for the last week as we had a friend visiting from out of town and my wife had the whole week off. It was good to talk to someone who had recently sold a house, and she assured us it wouldn’t take long. Flash to today, our house went on the market yesterday, and there are three showings already scheduled for this afternoon and evening. I suspect we won’t have to wait long, and I’m sort of hoping for a bidding war. It’s not that fancy of a house, but I can dream. I suspect by this time next month I will be in another part of the world. When everything is wrapped up, papers signed, tickets purchased, I’ll share details about where I am going.

Documentary Round-Up – July 2021

The One and Only Dick Gregory
(2021, written & directed by Andre Gaines)

Before watching this documentary, I can’t say with confidence that I knew who Dick Gregory was. I’d certainly heard the name, but beyond that, details were sparse. But, if you were like me, then Gregory was a stand-up comedian born in St. Louis. He came up in the 1960s alongside the new wave of Black American comedians like Nipsey Russell & *gag* Bill Cosby. Gregory’s breakout performance came at the Playboy Club in Chicago as a stand-in for their regular comedian. This led to gigs on popular television programs and a general acceptance by the mainstream media industry.

PopCult Podcast Mini – Zola

It started as a thread on Twitter and now it is one of A24’s newest films.

Patron Pick – The Donut King

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 Donut King (2020)
Written by Carol Martori
Directed by Alice Gu

When my patron Matt first picked The Donut King, I wasn’t sure what angle to take for the review. This was before I watched the film, but it became evident to me how to talk about the documentary during my viewing. The film centers around the “too good to be true” promise of “the American Dream” and the impact chasing this unattainable myth has, particularly on immigrants & refugees, desperate to make something of their lives and raise up their families. The cost of the pursuit is poison in the veins, a direct product of the ravenous inhumane Capitalism American specializes in fomenting.