Seth Harris

Movie Review – Prospero’s Books

Prospero’s Books (1991)
Written by Willliam Shakespeare & Peter Greenaway
Directed by Peter Greenaway

I’ve always enjoyed The Tempest most of all Shakespeare’s comedies. I think it’s a fun, beautiful celebration of Shakespeare’s work in the theater. This isn’t a unique analysis on my part, but it is a widely accepted reading of the play. Prospero is the Bard; this island is his stage, and the magic he employs is really just imagination & writing. The story seems to be a revenge tale at the start but becomes a celebration of life by the end. Our protagonist realizes the revenge he seeks is not as important as the happiness his child could have, so he cedes to the future rather than dwells in the past.

Solo Tabletop RPG Review & Actual Play – Everspark Part Five

Read the previous chapter here

I think this is a good point in the story where my Spark of Qazid Icebreath’s Journey kicks in, which I have written up below.

N – Qazid Icebreath’s Journey
A – Make a Fate Check, advancing on unfavorable results or with failed Skill Checks.
C – Only from the second ray forward.
H – Jump to a scene of Qazid wreaking havoc on Slumbering Bay on his way to the Whispering Mountains
O – Qazid is intercepted by the Imperial Navy and appears to sink to the bottom of the sea
S – None
Qazid Icebreath’s Journey – 0/5

Fate Check roll: Has Qazid been spotted recently? The higher, the closer he is. Rolled 19.
Yes, and he has obliterated a trio of naval ships in the area.
Qazid Icebreath’s Journey – 1/5

PopCult Podcast – Babygirl/All We Imagine As Light

A female CEO becomes entangled with a dominant young man risking her career. Two Indian women struggle to make a life in Mumbai.

Comic Book Review – Iron Man by Christopher Cantwell Part Two

Iron Man: Books of Korvac III – Cosmic Iron Man (2022)
Reprints Iron Man (2020) #12-19
Written by Christopher Cantwell
Art by Angel Unzueta, Cafu, Ibraim Roberson, Julius Ohta, and Lan Medina

Iron Man: Source Control (2022)
Reprints Iron Man (2020) #20-25
Written by Christopher Cantwell
Art by Angel Uzueta

There’s a new type of superhero story on the scene now. Well, it’s “new” because it’s only been prevalent for about a decade. I think it started with writers like Tom King, who, if you regularly follow this blog, you’ll know I’m not a fan of. His great concepts hook me, but the execution is woefully insufficient. These are stories where the writer seems to impose themselves onto the protagonist somehow, and I can honestly say most comic writers aren’t as interesting as people. Alan Moore or Grant Morrison can get away with it because they are incredible writers, so any self-referential nods are brief and don’t interrupt the greater narrative. Christopher Cantwell falls in the “not that interesting” camp as he turns Iron Man into such a story during this run.

Movie Review – The Taming of the Shrew

The Taming of the Shrew (1967)
Written by William Shakespeare, Franco Zeffirelli, Paul Dehn, and Suso Cecchi d’Amico
Directed by Franco Zeffirelli

Shakespeare was a product of his time. Yes, we can find instances of the playwright challenging the mores of his society, and he was a brilliant weaver of language. However, his views on marriage and women weren’t revolutionary, as we can see in the comedy The Taming of the Shrew. Perhaps it should make us feel better that from the play’s debut in the late 16th century, criticisms were leveled at what it says about women. I don’t expect these to have been very loud protests based on how women were treated in the centuries that followed.

Laptop Blues

So my laptop’s charging port finally gave out after years of struggling with it. That means the podcast is on hold and text reviews may be spotty until we get this resolved. The repair is estimated around €200.

I’ve always had a difficult time asking for money/charity, but our budget is fairly tight. It doesn’t escape me that so many are struggling far more than me. If you are able to give, I appreciate it.

Below are links to places I can receive funds. Hopefully we get this resolved sooner rather than later.

Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/c/popcultblog

Ko-Fi – https://ko-fi.com/popcultblog

Ariana’s PayPal – vesseltosea@gmail.com

Movie Review – Throne of Blood

Throne of Blood (1957)
Written by William Shakespeare, Shinobu Hashimoto, Ryūzō Kikushima, Akira Kurosawa, and Hideo Oguni
Directed by Akira Kurosawa

I could have gone with more traditional adaptations of MacBeth, but I wanted to see how Kurosawa interpreted the work. I was also interested in learning how far back Japan’s history with Shakespeare’s work went to understand how well-known the play was. Shakeapeare’s plays arrived in Japan during the Meiji Restoration when power was reconsolidated under the Emperor. If you watch Shogun, it is the beginning of the Tokugawa Shogunate, which ended with the Meiji Restoration. It was marked by the opening of Japan’s borders to foreign influence in a way that had never been seen before.

Movie Review – Julius Caesar (1953)

Julius Caesar (1953)
Written by William Shakespeare, adapted by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Once upon a time, I was a student at university who didn’t know exactly what to major in. I had chosen mass communications, but after taking some of the English prerequisite classes for all students at my liberal arts college I found I really loved those teachers and the subject matter. Upon becoming an English major, I had some new required classes. Two of those were Shakespeare: Comedies and Shakespeare: Tragedies. I wasn’t a stranger to the work of the Bard. I was homeschooled but still assigned Romeo and Juliet to read. An afterschool Literature Club that our local homeschool group formed had us read Julius Caesar and even performed excerpts from it at the homeschool group talent show. I got to deliver Mark Antony’s “Friends, romans, countrymen” speech which I am sure if I reviewed the crumbling VHS tape I’d pick on several areas of improvement.

PopCult Podcast – Eraserhead/Blue Velvet

In January we lost my favorite filmmaker, David Lynch. Today we pay tribute by talking about two of his best films. A young man wrestles with the horrors of adulthood. Another young man learns about the dark side of his small town.

Solo Tabletop RPG Review & Actual Play – Everspark Part Four

Read the previous session here.

This session will look at a Spark for Cypress’s overall quest inside Murkspire. They are here for The Nightveil Stone, so I’ve written up the NACHOS for it below.

N – The Nightveil Stone
A – After each successful action or favorable event
C – Starting after the third advance
H – Cypress escapes with the Nightveil Stone
O – Skragz’s Fangguard locks up Cypress and his allies
S – None

Because Cypress made it into Murkspire, he can add one step to this Spark. I will not check until I mark the third advance.

The Nightveil Stone – 1/5