Seth Harris

TV Review – Reservation Dogs Season Three

Reservation Dogs Season Three (FX)
Written by Sterlin Harjo, Dallas Goldtooth, Tazbah Chavez, Erica Tremblay, Tommy Pico, Bobby Wilson, Migizi Pensoneau, Ryan RedCorn, Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs, and Chad Charlie
Directed by Danis Goulet, Tazbah Chavez, Blackhorse Lowe, Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs, and Erica Tremblay

Reservation Dogs was one of those rare shows that presented the life of poor people without pitying them. It didn’t dull the edges of poverty or how it feels to come from a marginalized group, but it never wallowed in misery. American Indigenous communities are composed of survivors, those who have endured horrific abuse over generations. This final season of the series centered on the effects of white-run boarding schools on generations removed from them but never made the white perspective anything more than an afterthought. That is the correct way to tell these stories because the Indigenous people carry the trauma of that treatment with them. I can tell that series creator and showrunner Sterlin Harjo wanted to connect two seemingly distant generations to show how history resonates through to the present.

Movie Review – The Silence of the Lambs

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Written by Ted Tally
Directed by Jonathan Demme

There are many glaring omissions in my film-viewing life, and this was one of them. I’d seen bits & pieces of The Silence of the Lambs over the years. Channel surfing in my twenties led me to see Clarice & Hannibal’s chats in prison, Mr. Lecter’s fantastic escape, and Clarice’s showdown in the labyrinth of Buffalo Bill. Yet, I had never seen the picture from start to finish while having seen the sequel Hannibal, 1984’s Manhunter, and the second version of that in Red Dragon. I’d also watched the first season of Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal. It seems silly that I’d never managed Lambs in total, so I decided to amend that for the horror season. Was it good? Of course, it was. It was also a reminder of how much this film impacted the crime/thriller genre for the rest of the 1990s and into the 2000s.

Patron Exclusive: Screenplay Episode One

Our first episode of Screenplay is here, exclusively for our patrons. In this podcast, Ariana & Seth collaborative sketch out a world for our tabletop role playing experience, sharing tropes we like from media, building out NPCs with motivations & conflicts. Make sure to join PopCult Reviews’ Patreon now to listen to this and other exclusive podcasts.

Solo Tabletop RPG Review & Actual Play – Frontier Scum: Lonesome Drifter Part Two

Read Part One of this series.

The story of Hamsor Pang comes to a tragic ending, however we continues things a little further by shifting our perspective to a new protagonist.

(Oracle question: Is the upside-down silver cross worn by the bounty hunter in the cabin? Likely odds. Nat 20. Yes)

Pang takes a breath of the fresh, snowy air outside the mountain cabin. He turns back and looks at the dark mouth of the doorway. He remembers the necklace the bounty hunter wore, the upside cross. Something itches in his brain, that this could be useful to have in his possession. Taking a deep breath, Pang steps back into the abattoir and after a few minutes of searching finds the necklace still hanging from the butchered corpse’s neck. He takes it.

(Luck check DR14 vs. 6, 5. Failure)

Comic Book Review – DC vs. Vampires

DC vs. Vampires Volume One (2022)
Reprints DC vs. Vampires #1-6
Written by James Tynion IV and Matthew Rosenberg
Art by Otto Schmidt, Simone Di Meo, and Daniele Di Meo

DC vs. Vampires Volume Two (2023)
Reprints DC vs. Vampires #7-12
Written by James Tynion IV and Matthew Rosenberg
Art by Otto Schmidt, Francesco Mortarino, and Daniele Di Nuculo

Try as I might, I have never really enjoyed vampires as a horror concept. I’ve watched many vampire films of varying quality; some I have liked, but the vampire aspect isn’t scary. Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a wonderfully made film, and Dracula is certainly creepy at moments, but I never felt scared of him. Vampires typically seemed to be used to explore ideas of titillating sexuality, which is fine if you’re into that. I don’t really think most of the classic monsters are all that scary, to be honest. Overexposure has demystified them to the point where they are cartoon characters. So when I picked up this Elseworlds comic series, my expectations were relatively low despite the creative talent behind it.

Movie Review – Psycho II

Psycho II (1983)
Written by Tom Holland
Directed by Richard Franklin

In an era where every mildly successful film is spun out into a franchise, it might not seem strange for there to be a Psycho sequel, let alone three of them plus a shot-by-shot remake, a failed NBC pilot, and a prequel TV series. It should be strange, though. Psycho was such a singular event in American film, one that feels to me that there isn’t more to the story to tell, and I don’t need to know the fate of Norman Bates or how he got the way he is. Alfred Hitchcock is not my favorite director, but I respect the hell out of the boundaries he pushed during the 1960s, inspiring many filmmakers to come. The best way to show appreciation for him would be to make clever films about the human psyche, not regurgitate his established work.

Patron Pick – Like Crazy

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

Like Crazy (2011)
Written by Drake Doremus & Ben York Jones
Directed by Drake Doremus

Improvisation is a complicated skill. When you see performers who are incredible improvisers, they can make it look effortless. The Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Improvisation Manual is a comprehensive textbook I’ve read through a couple times over the years, and it taught me a lot about what is happening during an improvised performance that the audience never sees and is likely not aware of. The performers operate at “the top of their intelligence,” meaning they act as a character while intellectually & emotionally analyzing the story and the relationships in a scene. This is immensely hard to do and makes it look so casual. I’ve come to look at improv through this lens, often impressed at how brilliant some performers are. Like Crazy is a film improvised off a 50-page outline. The problem here is the actors needed far more direction and structure for this to work.

Movie Review – The Vanishing

The Vanishing (1988)
Written by George Sluizer & Tim Krabbé
Directed by George Sluizer

Each life hurtles through time & space on a course that the person who bears it can never truly predict. These lives cross with each other, but more often than not, they make no impact, brief encounters that dissolve. We can feel trapped in these lives, a passenger unable to exert their own will on the trajectory. Look at how so many people will simply follow the path of a parent or choose an identity based on how they will be perceived by the society around them. Even many “expressing individuality” are working from blueprints created by others, a manufactured uniqueness. But then some collide with your life, upending the sedate normality. What if our intersection with them is another moment we cannot escape, pulled into the event horizon of chaos? What is it to see something evil coming over the horizon and be unable to fight against its pull?

TV Review – The Venture Brothers Season Four

The Venture Brothers Season Four (Adult Swim)
Written by Doc Hammer & Jackson Publick
Directed by Jackson Publick

The Venture Brothers is a show that still needs to improve its representation at the end of its fourth season (please stop using the r-word), but damn if this wasn’t the best run of episodes so far. The season finale clearly had more production value & time put into the animation, showcasing a level of craft that makes the pilot look like a parody. The cast has also bloomed this season, with Jackson Publick & Doc Hammer finally finding that perfect balance of the Venture family and their supporting players. I will even admit that the final moment at the boys’ homeschool prom got me teary-eyed as Brock looked at this found family. And this is just the halfway point in the overall series.

Movie Review – Insidious: The Red Door

Insidious: The Red Door (2023)
Written by Leigh Whannell and Scott Teems
Directed by Patrick Wilson

At one point (maybe still), we could have had an Insidious/Sinister crossover. I saw Sinister around the time it was initially released on DVD, and I remember really liking the vibe of the film, especially the bizarre films within the film. However, I can’t imagine a crossover would be any good. Insidious has really failed to live up to my already low expectations. Blumhouse got the old gang back together for a film that would serve as a direct sequel to Insidious: Chapter 2. This makes the Insidious chronology as follows: Insidious: Chapter 3, Insidious: The Last Key, Insidious, Insidious: Chapter 2, Insidious: The Red Door. It’s not as confusing as the Fast & Furious chronology, but it’s definitely up there.