1970s – Page 4 – PopCult Reviews

Comic Book Review – Spider-Man Epic Collection: Man-Wolf at Midnight

Spider-Man Epic Collection: Man-Wolf at Midnight (2022)
Reprints Amazing Spider-Man #124-142 and Giant-Size Super-Heroes #1
Written by Gerry Conway
Art by Ross Andru, Gil Kane, John Romita, and Paul Reinman

Something terrible happened to Peter Parker, and no one will let him process it and move on. The iconic man behind the spider lives in stasis between two poles: Uncle Ben’s death and Gwen Stacy’s death. There is this brief period between the two where he could be Spider-Man. Yet even in that, Captain Stacy’s death was a way of reigniting the angst of Peter’s guilt. This is who Spider-Man effectively is in popular culture: a perpetually grieving man who can never be absolved of his guilt. At least Batman is allowed to be grim, while Spidey has to joke about everything while psychologically unable to express the weight of his pain. Reading this collection caused me to completely rethink how I feel about this character.

Comic Book Review – Spider-Man Epic Collection: The Goblin’s Last Stand

Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection: The Goblin’s Last Stand (2017)
Reprints Amazing Spider-Man #105-123
Written by Stan Lee & Jerry Conway
Art by John Romita, Gil Kane, Jim Starlin, and Paul Reinman

Throughout the 1960s, Stan Lee had his hand in every single Marvel comic being published. This was most often in the role of scripting, which ensured the comics all had a similar voice. He also garnered the ire of his artistic collaborators, Jack Kirby & Steve Ditko, being the most well-known. The fact that most people associate Marvel with Lee without knowing who these other people are indicates the sort of manipulator Lee was. By 1972, Lee stepped away from writing duties and assumed the role of publisher, overseeing Marvel’s growing media empire.

Movie Review – One Sings, the Other Doesn’t

One Sings, the Other Doesn’t (1976)
Written and directed by Agnes Varda

Time feels distorted. It didn’t just start with COVID-19 either. Our understanding of even recent history is blurred, with significant historical events from just a decade or two prior feeling like they happened so long ago or disconnected from our point in time. Part of this is the poor perception of the human brain, whose recall & memories have been proven very unreliable. It also emanates from the neoliberal project outlined in Francis Fukyama’s The End of History and The Last Man. The argument made via neoliberalism is that all possible political ideologies have been discovered & developed and that we live in a period in which no more historically significant events will happen. Essentially, human development is now a capitalist machine meant to run forever, powered by the “benevolence of capitalism.”

PopCult Podcast – Phantasm/Phantasm II

It’s spooky season. This episode Ariana & Seth watched the first two installments of a cult horror franchise that delivers a lot of unexpected & unique terrors.

Movie Review – Exorcist II: The Heretic

Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)
Written by William Goodhart
Directed by John Boorman

Warner Brothers knew they wanted another Exorcist film after the success of the first picture. However, screenwriter William Peter Blatty and director William Friedkin had no desire to revisit this world. They told a complete story in the first picture, and the sequel would just be a silly idea. At first, the plan was to cut/paste the plot, but things quickly spiraled into unhinged territory when playwright William Goodhart was hired. He would retroactively add a backstory to Father Merrin from the first film by including the theories of a Jesuit priest who had some views about why demon possessions occurred and why some people seem to be targeted by them. Linda Blair would return as Reagan MacNeil, and even Max Von Sydow reluctantly returned to cameo as a younger Merrin. Kitty Wynn, as Sharon, the friend of the MacNeils, came back, but Ellen Burstyn flatly refused to come back as the girl’s mother. Not a great start.

Patron Pick – The Last of Sheila

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 Matt Harris.

The Last of Sheila (1973)
Written by Anthony Perkins & Stephen Sondheim
Directed by Herbert Ross

Once upon a time, the man who would direct Footloose and Steel Magnolias made a film based on a screenplay by “Norman Bates” and the guy who wrote Sweeney Todd. This film would significantly influence Rian Johnson’s Benoit Blanc/Knives Out movies. For the first time in a long time, I had an American film suggested to me I had never heard of before. I attribute this to the fact that I’m not a big mystery-Whodunnit fan. I can’t pinpoint why, but those stories don’t appeal to me, so I rarely seek them out, likely due to their formulaic structures. I was pleased about this suggestion because it plays out and delivers an ending with a lot more dramatic heft than I anticipated.

Comic Book Review – Mister Miracle by Jack Kirby

Mister Miracle by Jack Kirby (2017)
Reprints Mister Miracle #1-18
Written by Jack Kirby
Art by Jack Kirby, Mike Royer, and Vince Colletta

Of all Jack Kirby’s DC Comics creations, Mister Miracle (along with Darkseid) has resonated the most with fans and those who would write the comics in the future. It makes sense because Mister Miracle’s comic was the most straightforward superhero book of all the titles Kirby wrote & drew for the company. The character’s design is familiar to capes & tights fans with its use of primary and secondary colors (red, yellow, green) but also different, particularly with the face mask and high-collared cape and clasps. Mister Miracle’s premise is new but feels entirely authentic for the genre, a super escape artist. It’s one of those “of course, why didn’t I think of that” ideas. Kirby does one better, though, and links this character to his grand mythos so that Mister Miracle both stands independently and operates as part of the space opera.

Movie Review – Hi, Mom!

Hi, Mom! (1970)
Written & Directed by Brian DePalma

We often associate Robert DeNiro with the work of director Martin Scorsese. Some of the actor’s best work has been under the guidance of this filmmaker: Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Casino, The Irishman. However, DeNiro didn’t make his film debut in Scorsese’s work. Instead, their colleague Brian DePalma first brought the iconic performer to the big screen in 1968 with his dark comedy, Greetings. DeNiro would reprise his role of Jon Rubin, a young aspiring filmmaker. Hi, Mom! is a bitterly angry film about the time in which it was made, so abrasive that it was issued an X rating and had to make one specific cut to drop down to R territory.

Movie Review – Watermelon Man

Watermelon Man (1970)
Written by Herman Raucher
Directed by Melvin Van Peebles

In 1965, Time Magazine published an article about the most prominent Black comedians of the era. The list was composed of names you’re likely familiar with, like Bill Cosby (what a disappointment), Dick Gregory, and Nipsey Russell. Also on that list was Godfrey Cambridge, and unless you are a comedy historian, I would guess that you have never heard of Cambridge before. He wasn’t so much a comedian as he was a highly experienced actor. Born to immigrants from British Guiana, Cambridge was schooled in Nova Scotia while living with his grandparents after his mother & father became dissatisfied with the options given to Black children in New York City. He dropped out of medical school after three years to pursue acting and held down various odd jobs in what we call today “the gig economy.”

Comic Book Review – The Forever People by Jack Kirby

The Forever People by Jack Kirby (2020)
Reprints The Forever People #1-11
Written by Jack Kirby
Art by Jack Kirby, Vince Colletta, and Mike Royer

The Forever People is the most forgotten of Kirby’s Fourth World creations. The New Gods is an epic Biblical-style chronicle of the beings that make up the worlds of New Genesis & Apokalips. Mister Miracle (which we’ll be reviewing next week) is tied into these things but ultimately the most superhero-style book. The Forever People is strange, full of ideas that don’t entirely develop, as well as moments where Kirby is forced to shoehorn in a character he didn’t want to as the title dwindled down to cancellation. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. It is a very slept-on part of the larger mythos that, while certainly not perfect, offers a different experience than the other two books, something that feels more like a Marvel Comics book sneaking into the DC Universe.