2009 – PopCult Reviews

TV Review – The Prisoner (2009)

The Prisoner (2009)
Written by Bill Gallagher
Directed by Nick Hurran

J.J. Abrams had a stranglehold on U.S. media by the late 2000s. Not just that, but films like The Bourne Identity and the shooting style of director Paul Greengrass clearly became a trend in film and television. These aren’t terrible styles to emulate for a Prisoner remake in that period. If we think about the increased paranoia post-9/11 surrounding the rise of the surveillance state, it seems to mesh quite well with the themes & ideas the original series co-creator & star Patrick McGoohan sought to explore. However, the original Prisoner was a product of the 1960s Cold War era. If you want to tell the story in a modern context, some changes must be made. I don’t think the changes this miniseries made were the right ones, though, and despite having a few clever bits, the overall show was a disappointment.

Comic Book Review – Blackest Night/Green Lantern: Blackest Night

Blackest Night (2010)
Reprints Blackest Night #0-8
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Ivan Reis

Green Lantern: Blackest Night (2010)
Reprints Green Lantern #43-52
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Doug Mahnke, Ed Benes, and Marcos Marz

Geoff Johns’s run on Green Lantern was intensely inspired by Alan Moore’s work on the title during the 1980s. The short story “Tygers” was most influential, which mentions the rise of the Guardians of the Universe’s greatest threats in the form of Ranx the Sentient City and the Children of the White Lobe, both of whom had shown up as enemies early in Johns’ run. In these Green Lantern Corps short tales penned by Moore, he introduced the prophecies of a Blackest Night. The details of this weren’t fully developed, but Nekron, a cosmic god of the dead, was involved. As Johns loves repurposing bits of DC Universe history, he devoted a large chunk of this run to the build-up of Blackest Night.

Patron Pick – Enter the Void

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.

Enter the Void (2009)
Written by Gaspar Noé and Lucile Hadzihalilovic
Directed by Gaspar Noé

No one knows what happens when we die. There has undoubtedly been a lot of time devoted to thinking about death. Some people claim they know through various intense near-death experiences, but we don’t really. One of the biggest questions that surrounds death is what happens to the conscious mind. In sleep, we dream. But where does that mind go when there is no body to return to? The easiest answer would be, “Remember what it was like before you were born.” That’s what death is like. Nothing.

Movie Review – The Time That Remains

The Time That Remains (2009)
Written and directed by Elia Suleiman

Filmmaker Elia Suleiman tells all his stories through an autobiographical lens. I imagine it can feel overwhelming to tell the story of the Palestinians when you are one of them, especially when multiple experiences are happening at once within the occupied territory. You have the Palestinians of Gaza, the Palestinians of the West Bank, and those who live outside these two yet are still not free. Suleiman presents himself and many of his characters in his work as cold & distant from what is happening. To be in the torment your people have endured for decades just isn’t something that a person can be expected to walk away from with their sanity intact. The camera is another distancing tool and film tropes, too. They allow a person to examine something painful without needing to be directly inside of that pain.

Movie Review – Wendy and Lucy

Wendy and Lucy (2009)
Written by Jon Raymond & Kelly Reichardt
Directed by Kelly Reichardt

I’ve said it before here, and it seems to be an evergreen statement, but shit in the States looks fucking bad, folks. I got out in September 2021, so my experience is through what I read online (always with a grain of salt), chatting with people back there, and my lifelong pursuit of educating myself on the fundamental structures of our societies. Over half of currently homeless Americans are over the age of 50, yet you wouldn’t know it from the Boomers still clinging on to their spoils as they slip further between their fingers. Capitalism is a hell of a drug. I consider myself very lucky that I am where I am and have what I have. It’s not a fortune, but I can breathe reasonably easily daily. I find it highly upsetting that so many cannot do the same, certainly, those I know who have busted their asses harder than me. It serves to underline capitalism’s great contradiction: work hard, and you will be rewarded.

Comic Book Review – Justice Society of America: Black Adam and Isis

Black Adam: The Dark Age (2008)
Black Adam: The Dark Age #1-6
Written by Peter J. Tomasi
Art by Doug Mahnke

Justice Society of America: Black Adam and Isis (2009)
Reprints Justice Society of America #23-28
Written by Geoff Johns, Jerry Ordway, and Matthew Sturges
Art by Jerry Ordway, Dale Eagelsham, and Fernando Pasarin

Before Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson desperately tried to carve out a niche in the superhero franchise landscape, Black Adam was just one of the villains in Captain Marvel, aka Shazam’s rogues gallery. Like many villains, he served as the shadow to the hero, a dark version of that main character. When the Shazam franchise was revived in 1995 via Jerry Ordway’s one-shot graphic novel The Power of Shazam (followed by an ongoing series), Black Adam was brought back with more nuance than you would expect with modern comics. He would eventually become a member and then enemy of the Justice Society during Geoff Johns’ first round with the book, a character arc that has permanently redefined how readers view Black Adam. In Johns’s final (at the time) arc on JSA, he brings some closure to Adam and the corner of the world he occupies in the DC Universe.

Movie Review – Where the Wild Things Are

Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
Written by Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers
Directed by Spike Jonze

To be a child is to be overwhelmed. I often think back to my own messy childhood and feel pangs of regret that my way of thinking was so warped by Christian-conservative ideologues for parents that I just don’t have some of the same experiences that many of my peers did. However, I believe all children struggle with how to process their emotions. Some have good supportive parents, while others have parents who model terrible behavior. The key difference has always been a parent who can say they are sorry to their child, which my parents could not and still can’t do. The parent who does that, who can shrug off the ego, understanding that “sorry” will help shape their child into a kind person, does something revolutionary. Where the Wild Things Are is about the tension, that moment of growth from being self-centered to understanding the experiences & feelings of others.

Movie Review – Halloween II (2009)

Halloween II (2009)
Written & Directed by Rob Zombie

Rob Zombie expressed extreme exhaustion from making his Halloween reboot. I think it was a task he put a lot of weight on his own shoulders because Zombie admired the original film. So, when talk of a sequel came up, Zombie was pretty much out. Instead, French filmmakers Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo were in talks to helm the follow-up. Eventually, the producers wooed Zombie back to write and direct Halloween II. Would he follow the first film by doing a remake of the original sequel? Kind of. There is a small portion of the movie with Laurie in a hospital, but this Halloween II goes in a very different direction. With the whole cast reprising their roles (sans young Michael as that actor had gotten too tall), Halloween II was a go.

Movie Review – Moon

Moon (2009)
Written by Nathan Parker
Directed by Duncan Jones

As referred to previously, cinematic science fiction has a clear demarcation line as pre- and post-Star Wars. In making Moon, first-time feature director Duncan Jones was intent on creating a world that felt like those earlier films, making sure characters took precedence over special effects. You would be right to think the setting of Moon resembles Ridley Scott’s worlds from Alien and Blade Runner. This is a very industrial world; the shiny veneer of the future was worn off a long time ago. It also evokes that sense of loneliness I’ve mentioned when discussing The Man Who Fell to Earth and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Jones is another filmmaker who sees space as a very vast and empty place.

Movie Review – Daddy Longlegs

Daddy Longlegs (2009)
Written by Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie, and Ronald Bronstein
Directed by Josh and Benny Safdie

On the Criterion Channel website in an episode of their Meet the Filmmakers series, the Millennial filmmaking duo of Josh and Benny Safdie share a story about their father. When it was time to explain why he and their mother were getting divorced, he sat the boys down and had them watch Kramer vs. Kramer. This informs us to a lot of things about the Safdies like their deep love of New York City centered film and their fixation with well-intentioned characters that keep digging their holes deeper. Daddy Longlegs doesn’t quite have the anxiety-riddled moments of Good Time or Uncut Gems, it is more slice of life. But it’s protagonist, based on the Safdies’ father is just the same sort of protagonist that makes the audience groan as he makes one foolish decision after another.