2019 – Page 13 – PopCult Reviews

Movie Review – It: Chapter Two

It: Chapter Two (2019)
Written by Gary Dauberman
Directed by Andy Muschietti

I was never a massive fan of the first film in this duo. It is a decent horror flick, with lots of mystery and some genuinely scary moments, helped by featuring a cast of children, those who believe in horror more easily and are the most vulnerable to it. Right away, I want to say I did not like this sequel and I think it comes down the absence of Cary Fukanaga’s involvement. Fukunaga had initially been set to write and direct It but left the project when it became clear that Warner Bros. didn’t appreciate his creative vision. His script was tossed into the mixer with a new writer’s ideas, and thus we ended up with the 2017 hit. I tracked down a draft of Fukunaga’s original screenplay and read it two years ago and wish we could have that vision of the Stephen King novel on screen.

Movie Review – Pet Sematary (2019)

Pet Sematary (2019)
Written by Matt Greenberg and Jeff Buhler
Directed by Kevin Kölsch & Dennis Widmyer

It’s hard to pinpoint where the nostalgia begins, but Stephen King’s current film renaissance started somewhere between the homage of Stranger Things Season One and the recent IT adaptation. One of the remakes it has led to is this recent Pet Sematary film, which is just as much taking on the novel as it is reworking the 1989 Mary Lambert film. The book and original movie have found an essential place in the hearts and minds of the general public and especially horror/King friends. I wonder what the long-time fans think of this picture and its decisions to change and not change certain elements.

PopCult August 2019 Digest

Features
M. Night Ranked
Best of the 2010s: Favorite Films of 2015
Short Films Reviews Part 1, Part 2
Book Update July-August 2019

Movie Reviews (*** = popcult recommends)
After Earth
The Souvenir ***
Ash is Purest White ***
Foxtrot ***
Beast ***
Birds of Passage
Sword of Trust
Parasite ***
The Old Man and The Gun ***
Woman at War ***

TV Reviews
Best of All in the Family Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Movie Review – Woman at War

Woman at War (2018)
Written by Benedikt Erlingsson and Ólafur Egilsson
Directed by Benedikt Erlingsson

One of the biggest challenges of modernity is figuring out how to live a life while still fighting against an increasingly insidious and destructive system that is breaking down our environment. It’s becoming impossible to deny that the planet is under extreme duress and that environmental collapse is imminent in the next few decades if drastic changes aren’t implemented soon. How do we function in our jobs, with our families, and as part of communities while this grim specter of species doom hangs over our heads? Halla is a woman who has taken the defense of the environment to an extreme but now faces a choice that challenges who she has become.

Book Update – July-August 2019

Fiction

Song for the Unraveling of the World: Stories by Brian Evenson

I have yet to read any of Brian Evenson’s novels, but I have enjoyed his short stories so far. His first collection, A Collapse of Horses was tremendous, but this volume is even better. He’s very confident in the work and can present multiple perspectives without ever being reductive about mental illness. There are quite a number of characters who could be considered mentally ill, but they never get presented as tropes. In “Room Tone” a young filmmaker is obsessed with getting the ambient noise of a filming space. However, the house he shot his movie in has a new owner that wants to be left alone. The director just can’t move past this and goes to extreme lengths to get his recording. In “Born Stillborn” a patient believes his psychiatrist is visiting him at night as he tries to go to sleep, asking the real questions. His daytime sessions are full of false questions with secret messages the doctor is sending. “Leaking Out” is a wonderfully simple horror tale about a drifter seeking refuge in an old house. The premise is classic, but the monster living in this place is nebulous and terrifying. “The Tower” is a dark fantasy apocalypse about what might be a vampire who comes to a scattered settlement of survivors. This story was one of my favorites and created such a fleshed-out world in so few strokes that it made me want to explore this world even more. “Lather of Flies is a mind-being horror story about a reclusive director’s lost film which goes to some fantastic places. This is one of the most substantial short story collections I’ve read this year, which says a lot because I’ve consumed some great ones.

Movie Review – Sword of Trust

Sword of Trust (2019)
Written by Mike O’Brien & Lynn Shelton
Directed by Lynn Shelton

There’s a penchant these days for comedy films to rely on improvisation as a crutch, a means to extend the runtime by allowing actors to riff. The idea is that in editing the best takes will be cobbled together and thus there’s the comedy. This ignores the fact that actual good comedic movies are a synthesis of strong writing and actors who can interpret the material, adding their own personality to the picture. The most recent Ghostbusters film is an excellent example of this where the scripted bits are weak and the improv moments are most obviously filler. There are constant cuts to Kate MacKinnon hamming it up, seemingly unconnected to the events in the story. Improv does have a place in cinema, but it should be used sparingly and alongside a strong script, not as a way to stretch a weak story out.

Movie Review – Parasite

Parasite (2019)
Written by Bong Joon-ho & Jin Won Han
Directed by Bong Joon-ho

Bong Joon-ho is a filmmaker genuinely interested in issues of class and social structures. You can see that in his previous work, especially Snowpierce, Okja, and The Host, but there are elements of this in all his work. Parasite is the synthesis of all these ideas, a perfect summation of his thoughts on the class divide and human nature. This is a film made by a creator who is at the height of their confidence. Bong Joon-ho is clear-headed with a thorough understanding of the story they want to tell and the psychologies of the characters populating that narrative. It may sound grandiose to say this, but this is an example of about as close as we can get to having a perfect movie.

Movie Review – The Souvenir

The Souvenir (2019)
Written & Directed by Joanna Hogg

She meets him during a party. He works for the foreign office, is older, and exudes that overwhelming sense of mystery and sophistication. They stumble through the first steps of a thing they haven’t entirely defined yet. She’s caught up in developing her first feature film, a story about a declining English city. He’s always bounding about for work. Then his secret comes out, divulged by a dinner guest and every single thing in her life goes spiraling. This is a semi-autobiographical film from Joanna Hogg which follows the character of Julie in the early 1980s as she sinks into the quicksand of a destructive relationship.

Movie Review – Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019)
Written by Drew Pearce
Directed by David Leitch

You might be asking, “PopCult, it’s not July now, it’s August,” and to you, I say it’s always July when I’m reviewing Fast & Furious content. This is the ninth official installment in the Fast & Furious film franchise, the Rogue One to The Fate & The Furious’ Force Awakens. This first spin-off features the famous characters of Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), but you can almost imagine other spin-offs starring Roman Pearce, Tej, or maybe a prison film about Magdelene Shaw. Yes, Dame Helen Mirren reprises her role as the matriarch of the Shaw family for one all too brief scene. That is Academy Award winner Helen Mirren…in a Fast & Furious spin-off movie.

Movie Review – The Farewell

The Farewell (2019)
Written & Directed by Lulu Wang

In 2013, Lulu Wang found out her grandmother was dying of cancer. Lulu knew this, but her grandmother did not. Wang’s parents, following a Chinese tradition, decided to refrain from telling the matriarch this until she was on her deathbed in order not to drive her into depression and ruin her otherwise upbeat demeanor. Finding this decision to be downright bizarre, Lulu conferred with her American friends and they assured her this was not the norm in the West. The experience caused Wang to contemplate her status as both a Chinese and American person, reflecting on her transition as an immigrant and return to mainland China. Out of this came a story for This American Life and now a feature film.