2020 – Page 9 – PopCult Reviews

Movie Review – She Dies Tomorrow

She Dies Tomorrow (2020)
Written & Directed by Amy Seimetz

The world is a scary place right now, fueled by a mix of real horrors and a general sense of growing uneasiness with modern life. People seem to be inching towards a collective mass mental breakdown that is playing out on viral videos peppered across social media. The American population is being confronted with its mortality in a stark manner that you can see is not setting well. Some people are in outright denial and become unhinged, encountering others who very proactively try to keep themselves and others healthy. These anxieties and contemplations of death are what make up the nightmarish ground She Dies Tomorrow covers.

July 2020 Digest

Features
My Favorite 1980s Summer Blockbusters
My Favorite 1990s Summer Blockbusters
My Favorite 2000s Summer Blockbusters
My Favorite 2010s Summer Blockbusters
A Brief History of the United States on Film
The Cinema of Misery
Short Film Showcase #5
My Favorite Film & Television Dystopias
My Favorite Unsettling Movies
Game Review – Villagers
Black Actor Spotlight: July
Supervillain Spotlight: Maxwell Lord
Supervillain Spotlight: The Cheetah

Short Film Showcase #5

Strasbourg 1518 (2020, directed by Jonathan Glazer)

Jonathan Glazer was inspired by an incident in Strasbourg, Germany where the townspeople overcome with a dance affliction, flailing themselves wildly and claiming to not be in control. The condition spread like a sickness and many were caught up in the frenzy. Glazer uses this and frames the same illness against our present-day conflicts. People are growing weary of remaining holed up in their homes. Governments are lacking leadership and kicking the can down the ladder of responsibility until they simply tell citizens it’s all up to them to figure out. Here in the United States, social unrest has come to a boiling point with a desperate President unable to provide a way forward and an opposition party that thinks doing nothing is their path to victory. The images in this short are beautifully reflective of the explosion of emotion and repetition in our daily lives. It’s no coincidence that the first words we hear are “How are you?” A24 is currently streaming Strasbourg 1518.

Movie Review – First Cow

First Cow (2020)
Written by Jonathan Raymond & Kelly Reichardt
Directed by Kelly Reichardt

In all of Kelly Reichardt’s films, and especially in First Cow, she makes the audience contemplate moments & the stillness of life. This view of the world was especially prevalent in the 19th century when this film takes place. There was a lot of time spent sitting and mending clothes and equipment, and so you found comfort in the silence. This quiet space likely meant peace as you weren’t struggling, just keeping things put together so that you could continue to survive. If you have been following social distancing lately, there’s a chance you have experienced these moments, but more likely, you, like myself, have filled that space with the chaos of the news and social media.

Media Moment (07/17/20)

Luca Guadagnino completely wowed me with the 2018 remake of Suspiria, a better film than the original. Now, Universal has hired him to helm a Scarface reboot, and I am incredibly excited to see what he does. I loved in Suspira how Guadagnino took the essential elements of the 1970s original but gave us a completely different experience that was even more horrific and thoughtful. I fully expect he will provide us with a Scarface that offers a nod to the 1930s and 1980s versions but is entirely new. I’d love it if it was a period piece in the 1980s but emphasizing a different tone that De Palma’s.

Movie Review – Palm Springs

Palm Springs (2020)
Written by Andy Siara
Directed by Max Barbakow

2020 has been a painful drought when it comes to new films except for a seemingly endless glut of cheaply produced crud. So, when a picture comes along, that did well at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and is garnering a good bit of acclaim, you have my interest. Palm Springs treads familiar territory most notably carved out already by Groundhog Day. Instead of one character, multiple players are caught in a time loop that has them living out the same day repeatedly.

Black Actor Spotlight: July

TV Review – Dark Season 3

Dark Season 3 (Netflix)
Written by Jantje Friese & Marc O. Seng
Directed by Baran bo Odar

Dark will go down as one of the most mind-melting complex series most people have ever seen. Its creators Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese, have been uncompromising in their vision for all three seasons, challenging viewers to follow the convoluted family trees and crisscrossing timelines. This is made even more challenging to comprehend in the third season’s introduction of multiple realities. Yet it all works and makes sense in the end. Dark is not a series you can play in the background and drift in and out of, it demands the viewer’s full attention or you will most certainly become as lost as Jonas does at times.

June 2020 Digest

Features
Black Lives Matter: A Selection of Films
Short Film Showcase 2020 #3
Black Books Matter
Short Film Showcase 2020 #4
A Hypothetical Birthday Film Festival
My Favorite LGBTQ Films
Black Actor Spotlight: June
My Favorite Movies of 1995
Board Game Review – The X-Files
Book Update (May-June)
State of the Blog for July – December 2020

The State of the Blog: July-December 2020

It feels like the year both just started and has been going on for an eternity. I have to say that I wasn’t planning on producing this much content in the first half of 2020, but ending up quarantined at home while working allowed me to essentially get a jump on reviewing. By mid-June, I’d gotten through everything I had planned to put out over the summer, so it was pretty exciting to see what I could do for the rest of the break. Here is my plan for July through December with the additional note that if I end up working from home again, there’s a good chance I’d be able to crank out more content than usual. My state has seen a frightening spike in COVID-19 cases, and our governor just extended the state of emergency to the end of August. The other educators in my state and I are now waiting to see what this means for schools, which are scheduled to open back up around August 6th. In the meantime, here’s what you can look forward to on my site from now through December.