2021 – Page 5 – PopCult Reviews

Comic Book Review – Rorschach

Rorschach (2021)
Reprints Rorschach #1-12
Written by Tom King
Art by Jorge Fornes

I approached this with some trepidation, not because I’m in the camp that thinks Watchmen should be left untouched, but because it’s always hard to see how someone will be able to live up to the original. I also believe Damon Lindeloff’s Watchmen sequel series on HBO has been the best continuation of the material we’ve ever had, and with that being so recent, it felt odd to go back to the well so soon. Yet, Tom King, despite his flubs (see Heroes in Crisis), is still an intriguing comic book writer, and I knew he’d give readers an unexpected twist on something they likely thought they could predict. This isn’t about Rorschach, the character from the original Watchmen comic, but about people trying to further the ideology of someone like him. It’s a dark political story that remains enigmatic even after concluding.

Movie Review – Petite Maman

Petite Maman (2021)
Written & Directed by Céline Sciamma

Céline Sciamma truly wowed me and many others with Portrait of a Lady on Fire. It was a complex romantic film about two women unable to have the sort of love they wanted under the social constraints of their time. The premise could have been played so bland, but Sciamma injected it with life and energy few films have. That led to a heart-breaking finale that lingers with the viewer long after. I was excited when I learned of her newest film, Petite Maman. She had been such a fantastic filmmaker I was curious to see what she did next. When I discovered the movie was about the rocky relationship between mother and daughter, something ripe to be explored with a lot of emotional depth, I needed to see it. Sadly, what we got was a complete waste of time.

TV Review-Pen15 Season 2 Part 2

Pen15 Season 2 Part 2 (Hulu)
Written by Maya Erskine, Gabe Liedman, Rachele Lynn, Diana Tay, Alyssa DiMari, Josh Levine, Anna Konkle, and Vera Santamaria
Directed by Dan Longino, Maya Erskine, Andy DeYoung, and Anna Konkle

As Pen15 has wrapped up its last season, it’s bittersweet to acknowledge no new episodes will grace our screens. There have been comparisons to it, Wonder Years, Freaks and Geeks, but Pen15 stands on its own considering its presentation.

The other two are almost male-focused. Although Freaks and Geeks has its cult following and Lindsey Weir (Linda Cardellini) is the so-called lead, most of the cast is male. There is barely any mention of female friendships, the drama of being a teenager, and having someone on your side before and during those changes. Lindsey was breaking away from her friends, lingering and then becoming part of the ‘stoner’/freak crowd.

Movie Review – Slalom

Slalom (2021)
Written & Directed by Charlène Favier

In recent years, films across the globe have begun tackling the horror of sexual assault experienced by women & girls for centuries and more. Some critical decisions have to be made when presenting such sensitive content, the largest of which is “How graphic should the depiction of assault be on screen?” This is made even more potentially troubling when it involves an underage victim. In her debut feature, writer-director Charlène Favier doesn’t hold back much when showing her protagonist slowly being groomed and then used by an important authority figure in her life. There are only two sexual encounters throughout the picture, but the director lingers in these moments, which leads to that stomach sinking feeling as you watch how helplessly the young girl just gives in.

Movie Review – Limbo

Limbo (2021)
Written & Directed by Ben Sharrock

Cinema is always a tension between aesthetics and narrative. Sometimes the two gel together perfectly so that tension is barely felt. Other times you find movies veering wildly in one direction over the other. I personally will always enjoy a picture where the narrative is most in focus, but having well-crafted visual sensibilities at work can’t hurt. Limbo has a striking visual look, nothing too ornate, but immaculate focused cinematography. Comparisons to Wes Anderson or Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) will be immediate. However, the picture is not merely a copy of someone else’s work. Limbo presents a very human story in an incredibly isolated place. The way images are framed intentionally keeps us at arm’s length, just as the characters in its story would to others. But as the film goes on, we are drawn in closer.

Movie Review – About Endlessness

About Endlessness (2021)
Written & Directed by Roy Andersson

Roy Andersson is one of the most original voices in cinema in many years, and his career has a fascinating trajectory. He made two feature films in Sweden in the early 1970s and then nothing again until 2000. After that, Andersson pivoted to commercials for two and a half decades before that return. The result is a visual style that is a combination of advertisement and art pieces. Every scene is a static wide shot, with the main action often happening in the middle ground. It’s unlike pretty much anything else, and it’s the style the director has used for four films. It ensures consistency in his work and that your eye is always drawn in, but it doesn’t guarantee a good movie.

Movie Review – Licorice Pizza

Licorice Pizza (2021)
Written & Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

Since I first fell in love with Magnolia, I always get very excited when a Paul Thomas Anderson film comes out. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is about his work, but there is something exciting and surprising about his work. In the twenty years, Anderson has become very eclectic in his style, delivering intense historical pieces like There Will Be Blood and The Master while disappointing some fans with the loose adaptation of Inherent Vice. Licorice Pizza signals a return to Los Angeles, mainly San Fernando Valley, where Anderson made his earliest acclaimed work. I wondered if the director could return to this setting now that he’d gone in such a wildly different direction for so long.

Movie Review – Spencer

Spencer (2021)
Written by Steven Knight
Directed by Pablo Larrain

I can’t say I was ever enamored with Diana. I was very aware of her as a child and into my teens, but the whole English royal family thing just wasn’t all that interesting. I still find it odd that even ceremonial monarchies still exist. What a terrible drain on the people to keep funding such a meaningless thing. I was interested in this movie because it is helmed by Pablo Larrain, who directed the fantastic Jackie, a biopic from Jackie Kennedy’s POV. I think Larrain does an excellent job of centering women who, while seen as iconic, are often not given a voice in their own narratives. They are often the spouse of X rather than a person unto their own. So I was looking forward to seeing Diana fleshed out as a multi-dimensional person.

Movie Review – The Humans

The Humans (2021)
Written & Directed by Stephen Karam

You wouldn’t be in the wrong to walk away from The Humans feeling a bit confused about how you were supposed to feel watching this filmed stage play. The work’s creator, Stephen Karam, has imbued his movie with such a foreboding and menacing tone. This is followed by numerous jumpscares that cut through the monotonous and passive-aggressive dialogue of the characters. The story’s setting even brushes up against the premise in an interesting way: A crumbling New York apartment complex where a family meets to have Thanksgiving dinner. The audience is constantly unsettled by noises coming from neighboring apartments or figures briefly glimpsed through blurry, rain-stained windows. This is a Thanksgiving ghost story for the 21st century.

Movie Review – The Card Counter

The Card Counter (2021)
Written & Directed by Paul Schrader

Paul Schrader’s filmmaking career has been a strange series of peaks and valleys, with movies like Taxi Driver and Raging Bull as standouts. Since then, he’s made an eclectic filmography but with one constant in almost every picture: a tight focus on an intense male protagonist. I come from the camp that doesn’t see Schrader’s focus on this subject as an endorsement. In many instances, they are self-examinations and critiques, and in others, they seek to present a type of person society tries to look away from out of discomfort. Travis Bickle, for instance, isn’t meant to be a person we admire, but we are certainly expected to find some empathy for him. Schrader seems sincerely interested in the plight of war veterans and looking at crucial issues of our time. The Card Counter brings those two elements together.