crime – PopCult Reviews

Movie Review – No Other Choice

No Other Choice (2025)
Written by Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi, Don McKellar, and Lee Ja-hye
Directed by Park Chan-wook

It’s always struck me as strange, bordering on obscene, how completely hands-off society is when it comes to job placement. We build entire educational systems around the promise of employability, saddle people with debt, tell them to “do everything right,” and then, at the moment where guidance would actually matter, shove them into the dark and say good luck. Even with a degree, even with experience, the expectation is that you will wander an increasingly incoherent job market on your own, refreshing dashboards like a lab rat pressing a lever for food pellets that never arrive. The application process is almost entirely online now, regardless of what boomers insist about “walking in and demanding a job.” I’ve played the LinkedIn game; I found nothing of substance. My wife did too and only ended up employed because of someone one of my sisters happened to know.

Movie Review – Landscape Suicide

Landscape Suicide (1987)
Written and directed by James Benning

You likely haven’t ever heard of James Benning. He’s never directed a film that ended up in a multi-screen Cineplex. He’s never been nominated for an Oscar or won the Palme d’Or at Cannes. On the most recent Sight & Sound filmmakers poll, Benning was sent a ballot and returned it with a list of his films. His reason when asked about this is that he just doesn’t watch movies, really. Benning makes them, but his influences are literary, and he simply observes the world around him. He’s considered a minimalist but has actually employed many methods & styles as he explores the form. At age 83, he’s still making movies, with almost all of them examining America and its people.

PopCult Podcast – The Order/A Real Pain

A troubled FBI agent discovers a white supremacist conspiracy in rural Idaho. Two cousins embark on a tour in Poland to reconnect with their deceased grandmother.

Movie Review – Hana-bi

Hana-bi (1997)
Written and directed by Takeshi Kitano

One of my favorite things as a film fan is coming across a filmmaker doing something all their own. No film exists in a vacuum, so you’ll always see influences from others. But how that filmmaker mixes their ingredients makes all the difference. Takeshi Kitano started his media career as a comedian and TV host in the early 1970s. It was Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, in 1983, where Kitano made his feature film debut. It was a non-comedic role as a Japanese soldier who brutalized Allied prisoners. In 1989, he made his directorial debut with Violent Cop, a neo-noir film. And then it was this movie, translated into English as “Fireworks,” that won Kitano the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival, only the third Japanese director after Akira Kurosawa and Hiroshi Inagaki to win the honor.

PopCult Podcast – Smile 2/Juror #2

A contemporary urban horror continues its path of destruction in a new life. A man serving on a jury realizes his connection to the crime being discussed and that he may have the means to save someone’s life.

TV Review – Ripley

Ripley (2024)
Written and directed by Steven Zaillian

There are few protagonists in modern literature as challenging as Tom Ripley. He’s a captivating figure because he’s pretty pathetic yet so cunning. In many ways, Ripley is the shadow underdog, a guy who, by all evidence, should lose, yet he manages to commit multiple murders and steal millions while evading capture. Despite coming from a poor/working-class background, Ripley has evolved refined tastes mainly because he believes he deserves to live the best life possible. Other people are inconveniences most of the time, hindrances to him enjoying the luxury offered to the wealthiest among us. If ever there was a character to highlight the negative aspects of sociopathy, an actual condition that isn’t as one-dimensional as much media would like you to think. Ripley can’t seem to care about anyone other than himself; it troubles him, but it is not enough to stop his pursuit of comfort.

Movie Review – Pierrot Le Fou

Pierrot Le Fou (1965)
Written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard

Will I ever watch all of Godard’s films? I’m not sure. Since my college days, I’ve watched them sporadically and never chronologically. Breathless. Masculin Feminin. Alphaville. Week-end. Contempt. Some I absolutely love, others I’m just confused by and probably need to revisit or read up on. This picture, made in the middle of Godard’s most productive period, was an adaptation of a recent crime novel, Obsession. Godard described the book as “the story of a guy who leaves his family to follow a girl much younger than he is. She is in cahoots with slightly shady people, and it leads to a series of adventures.” Casting ended up reuniting Godard with Jean-Paul Belmondo, his star from Breathless, and Godard’s wife at the time, Anna Karina, who took the lead female role.

Movie Review – The Killer (1989)

The Killer (1989)
Written and directed by John Woo

It felt like the film was over about fifteen minutes into The Killer. The amount of movie crammed into this opening felt like a full meal. I checked the time. 85 minutes to go. John Woo has never been a filmmaker I’ve rushed to see. Of his work, I’ve only watched Hard Boiled and Mission: Impossible 2 before this. I’m not a big action fan, but I enjoy that film genre when it is done well. Part of understanding Woo’s tone and how he approaches filmmaking can be seen in the direct English translation of this film’s title from its Chinese name – “Pair of Blood-Splattering Heroes.” If you’re the kind of person who sees that and says, “Hell yeah,” then you have found your director. My response is not as enthusiastic.

PopCult Podcast – Hit Man/Riddle of Fire

Richard Linklater’s latest places Glen Powell in the shoes of a pretend hired killer. Then, we visit a 16mm dreamworld where three kids are on a quest to make a blueberry pie.

Movie Review – M

M (1931)
Written by Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou
Directed by Fritz Lang

David Fincher must really love this movie. Zodiac has oddly become a comfort watch for me, mainly because of the procedural nature of the story. Something is compellingThere’s about watching the various investigators – detectives, journalists, puzzle makers – stumbling through crime scenes & strange clues, trying to make sense of things while the city of San Francisco is experiencing an increase in paranoia & tension as a killer walks among them. Having finally watched Fritz Lang’s M, it’s evident that much of what I loved about Zodiac was Fincher’s riff on this German classic.