lgbt – Page 2 – PopCult Reviews

Movie Review – Kokomo City

Kokomo City (2023)
Directed by D. Smith

I have started to feel despondent about the state of documentaries in America. It seems everything that comes out is in the true crime genre. While some of these have been entertaining, like Wild Wild Country, most of them are fancier & longer Dateline segments. I want films that dive into the lives of interesting people or topics like the Maysles Brothers, Barbara Kopple, or Frederick Wiseman. I was so happy to find this doc, which is not just about fascinating people but very artfully made.

PopCult Podcast – Passages/Cat Person

Two more 2023 releases are spotlighted in this episode. The first is a very modern love triangle centered on a filmmaker who is extremely difficult to like. The second may be one of the worst adaptations of a short story we’ve ever seen.

PopCult Podcast – The Blue Caftan/Rotting in the Sun

A beautiful & intensely intimate Moroccan drama & an intensely funny satirical Chilean comedy make up our two picks for this week.

PopCult Podcast – Afire/Theater Camp

One of the most prominent German filmmakers today delivers his latest film which prove disappointing. Then we hop the bus to go visit the grounds of a Broadway kids camp.

PopCult Podcast – Please Baby Please/Save Yourselves!

Diving deep into the indie films we came up with two obscure titles you’ve probably never heard of. One is a hyper-stylized queer comedy about a newlywed couple realizing their relationship is far more complicated than they thought. The other is a Millennial comedy about a couple disconnecting from the internet for a week at a cabin in the woods only for aliens to invade.

Patron Pick – Philadelphia

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 Bekah Lindstrom.

Philadelphia (1993)
Written by Ron Nyswaner
Directed by Jonathan Demme

I don’t really gravitate towards “issue” films. You know, the type of movie. It’s centered around a pressing social issue and dramatizes it in a way that appeals to mainstream audiences. These types of films often shave off the rough edges to not make the audience feel too uncomfortable. That defeats the purpose of bringing up the topic in the first place. Feeling discomfort when contemplating something like prejudice is the correct way to feel. We must examine our unconscious biases to become better people, open our arms wider, and accept people for who they are. I’m not saying it is always easy, but it is necessary to be the best version of yourself and help humanity as a whole. Philadelphia was a film I wrote off as that sort of “issue” movie. I’ve never entirely understood Tom Hanks’s appeal so that probably moved me away from it too. Boy, was I wrong about this movie, though still correct regarding a few things.

PopCult Podcast – Joyland/Barbie

This episode features two films that explore ideas of gender & society but in wildly different ways and styles. For our first film, we journey to Lahore, Pakistan where we enter the world of erotic theater where transgender women perform on stage. Then it’s over to a land of make believe where toys come to life and face the complex problems of the real world.

PopCult Podcast – Blue Jean/You Hurt My Feelings

Two new 2023 releases are spotlighted in this episode. One is a period piece about a lesbian teacher in 1980s England dealing with the pressure of staying closeted to keep her job. The other is a contemporary comedy about an author who overhears her husband saying he doesn’t like her work.

Movie Review – Bad Education

Bad Education (2004)
Written & Directed by Pedro Almodóvar

Few directors working today seem to enjoy the richness of film images more than Pedro Almodovar. Every film he puts out is always full of bold color and intriguing framing & blocking. His stories are complex labyrinths where narratives are rarely linear, the past often haunting the present. Much of Bad Education is set around what the audience doesn’t know, putting us in the protagonist’s shoes. They are learning about the line between fiction and truth, letting the audience enter their imagination and then see how what they pictured matches with the people and events as they actually happened. I wouldn’t blame someone watching this for the first time for feeling confused; it takes at least a couple viewings to fully grasp what is happening in the picture.

Movie Review – Mysterious Skin

Mysterious Skin (2004)
Written by Scott Heim and Gregg Arakai
Directed by Gregg Araki

Growing up in the late 1980s/early 90s, I watched a lot of television. I have vivid memories of certain shows. Unsolved Mysteries, hosted by Robert Stack, was a frequent point of childhood terror that seems silly from the hindsight of an adult. America’s Most Wanted was not as consistently creepy, but a particular type of case terrified me as a child. When AWM would do a story on a child molester and/or murderer who was on the run, it scared the shit out of me. Being only 8/9 years old and homeschooled, I didn’t wholly understand what sex was, but I definitely understood that being touched inappropriately was bad. Pair this with the rampant homophobia in the culture, which was intensified even more through the lens of right-wing propaganda. I was served up in my homeschooling curriculum, and my view of gay men at this time was one of fear. I can’t say when it shifted, but by the time I was in college, I angrily defended gay people in arguments with some of my classmates at a private Christian college.