patron’s pick – Page 4 – PopCult Reviews

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.

Patron Pick – The Last of Sheila

The Last of Sheila (1973)
Written by Anthony Perkins & Stephen Sondheim
Directed by Herbert Ross

Once upon a time, the man who would direct Footloose and Steel Magnolias made a film based on a screenplay by “Norman Bates” and the guy who wrote Sweeney Todd. This film would significantly influence Rian Johnson’s Benoit Blanc/Knives Out movies. For the first time in a long time, I had an American film suggested to me I had never heard of before. I attribute this to the fact that I’m not a big mystery-Whodunnit fan. I can’t pinpoint why, but those stories don’t appeal to me, so I rarely seek them out, likely due to their formulaic structures. I was pleased about this suggestion because it plays out and delivers an ending with a lot more dramatic heft than I anticipated.

Patron Pick – Oz the Great and Powerful

Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)
Written by Sam Raimi, Mitchell Kapner, and David Lindsay-Abaire
Directed by Sam Raimi

The Wizard of Oz is the most significant notable American fairy tale. The others we typically think of are imports from Europe and folktales translated from their African roots into a new land in the case of the American South. It began in 1900 as the work of writer and theatrical producer L. Frank Baum. Combining fragments of his life experiences, Baum constructed a story about a little girl from Kansas and her adventures in the strange land of Oz. Two years after the book publication, Baum staged a live theatrical performance, so it is clear his intent was that this would always be a living story, not simply a book to be read but to be performed.

Patron Pick – Holes

Holes (2003)
Written by Louis Sachar
Directed by Andrew Davis

Shortly after moving to the Netherlands, I started recording myself reading children’s books aloud to my niece and nephew. We started with picture books but have since moved on to some of the shorter chapter books. As a primary school teacher, I loved reading Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar to my third graders every year. I discovered that book as a child and found the author’s sense of humor aligned with my own, a celebration of dumb jokes and absurdity. After reading that to my niece and nephew, I decided to try Sachar’s most acclaimed book, Holes. I’d never read it before, and it is a well-done middle-grade novel with some intense themes. I had also never watched the film adaptation from 2003. Getting a screenwriter who wasn’t the book’s author might have helped the picture significantly.

Patron Pick – The Daytrippers

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 Matt Harris.

The Daytrippers (1996)
Written & Directed by Greg Mottola

The American independent film had its heyday in the 1990s. There are dozens of names & faces I will always associate with this period. There’s a certain tone & style that feels like it only existed in that decade and vanished after bleeding over just a bit into the 2000s and hasn’t returned since. The advent of digital cameras did a lot to change how low-budget films feel for better & worse. I can understand the convenience and affordability that digital brought filmmakers; however, there is a texture to shooting on film that you lose. I have yet to see any sort of filter that can restore it. The Daytrippers is one of those movies where you can feel the low budget, but that in no way diminishes the picture; it enhances it and gives the whole thing a sense of personality.

Patron Pick – Kicking & Screaming

Kicking & Screaming (2005)
Written by Leo Benvenuti & Steve Rudnick
Directed by Jimmy Miller

I’ve wondered a lot over the last decade, was Will Ferrell ever actually good? Or was he just benefitting from other people’s strong writing when we thought he was. I have managed to avoid some of his more toxic recent movies; a Patron may choose one in the coming months now that I’ve typed that out. Like almost everyone, I first saw Ferrell on Saturday Night Live when the big mid-90s reboot happened. It suddenly felt like the quality of SNL has improved. I’ve revisited those episodes since, and they were not as good as I thought then. Ferrell was a definite stand-out, so it didn’t surprise anyone when he transitioned to movies. Night at the Roxbury never crossed my radar, so Anchorman was where I first saw him on the big screen. Looking back, I think I liked Adam McKay’s writing, not necessarily Ferrell’s performances.

Patron Pick – Where the Crawdads Sing

Where the Crawdads Sing (2022)
Written by Lucy Alibar
Directed Olivia Newman

I know this movie is not made for people like me. However, it was a Patron request, and I honor those. If you loved the book and/or adore the film, you probably will not like my review. One of the best things I can say about my experience watching this movie is, “Thank god for the ability to speed up playback.” I successfully turned this two-hour-plus viewing into just over 90 minutes which I think is the sweet spot for this type of movie. I argue that most movies should clock in around 90; if they go over that, they must justify taking up more people’s time. This is nowhere close to being the worst movie I have ever seen, but that would have at least made it fun to watch. Unfortunately, it is a flat, passionless, inauthentic drivel like most American movies. It is not offensive but doesn’t make you feel anything. It manipulates rather than attempts to draw up some truth about the human experience through its story. Also, I see an absence of truth in advertising because not once do we get to see the singing crawdads.

A dead body is found in the marshlands of North Carolina circa 1969. It is local sports hero Chase Andrews (Harris Dickson), and the blame is placed on Kya Clark (Daisy Edgar-Jones), a reclusive swamp lady. Through extensive flashbacks, we learn Kya’s life story, from being raised by a drunken & violent father (Garret Dillahunt) to her romance with Tate Walker (Taylor John Smith). Eventually, Tate leaves for college, which Kya doesn’t have access to due to her economic class. In Tate’s absence, she begins a relationship with Chase. But that is complicated with Tate returning after a long period of absence. Oh, the love triangle. Kya also embarks on a career as a nature illustrator, using her artistic gift to sketch and draw the lovely things she sees in the swamp around her. We also get a courtroom drama as the flashbacks share the spotlight with present-day goings on.

In the vein of The Notebook, this is pure melodrama. It’s not the kind I particularly like. If I watch a film in this genre, I would prefer things like Douglas Sirk’s movies or Todd Haynes’ takes on melodramas. The relationships in the picture don’t feel genuine; they are very much of the contrived Hollywood type that often distorts & presents a twisted version of how real romance & love work. As escapist fare, I think this will satisfy the audience looking for this sort of thing. I think the story is very much in the line of Pygmalion, My Fair Lady, and the other films & stories that follow the “diamond in the rough” trope. There’s a murder mystery added on to help differentiate it. The reveal at the end about the circumstances around Chase’s death was pretty good, but for me, it didn’t make up for the overall tone & quality of the picture.

Having recently revisited some Tennessee Williams stories via my May series titled “The American Theater on Film, Volume One,” I realized how lacking in genuine passion this story was. The romance feels cookie cutter, and neither male character ever felt like someone you could see a real girl falling for beyond just as a side fuck. The “artsy” young women I’ve known acknowledge the surface-level beauty of dudes like Tate & Chase and may even call them up when they are horny. But ultimately, they are looking for some depth to go along with the exterior beauty.

There’s such an inauthenticity in how these characters are presented. We are constantly reminded that Kya is a “dirty swamp rat” in the same way She’s All That was desperate for us to believe Rachel Leigh Cook was a dog. It is a suspension of disbelief that is such a big ask it becomes comical. In many ways, this is up there with the dreck Marvel puts out in that almost every person that appears on screen is insanely gorgeous when I know, having grown up in the South, most people do not look like this. How refreshing would it have been to cast people that look real? It would have added so much more to the narrative. But that is not why this was made into a movie. It was made for audiences to swoon over the “beautiful” people on screen. This movie didn’t invent this but man, is it boring to keep seeing it churned out year after year.

If you are an adult who has ever, let’s say, read a book, watched a television show, or seen another movie, then nothing about this plot will surprise you. It’s like a copy/paste of every melodrama made with little effort to spice it up. The male leads look interchangeable. The characters are all hetero. There are two mandatory kindly Black people whose entire purpose is to help Kya feel better about herself.

I think there is a real heart-wrenching story deep in the fluff that could have made a compelling movie. However, this focuses on nothing but the fluff. It’s part of a massive genre of disposable films being made in America. If you ever look at the weekly dump of streaming cinema, you’ll find an avalanche of pictures. They are a form of money laundering for a whole host of criminal organizations, both domestic and international. This is nowhere near the worst; it had a theatrical release. But you will forget it almost as soon as the end credits roll. The romance is undercooked and thus dull to watch. The camera does occasionally give us a beautiful shot of nature. If young people find some enjoyment in the movie, that’s fine. It’s not offensive. It’s just a big disappointing yawn.

Patron Pick – Memories of Murder

Memories of Murder (2003)
Written by Bong Joon-ho & Shim Sung-bo
Directed by Bong Joon-ho

The serial killer phenomenon has been around for a long time but only occurred in South Korea for the first time in the mid-1980s. In 1996, Korean playwright Kim Kwang-rim wrote Come to See Me, loosely based on these first killings where 10 women & girls had their lives taken by the same person. Director Bong Joon-ho co-wrote the film adaptation, which touches on the actual events but dramatizes most of its elements. This would be Bong’s more prominent debut after writing & directing the indie feature Barking Dogs Never Bite three years prior. The film would be released in the heart of what film historians now call New Korean Cinema, an explosion of movies from South Korea that exhibited filmmakers with incredible technical skills but also nuanced, complex writing & characterization. While a director like Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, Decision to Leave) is known for gorgeously choreographed stylized violence, Bong is a director whose trademark (at least in my opinion) is his blend of horrific story beats and weirdly comforting dark comedy. It’s a delicate balance, but his movies always seem to pull it off.

Patron Pick – The Spongebob Squarepants Movie

The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (2004)
Written by Derek Drymon, Tim Hill, Stephen Hillenburg, Kent Osborne, Aaron Springer, and Paul Tibbitt
Directed by Stephen Hillenburg

I was a bit beyond its target audience when Spongebob Squarepants appeared on the scene. In 1999, I finished my senior year and started college. I won’t say I didn’t continue watching cartoons, we certainly did in college, but our viewing was focused more on things from our childhoods out of nostalgia or the now very cringingly edgy animated fare of Family Guy or Adult Swim (though AS did have some fantastic shows in those early years). Spongebob was undoubtedly a phenomenon I was aware of, but it just didn’t interest me enough to watch it. Growing up, cable television was something we watched at our grandparents’ house as we didn’t have it at home. So when I had my chance, I was more curious about things like The Sci-Fi Channel or Comedy Central. We had cable access in college, but I discovered Tech Tv, which was much more helpful. Many years later, I would finally watch a few episodes of Spongebob and definitely get it. He is the Pee-Wee Herman of the 21st Century.

Patron Pick – Parenthood

Parenthood (1989)
Written by Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel, and Ron Howard
Directed by Ron Howard

Parenthood has been a film with some solid legs, managing to be adapted into a television series twice on NBC (1990 and 2010), with the latter staying on the air for six seasons. It emerged from the collaboration between director Ron Howard, producer Brian Grazer, and writers Babaloo Mandel and Lowell Ganz. Between the four of them, they have 17 children and took their experiences as parents as inspiration. The result is an ensemble film that touches on various aspects of parenting with children featured at every age, from infant to adult, with multiple themes and topics touched upon with a runtime that peaks at just over two hours.