satire – Page 2 – PopCult Reviews

Comic Book Review – Parasocial

Parasocial (Image Comics)
Written by Alex de Campi
Art by Erica Henderson

The other day, I was looking over the upcoming DC Comics solicitations and realized something. I am old now. I just looked at the covers, the blurbs for stories they were announcing, the lead-ups & preludes to the next big event, and I thought, “Boy, am I tired.” I know part of this is that the writers that are up and coming in comics right now are, for the first time, my age or younger than I am. It was an inevitable point I would reach one day, but experiencing it is still strange. Having grown up reading comics written by mostly Baby Boomers, there’s a particular style & tone I’m used to. It’s not better than what is new; it is just different. When I read something like Parasocial, I have mixed feelings – I like a lot of the ideas, but the execution is not what I expected, so I’m left feeling ambivalent.

Comic Book Review – The Flintstones Deluxe Edition

The Flintstones Deluxe Edition (2022)
Reprints The Flintstones #1-12 and Booster Gold/Flintstones Special
Written by Mark Russell
Art by Steve Pugh and Rick Leonardi

You might see a Flintstones comic book and think it’s some kiddie fare not worth your time. I thought that too in 2016 when I saw DC Comics was publishing it as part of a line of Hanna Barbera books. I was utterly wrong. In my opinion, this is one of the best comic book runs DC has published in over a decade. Writer Steve Pugh delivers a stunning satirical analysis of life in the United States using the Flintstone family and the world of Bedrock. This book left me wondering why The Flintstones has yet to be rebooted as an animated series in this style. That would be stunning.

Movie Review – The Player

The Player (1992)
Written by Michael Tolkin
Directed by Robert Altman

Robert Altman has been one of my favorite directors since I first learned of him in college. I’d known of his movies, the Robin Williams-led Popeye, especially as a kid. It’s hard to nail down precisely what appeals to me about Altman, but his signature of having large, sweeping ensemble casts is one of them. While his stories might have a protagonist, they are not who the film is entirely about. Altman loves to let his camera wander like an eye, using advancements in sound recording to give the audience snippets of conversations. It’s the voyeurism of Hitchcock paired with a California pothead vibe. The Player couldn’t be a more perfect film for the director, who had struggled through the 1970s and 80s with a contentious studio system. Altman’s loose narratives and penchant for being over budget made the executives & accountants fume.

Movie Review – It Must Be Heaven

It Must Be Heaven (2019)
Written and directed by Elia Suleiman

Like most artists, Elia Suleiman has specific elements he wants to continually examine, looking at them from different angles and revisiting images from his past to see if time has changed their meaning. After watching four films from Suleiman, I see how some critics would say he keeps making the same movie to an extent. These movies will always have Suleiman playing some version of himself. The persona he presents will be a nearly silent, deadpan one. The story will be told in vignettes that work in isolation but can also be viewed collectively to make something more significant. Suleiman is playing the Holy Fool and, through that lens, can observe the world in ways the rest of us cannot.

Patron Pick – Dream Scenario

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.

Dream Scenario (2023)
Written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli

I first encountered filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli in 2022 when I saw his film Sick Of Myself. While it was a stylish satire with such a specific tone that showed Borgli’s control of his picture, the underlying themes were troublesome. In that film, the director appeared to be mocking visibly disabled people on the internet. He frames it as two horrible humans feigning disability for online attention, but the big wrinkle for me is that people with disabilities are never shown in any other light. I would conclude that he’s rolling his eyes at online influencers who are rabid attention seekers? I would hope he wasn’t suggesting that people who are openly disabled online are vapid? This film also has some ideas I’ve been wrestling to pin down.

TV Review – Knowing Me, Knowing Yule

Knowing Me, Knowing Yule (1995)
Written by Steve Coogan, Armando Iannucci, Patrick Marber, and Rebecca Front
Directed by Dominic Brigstocke

The British have a word: “prat.” The definition I could find states: “very stupid or foolish.” I don’t think many characters could serve as a living definition of that word better than Alan Partridge. Partridge is the creation of actor/comedian Steve Coogan. This perennial television host is meant to encapsulate all the phony, idiotic behaviors your average TV presenter exhibits in the UK. I don’t think it’s too far off from some of America’s hosts.

Movie Review – Observe and Report

Observe and Report (2009)
Written & Directed by Jody Hill

In 2009, America got two mall cop movies. In January, the Kevin James vehicle Paul Blart, Mall Cop was released, and just a few months later, in April, Observe and Report dropped in theaters. At the time, this film was unfairly maligned and lumped in with Paul Blart. On the surface, they share a lot of elements but are ultimately vastly different movies with very different perspectives on law enforcement. Observe and Report is a film that full-throatedly yells, “All Cops Are Bastards,” and rightfully so. Police were not brought into existence to protect the ordinary person. They were an alliance made between those with systemic power and violent organized gangs with the express purpose of protecting private property. The misconception that police exist to watch over communities and spare them from harm is a myth that is proven false day after day. This isn’t about what a nice guy your cop uncle is or how the policeman gave you a lollipop when you were growing up. Those are anecdotal and ultimately irrelevant. ACAB is about the actual role of police in our societies and how they employ state-sanctioned violence to keep the populace virtually enslaved.

Movie Review – Walker

Walker (1987)
Written by Rudy Wurlitzer
Directed by Alex Cox

When I see or hear gringos complaining about Central & South American immigrants showing up in large numbers in the States, I can’t help but think in response, “This wouldn’t be a problem if the States and other colonizers just stayed the fuck home and minded their own business rather than imposing themselves and intentionally destablizing already established cultures.” Colonization means disrupting indigenous people’s development and almost always ends with them becoming an exploited class by foreign business interests that make up our extraction economy. Alex Cox is clearly furious, and we can see that broiling on screen in his savage, intentionally historically inaccurate depiction of one American madman’s crusade into Nicaragua. Something that happened long ago and was happening as Cox made this film.

Movie Review – Hi, Mom!

Hi, Mom! (1970)
Written & Directed by Brian DePalma

We often associate Robert DeNiro with the work of director Martin Scorsese. Some of the actor’s best work has been under the guidance of this filmmaker: Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Casino, The Irishman. However, DeNiro didn’t make his film debut in Scorsese’s work. Instead, their colleague Brian DePalma first brought the iconic performer to the big screen in 1968 with his dark comedy, Greetings. DeNiro would reprise his role of Jon Rubin, a young aspiring filmmaker. Hi, Mom! is a bitterly angry film about the time in which it was made, so abrasive that it was issued an X rating and had to make one specific cut to drop down to R territory.

Movie Review – Watermelon Man

Watermelon Man (1970)
Written by Herman Raucher
Directed by Melvin Van Peebles

In 1965, Time Magazine published an article about the most prominent Black comedians of the era. The list was composed of names you’re likely familiar with, like Bill Cosby (what a disappointment), Dick Gregory, and Nipsey Russell. Also on that list was Godfrey Cambridge, and unless you are a comedy historian, I would guess that you have never heard of Cambridge before. He wasn’t so much a comedian as he was a highly experienced actor. Born to immigrants from British Guiana, Cambridge was schooled in Nova Scotia while living with his grandparents after his mother & father became dissatisfied with the options given to Black children in New York City. He dropped out of medical school after three years to pursue acting and held down various odd jobs in what we call today “the gig economy.”