PopCult Reviews

PopCult Podcast – The End/Queer

A group of post-apocalyptic survivors live underground and sing about their feelings. A heroin addicted writer hanging out in 1950s Mexico develops intense feelings for a handsome younger man.

31 Days of Character Creation #19 – Death in Space

So I had a different ttrpg in mind for this day, but when I sat down and started working through it I found the character creation rules to be very poorly laid out and communicated. I think being a primary school teacher for over ten years has left me always looking for streamlined, visual, easy to comprehend tabletop systems. There are a lot of people who play and ttrpgs in the sciences or other technical fields and they often make their games in a way that makes sense to them, but not to someone new. As a teacher, my brain is always thinking about how that new person can be caught up easily.

TV Review – Northern Exposure Season Six

Northern Exposure Season Six (1994-95)
Written by Diane Frolov, Andrew Schneider, Mitchell Burgess, Robin Green, Jeff Melvoin, Meredith Stiehm, and Sam Egan
Directed by Michael Fresco, Jim Charleston, James Hayman, Lorraine Senna, Oz Scott, Michael Vittes, Victor Lobl, Daniel Attias, Michael Lange, Janet Greek, Stephen Cragg, Scott Paulin, and Patrick McGee

Wow. That was…um, something. By the time season six of Northern Exposure ends, you will have been waiting for it to end for a while. David Chase didn’t do too much damage in season five, but by the time six rolled around, it became clear he was disinterested in the whole thing other than ways to shoehorn in his own interests. While watching these episodes, I thought about how weird it would be to watch the pilot and then jump to season six. It would feel like an almost totally different series.

Comic Book Review – Superman by Geoff Johns

Superman: Up, Up, and Away (2006)
Reprints Superman #650-653 and Action Comics #837-840
Written by Geoff Johns and Kurt Busiek
Art by Pete Woods and Renato Guedes

Superman: Last Son of Krypton (2013)
Reprints Action Comics #844-846, 851, 866-870; Action Comics Annual #11; and Superman: New Krypton Special #1
Written by Geoff Johns (with Richard Donner)
Art by Adam Kubert, Gary Frank, and Jon Sibal

Geoff Johns had his plate full in 2006. He was the top writer at DC Comics, having just penned Infinite Crisis and writing one of the best Flash runs ever, and was helming Green Lantern. He was also writing Teen Titans, having led a reboot to introduce a new generation to the book. Toss in 52, which he co-wrote with three others and other event books, and Johns was quite busy. Amid this, he picked up Action Comics and worked on a soft reboot of Superman that sought to fold back in elements from the Silver Age that had been removed following 1985’s Crisis on Infinite Earths.

31 Days of Character Creation #18 – Dragonbane

There’s no deficit of fantasy tabletop RPGs. Because Dungeons & Dragons was the runaway success in the early days of the industry, fantasy has become a default of sorts. If you tell someone who is unfamiliar with the depth of games out there that you are doing ttrpg they will probably imagine D&D or at minimum fantasy tropes. So why do we need anymore fantasy games at all at this point?

Movie Review – Stranger Than Paradise

Stranger Than Paradise (1984)
Written by Jim Jarmusch and John Lurie
Directed by Jim Jarmusch

Everywhere looks the same. This sentiment is shared by Eddie, one of three central characters in Stranger Than Paradise. He shares this as he and his friends stomp across a snow-covered railroad track, feeling down & out. If you are from the States or have spent much time in the vast middle of the continent, then you know how concrete blasted, copied & pasted so many communities are. Corporate stores and eateries pop up like seeds planted in the asphalt. As someone who grew up in a small town with a main street littered with McDonald’s, CVS, Domino’s Pizza, etc., you do start to feel that any personality the place you lived in once had has been systematically replaced with dull homogeny.

Farewell, David

On 16 Jan, 2025 we lost one of the greatest artists of my lifetime, David Lynch. I have said a lot about this man before on my blog. You know I admire him immensely. I can safely say no other artist on this planet has had a greater impact on shaping my personal tastes & sensibilities as David did. In reading & watching his thoughts on creativity I learned a lot about the work it takes to shape that initial idea.

31 Days of Character Creation #17 – Black Sword Hack

The dark fantasy world is one I haven’t really explored in any medium, but have always been curious about. Michael Moorcock, Jack Vance, and Robert E. Howard are names I’ve known since I was a kid thumbing through genre-related magazines like Wizard, Starlog, and Fangoria. But I’ve never read a word of their work. In 2025, I’m hoping to sample at least one of those writers. They certainly have fans as evidenced by Black Sword Hack, an OSR game that seeks to recreate the tone of these stories.

31 Days of Character Creation #16 – Vaesen

Today’s game is a Norwegian tabletop RPG and I don’t think many people know that Norway has a quite robust ttrpg and larping community. Years I ago I remember reading an article about Norwegian roleplay and learning about a complex Mad Men-inspired LARP someone there designed. So they are doing things a little differently than the most popular games in the States.

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.