PopCult Reviews

Movie Review – Black Widow

Black Widow (2021)
Written by Jac Schaeffer & Ned Benson
Directed by Cate Shortland

Initially set to be released in 2020, Black Widow was delayed over a year and finally saw its theatrical & streaming release yesterday. It’s been quite a while since we had a Marvel movie, 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, to be exact. So, with this period of palette cleansing, the Marvel shows on Disney+ being the only new things, and that was just this year; how is Black Widow? I think the MCU is undoubtedly in a new phase but not one I am very excited about. Despite having a top to bottom fantastic cast, Black Widow delivers a lackluster script and some genuinely shocking bad special effects. They seem intent on proving Martin Scorsese right.

Comic Book Review – Crisis on Infinite Earths Part 7 (of 9)

Crisis on Infinite Earths Part 7 (of 9)
Reviewing stories found in Crisis on Infinite Earths #9-10, Green Lantern #196, Justice League of America #245, The Fury of Firestorm #42, and The Omega Men #33
Written by Marv Wolfman, Steve Englehart, Gerry Conway, Todd Klein
Art by George Perez, Joe Staton, Luke McDonnell, Rafael Kayanan, Shawn McManus

I recently read an interview from Comics Interview (issue 26) with Marv Wolfman & Bob Greenberger about Crisis on Infinite Earths after issue eight was published. It’s an incredibly insightful piece into the thinking behind the scenes, how Wolfman worked with DC’s writers to integrate elements of the event into ongoing titles. My biggest takeaway was that Wolfman was incredibly tired from the logistics of the event. There was so much coordination needed, but it also required a light touch to not feel like blatant editorial changes happening in books. There still needed to be stories and engaging character arcs, not just plot beats. What’s interesting is how neutral he is about killing off characters. From his point of view, he was given a list of changes to make, including deaths by writers and editors. Yet, he managed to make Barry Allen’s death such a beautifully heroic moment regardless of the mandate put on him.

TV Review – When Was SNL Funny? Part 2 (of 9)

1980 began an extraordinarily difficult period for Saturday Night Live. The plan was for showrunner Lorne Michaels to step away from the program and promote writer Al Franken into the top spot. However, NBC President Fred Silverman passed on this after Franken delivered a monologue on Weekend Update near the end of the fifth season titled “A Limo for a Lame-O.” This piece involved Franken cracking jokes about Silverman being responsible for poor ratings on NBC programs during his tenure, and people were actually very shocked at how mean Franken was. I don’t know if this was intentional self-sabotage, but it basically sealed the deal that Franken was out. Silverman gave the job to Jean Doumanian, who had been an associate producer under Michaels. But things were not settled in any way, and the next five years would be chaotic.

Rest in Peace, Richard Donner

A journeyman director is very skilled in the craft of moviemaking. They don’t have a solid stylistic bent, meaning you can come across multiple movies they have directed and not be aware of the connections. In the film world, the auteur director is the one given the most praise. Those filmmakers leave distinct signs there, often revisiting specific themes or presenting images in a similar visual method. Richard Donner would undoubtedly be put in the journeyman category. He was the kind of director a movie studio loved because he would make good movies within the budget and on time. Donner never balked at any genre and was happy to tackle everything from horror to superheroes to romance to Eighties teen comedies. I am someone who goes for the auteur work when I have to choose; however, if there was ever a journeyman that made an impression on my life, it was certainly Richard Donner.

Movie Review – Brittany Runs A Marathon

Brittany Runs A Marathon felt like it was being promoted everywhere if you ever bothered with running websites or apps. Little clips of Jillian Bell turning from party girl to runner in the short clips or blurbs here and there in the year of 2019.

Or that was solely me when I started my running journey. Fear not, my running is still uninspirational, but I will be comparing notes.

Weekly Wonderings – July 5th, 2021

One of the things I love about my wife is how we are very in sync when there is a big goal. With the move coming up, we have created a shared Google calendar to post milestones and deadlines so by the time we are boarding that plane, not a single loose end is left. I think, for whatever reason, we do an excellent job of pushing our egos aside to get things done. I don’t think we have a perfect marriage because no one does at the end of the day. There are always sore points in any relationship, but it is essential to recognize those strengths when you see them. I think it helps that we believe the same things when it comes to our fundamental belief systems. That’s why married couples on drastically different ends of the political spectrum make zero sense to me. How can one person believe that the planet is dying because of humanity’s actions and the other think no big deal? And they could have kids together?! I always expect those sorts of relationships to not be long for this world.

TV Review – Loki Season 1, Episode 4

Loki Season 1, Episode 4 (Disney+)
Written by Eric Martin
Directed by Kate Herron

As I’ve been watching Loki, I can’t help but hold it up against Wandavision and The Falcon to determine where it ranks. It’s certainly better than that dismal Falcon mini-series, but not sure about its comparison to Wandavision. I think the first Marvel series had some great pathos, but the weirdness and surprises of Loki are appealing to me quite a bit. I loved the reveals in this episode and the exasperated reactions of Loki and Sylvie to them. And I hope you didn’t miss the mid-credits scene because wow, that has me excited for the next episode, which I want to get really weird with it all. Like this is the moment to just go bizarro and make the Multiverse as wild as it could be.

TV Review – When Was SNL Funny? Part 1 (of 9)

Since 1980 in the United States, there has been an unending argument that will likely never have a definitive solution. It is centered around when the late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live was actually good. For Boomers, they reminisce about the 70s original cast, Gen Xers might cite the mid-1990s with Sandler & Farley, while Millennials point to Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader. Most people agree the early to mid-1980s is a garbage fire (more on that in a later post). I wanted to determine when SNL was “good,” so I needed to watch samples from all 46 seasons to determine where the funny was.

Comic Book Review – Crisis on Infinite Earths Part 6 (of 9)

Crisis on Infinite Earths Part 6 (of 9)
Reviewing stories found in Crisis on Infinite Earths #8, DC Comics Presents #88, Justice League of America Annual #3, Green Lantern #195, and Superman #415
Written by Marv Wolfman, Steve Englehart, Dan Mishkin, Cary Bates
Art by George Perez, Keith Giffen, Rick Hoberg, Joe Staton, Curt Swan

Still reeling from the death of Supergirl, fans were hit with another significant death that would have some long-term effects on the DC Universe for decades. It must be noted that eight issues into these events and the heroes of the Multiverse have just really gotten their bearings on what is happening to all of reality. They even believe the Anti-Monitor was defeated at this point due to what happened in the previous issue. The surviving Earths are still a mess, and they are trying to sort that out while having no idea that the antagonist is still alive and recharging his batteries.

PopCult Podcast Mini – False Positive

Our first mini podcast episode is here!