PopCult Reviews

Comic Book Review – Spider-Man: Life Story

Spider-Man: Life Story (2019)
Written by Chip Zdarsky
Art by Mark Bagley

Peter Parker was fifteen years old when he was bitten by a radioactive spider. That was in 1962. Today it’s 2019, and he’s in his early thirties, finding some success in life but still rare in love. An expected conceit of comic book superheroes is that they will always age at a much slower rate than an average person. This allows writers to extend their lives. Superman has been around for 80 years, and in the last four has just become a parent through convoluted circumstances. Batman has been through five Robins yet is still mid-thirties at most while former Robin, Dick Grayson, is a mid-twenties Nightwing.

Movie Review – Tiptoes

Tiptoes (2003)
Written by Matthew Bright (as Bill Weiner)
Directed by Matthew Bright

When I first thought up the idea of a film series exploring embarrassing forgotten pictures, this was one of the first to come to mind. The internet has helped Tiptoes achieve meme status mainly through its cheesily edited trailer. Since the film was a part of a Harry Knowles film marathon, I’ve heard about it but never actually read a review or even sat down to see it myself. Now that is remedied, and I am left aghast at how this film ever got made. It has been compounded by reading up on the background, which confuses things further. So here is my review and some of the behind the scenes on a bizarre movie.

TV Review – Best of Star Trek: The Next Generation Part 5

Darmok (original airdate: September 30, 1991)
Written by Philip LaZebnik and Joe Menosky
Directed by Winrich Kolbe

This is probably my favorite episode of Star Trek: TNG because it represents the very core ethos that Gene Rodenberry set out to show the world. The most simple description of this episode is two people who do not share a language must find a way to communicate or they die. The story is so beautifully executed, and I would argue it is a perfect episode.

Comic Book Review – Planetary Book One

Planetary Book One
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by John Cassaday

This was the first comic book work from Warren Ellis I was ever exposed to, but at the time, I wasn’t able to keep up with the series. However, what I did read was so powerful it has resonated with me for 20 years, and I decided it was time to go back to Planetary and read the series in its entirety. The dominant pervading feeling you get from the opening issues of Planetary is Mystery. The protagonist is shrouded in mystery, and the world as it unfolds one chapter at a time is mysterious and wondrous. This is a place where superheroes, monsters, aliens, and everything fantastical exists, but it has left a dark toll on humanity.

Movie Review – The Nightingale

The Nightingale (2018)
Written & Directed by Jennifer Kent

There are moments so harrowing and emotional that occur in The Nightingale that I felt like I might break down in tears. This is a rarity for me to find in a film, having watched so many and become aware of so many tropes and plot formulas. This isn’t to say that the inciting premise of The Nightingale will seem novel to other viewers, it isn’t. This is a revenge film centered around a female protagonist, the type of story told many times before and one that is particularly popular in our time. This isn’t a film about the catharsis of revenge; the final shot makes it clear that our main character is not redeemed in any manner. Instead, this is a story about the seemingly innate drive to seek bloody justice and the tremendous toll that takes on a human being.

TV Review – Watchmen Season 1, Episode 3

Watchmen (HBO)
Season 1, Episode 3 – “She Was Killed By Space Junk”
Written by Damon Lindeloff & Lila Byock
Directed by Stephen Williams

As I am watching Watchmen, I’m often wondering what this experience must be like for someone who has never read the graphic novel. This episode, in particular, will not hit a viewer as hard if they aren’t already familiar with Laurie Blake, formerly Laurie Juspeczyk, aka Silk Spectre. Knowing the story of Laurie’s mother, the revelation of her father, and the complexity of her relationships with Dr. Manhattan and Nite Owl adds so much to the experience of watching this chapter. But I also think seeing Laurie as a blank slate could provide a fresh understanding of who she is as an aging woman, turning on the masked vigilante community that she was once a part of, and immediately clashing with the Tulsa police.

Comic Book Review – Naomi: Season One

Naomi: Season One (2019)
Written by Brian Michael Bendis & David F. Walker
Art by Jamal Campbell

It’s rare to see a completely new character debut in the first issue of their own title, not directly tied to the legacy of a pre-established figure in their shared comic book universe. Legendary creator Brian Michael Bendis, a figure who overhauled and recreated Marvel comics through the late 1990s and 2000s, arrived at DC, who apparently wrote him a blank creative check. Bendis was asked what his ideas were rather than be handed properties as the company saw fit. One of his first points of order was to take the Superman books in a whole new direction. Once that was underway, he rolled out Wonder Comics, an imprint he would curate similar to Gerard Way’s Young Animal line.

Movie Review – Disney’s The Kid

Disney’s The Kid (2000)
Written by Audrey Wells
Directed by Jon Turteltaub

Why am I doing this? I perfectly reasonable question to ask. As someone who watches lots of movies, reads up on actors, directors, writers, genres, etc., I will eventually come across movies I half-remember or never even knew got made. These are not low budget, indie picture but films with considerable financial backing, starring well-known performers, and distributed by major studios. Yet, they have been forgotten, very intentionally. There are approximately 700 English-language films released in the United States annually. With all of the quality control mechanisms and studio notes, we still get complete stinkers put on the big screen. Or the studio realizes in the wake of filming that they have just financed a disaster and try to cobble together something palatable in the editing room. Regardless, these movies are released and then systematically ignored by the people who made them, hoping general audiences allow them to fade into obscurity. Well, I’m here to watch them and write about them for this “We’d Rather You Forgot’ film series.

Book Update – September-October 2019

Fiction

The Need by Helen Phillips
There are subtle shades of Jordan Peele’s “Us” present throughout this novel as it tells the story of a housewife encountering an entity in her home that will up-end her life. Molly is an anthropologist by day and worn out mother by night, often tasked with caring for her two very young children by herself while Molly’s husband is away. It’s one of these lonely nights at home when Molly becomes aware that something else is in the house. The brief movement of a toy chest lid in the living room informs her that this thing is watching her, and when it reveals herself, she isn’t quite sure how to process what is going on. Then the deal is struck, and soon, Molly finds she’s an outsider in her own life, becoming an observer as someone else takes her place. The scary part is that Molly finds relief in handing the burden of parenthood off to another. The Need is a tightly written and deeply existential & weird text. I’m not a parent, but the anxieties experienced by parents are palpable in this book. I imagine this could be a cathartic release for parents who naturally have those moments of regret from time to time.

October 2019 Digest

Features
My Filmmaking Year Part 1
Short Film Showcase #5
Short Film Showcase #6
Haloween 2019 Short Film Showcase Special
My Favorite Comic Books of the 2010s Part 1, Part 2
Best of the 2010s: My Favorite Films of 2017