PopCult Reviews

Best of the 2010s: My Favorite Films of 2017

Beast (Directed by Michael Pearce)

From my review: There are some genuinely despairing moments, highlighting how a woman like Moll, coping with social-emotional issues can be used and beaten up by a society that just wants her to conform. She is pursued romantically by a local police officer whom Moll shuns when she ends with Pascal. Later, she needs this man’s help, and when she goes to him, he tosses her out on the street knowing her pleas are real and she is potentially going to be harmed. It’s a harsh moment and a significant turning point for Moll to come to the realization that she is by herself. The night that follows is transformative, including a metaphorical and literal self-burial. Moll emerges in the daylight with a plan to bring all this madness to an end.

Short Film Showcase Halloween Special

For this night of spooks & scares, here are some horrific short films to help set the mood.

The Maiden (2016)
Written & Directed by Michael Chaves

Lots of this short reminds me of American Horror Story: Murder House, one of the best seasons of that series. We have a house that contains a ghostly woman whose spirit is attached to a necklace. The ghostly woman also seems to use the jewelry as a sort of lure. Our protagonist is a real estate agent learning about her new property and trying her best to hide its dark secrets, so she can secure a buyer.

TV Review – Castle Rock Season Two – Episodes 1, 2, & 3

Castle Rock Season 2 (Hulu)
“Let The River Run”
Written by Dustin Thomason
Directed by Greg Yaitanes

“New Jerusalem”
Written by K’naan Warsame
Directed by Phil Abraham

“Ties That Bind”
Written by Scott Brown & Obehi Janice
Directed by Anne Sewitksy

Anne Ingalls is a nurse always on the move, dragging her now teenage daughter Joy with her where ever she goes. Her escape from some unseen force in her past leads Anne to the town of Castle Rock following a car accident. While holed up in the Stargazer Motel, Anne is able to secure a part-time registered nurse position at the hospital in Jerusalem’s Lot, where we learn she is in dire need of antipsychotics. Meanwhile, “Pop” Merrill, the head of a local crime family, is caught in the middle of a fight between his nephew Ace and his adopted son Abdi. Abdi is laying the foundation for a Somali community center set up, especially for the refugees who have settled in Castle Rock. This goes against Ace’s grasp on the Somalis who rent space in his rundown market building.

Movie Review – The Lighthouse

The Lighthouse (2019)
Written by Max & Robert Eggers
Directed by Robert Eggers

“DAMN YE! Let Neptune strike ye dead, Winslow! HAAAAAARK!”
Thus begins the great invocation of the ocean god by the wicky Thomas Wake against his co-worker Iphraim Winslow. Both men, stuck on an island somewhere in the middle of the sea, left to fend for themselves and tend the titular lighthouse. The job is, by its nature, an isolating and stressful one, stressful to not only the body but also the mind. It doesn’t take long before Iphraim becomes deeply suspicious of the veteran Wake, whose previous partner believed there were mystic powers imbued in the lamp of the lighthouse and vanished after going mad. The two men battle it out in passive-aggressive and drunken fashion, slowly cranking up the stakes as their rescue from this damned place appears to have forgotten them.

TV Review – Best of Star Trek: The Next Generation Part 4

Brothers (original airdate: October 8, 1990)
Written by Rick Berman
Directed by Rob Bowman

To go alongside the theme of Family from the previous episode of TNG, Rick Berman wrote this story that features Data coming face to face with his creator, Dr. Noonien Soong. There’s also a return visit from Data’s brother, Lore, the black sheep of the Soong family. Data episodes are always some of my favorites with a few exceptions, this is one of them.

Movie Review – Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)
Written by Dan & Kevin Hagerman
Directed by André Øvredal

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a book published in 1981, compiled and rewritten by Alvin Schwartz. Schwartz was a writer who was primarily interested in folklore and wordplay, writing more than fifty books on and about these topics. His most famous, of course, is Scary Stories and the two follow up texts. The books contributed to many nightmares for children growing up in the 1980s and 90s, most notably because of the grotesque illustrations of Stephen Gammell. Gammell was also not primarily a horror creator, having illustrated over sixty children’s books, including one of my favorite picture books. When the Relatives Came. This book, like so many texts and pieces of nostalgic media, has been snatched up by their publisher’s parent media corporation to be turned into a movie.

TV Review – Watchmen Season 1 Episode 1

Watchmen (HBO)
Season 1, Episode 1 – “It’s Summer, And We’re Running Out of Ice”
Written by Damon Lindeloff
Directed by Nicole Kassell

That opening is not an alternative history, an invention of the mind of Damon Lindeloff, or some parallel history that made up the backstory of the Watchmen universe. The Tulsa Massacre of 1921 was real, down the plane flying overhead and dropping explosives on the black people that populated the neighborhood of the Greenwood District. This place was known as “Black Wall Street” due to the financial success black people had experienced there, allowed to open their own businesses and create a community that empowered each other. If “separate but equal” would be the law of the land, then the residents of Greenwood would go their own, rejected by their country.

TV Review – The Best of Star Trek: The Next Generation Part 3

The Best of Both Worlds Part 1 (original airdate: June 18th, 1990)
The Best of Both Worlds Part 2 (original airdate: September 24th, 1990)
Written by Michael Piller
Directed by Cliff Bole

Of all the episodes of TNG, these are the two I remember the most vividly. Here was were the procedural nature of Star Trek on television finally got upended, and it felt like this was a world where events could have long-lasting ramifications. While most viewers might see this as an episode about Picard, writer Michael Piller says this is a Riker-centric entry. The emotional core of the episode is Riker’s decision whether to pursue a place as captain on another starship or remain onboard the Enterprise as second in command.

TV Review – The Righteous Gemstones Season 1

The Righteous Gemstones Season 1 (HBO)
Written by Danny McBride, John Carcieri, Jeff Fradley, Grant Dekernion, Edi Patterson, Kevin Barnett, & Chris Pappas
Directed by Danny McBride, David Gordon Green, and Jody Hill

Growing up in the Southern United States, the early morning airwaves, even on weekdays, were populated with televangelists like Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, and Jimmy Swaggert. There was the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) that ran 24-7 with regular sermon segments, a variety show, children’s programming, and always a number at the bottom of the screen imploring you to donate to keep the ministry going. Even as a child, something felt dissonant between the teachings of Jesus and the wealth-obsessed gaudiness of these television ministers. The Righteous Gemstones explores the world of a family involved in this ministry, a global multi-million dollar enterprise.

Best of the 2010s: My Favorite Comics of the Decade Part 2

The Omega Men by Tom King (2015)
The latter half of 2015 could be considered the Tom King period for me. I’ve consistently enjoyed almost everything he’s put out, even the stuff that seems to have a significant fan backlash. This 12 issue series for DC Comics takes the Omega Men concept (aliens united as the result of an oppressive force) and revamped it thirty years after its original conception. The Omega Men fight against The Citadel, an interplanetary corporation that uses the destruction of Krypton as a means to sell their services, stabilizing the cores of worlds. The rare metal needed to fix these planetary cores is only found in planets within the Vega System; thus, the inhabitants of those worlds have been enslaved, and in some circumstances, wiped out by genocide to ensure the resources can be harvested. The Omega Men kidnaps former Green Lantern Kyle Rayner so that they might have a witness to the atrocities done to their people and to see their retribution.