PopCult Reviews

Movie Review – Lawless

Lawless (2012)
Written by Nick Cave
Directed by John Hillcoat

In 1931, among the foothills of Virginia, the Bondurant brothers were successful moonshine runners. Forrest (Tom Hardy) runs the operations with a cool even hand making sure to reign in wild man Howard (Jason Clarke) the youngest and greenest brother Jack (Shia LeBeouf). They also have the local law under their thumb by sharing some of the product from time to time. Things change when U.S. Marshall Charley Rakes (Guy Pearce) is assigned to the region and works alongside the state’s attorney to pressure the Bondurants into handing over a more significant percentage of their profits. Meanwhile, Jack becomes obsessed with courting the preacher’s daughter (Mia Wasikowska) while Forrest strikes up a growing intimacy with city girl on the run Maggie (Jessica Chastain). Oh yeah, Gary Oldman plays a Chicago gangster who has moved into the area. Movie crowded enough yet?

December 2018 Digest

Best of 2018 Lists

Movie Reviews
*** = PopCult’s Choice

Comic Book Reviews

Movie Review – Ant-Man & The Wasp

Ant-Man & The Wasp (2018)

Written by Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers, Paul Rudd & Andrew Barrer & Gabriel Ferrari

Directed by Peyton Reed

Scott Lang has been under house arrest for two years, captured and extradited back to the United States after his role in Captain America’s insurrection. Lang only has a couple days left in his sentence when he is hit with visions of Janet van Dyne, the presumed dead wife of the original Ant-Man, Hank Pym. Before he knows it Lang is sneaking out of his home aiding Pym and his daughter Hope. They are trying to keep ahead of the pursuing FBI, a criminal cartel, and the mysterious phasing villain Ghost.

Read more… Ant-Man & The Wasp is not a terrible film, it’s a perfectly middle of the road, formulaic forgettable fare. What keeps the movie somewhat engaging is the always charismatic Paul Rudd and the film’s willingness to acknowledge some of the absurd tropes of the superhero genre. These elements were present in the first film but here there are moments where the director allows them to run wild. There are some short improvisational moments involving the trio of fellow ex-cons that work alongside Lang. The humor feels strained to say the least near the end of the picture.

If you step back and look at the picture as a whole, you find there is very little there other than an extremely stretched out plot that amounts to about 90 mins worth of material made to work for over two hours. There’s a car chase that is prolonged by playing with the shrinking and growing powers of our title characters but after a few iterations you sort of get the point and wonder what else there is to offer. I wasn’t an overjoyed fan of Black Panther or Avengers: Infinity War however both of those films do a much better job of creating emotional investment in characters because the stakes feel genuinely high. I never once felt that Lang and his cohorts were actually in peril. Maybe this is by design, but after seeing how wide in scope Infinity War reached it causes Ant-Man to feel diminished.

All of this said, Ant-Man highlights one of the problems in the ongoing DC V Marvel film debate. Ant-Man & The Wasp has much more in common with Richard Donner’s classic Superman film than a single picture released by Warner Brothers in the last six years. Donner managed to balance humor and more serious material which is what makes Superman a very charming film. While Peyton Reed doesn’t ascend to those heights he does remember something Mr. Snyder has forgotten: These movies should be fun.

State of the Blog 2019

I have come out of 2018 very happy with the content I created for my blog, especially the four marathons I worked through during the year: Rick Remender’s Marvel, DC Comics Blockbusters of the 1980s/90s, Red White & Blue Cinema, and the A24 Marathon. Here’s a look at some of the things coming up in 2019.

Favorites of the Decade

With 2020 coming I will be spending a large chunk of 2019 looking back on my favorite pieces of media, especially films, from across the 2010s. I’ll be revising my favorites of 2009 list and, if I have the time, revise my favorites of the 2000s list I wrote up back in 2009. Here’s my schedule for the year of when specific lists will drop.

January – Favorite YouTubers of the 2010s
February – Favorite Films of 2009
March – Favorite Films of 2010
April – Favorite Films of 2011
May – Favorite Films of 2012
June – Favorite Films of 2013, Favorite Comics of the 2010s
July – Favorite Films of 2014, Favorite Viral Entertainment of the 2010s
August – Favorite Films of 2015
September – Favorite Films of 2016
October – Favorite Films of 2017
November – Favorite Films of 2018
December – Favorite Films of 2019, Favorite Television of the 2010s

Annapurna: A Filmmaker’s Godsend (2012 – 2017)
After working my way through the 74 films of the A24 I thought I’d go for something a little less ambitious, yet more focused. I’ll be watching the films of Annapurna, a film production company and distributor that is incredibly selective to the point of releasing only two films from 2014 to 2015. Here are the films I’ll be watching (or rewatching) and reviewing.

Lawless
The Master
Killing Them Softly
Zero Dark Thirty
The Grandmaster
Her
American Hustle
Foxcatcher
Joy
Everybody Wants Some!
Wiener-Dog
Sausage Party
The Bad Batch
Detroit

Hope in the Midst of Darkness Marathon

While the larger world seems to be bathed in darkness these days I decided to do a small marathon at some point this year with films that don’t hide from the bleak parts of life but showcase how hope can emerge from such circumstances. Some of these are films I’ve seen before, some I never have.

To Kill a Mockingbird
Cinema Paradiso
Wings of Desire
My Left Foot
The Thin Red Line
Children of Men

Comics

In 2018 my comic book reading was taken up mostly by Rick Remender’s Marvel work with a break in the summer to read through all DC Comics’ 80s/90s Events. In 2019 I plan on leaning into DC more starting with a read through of the six collections of Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis’ Justice League run. Then I’ll be catching up with the classic Wolfman/Perez Teen Titans run. This summer I will tackle Infinite Crisis, DC’s 2006 event by reading the core series and its surrounding spin-offs. Along the way, I will sprinkle in some one-off reviews. Currently, I am reading Tom King’s Mister Miracle so expect a review of that in January.

Justice League International v1 – 6 (January – February)

New Teen Titans v5 – 9 (March- April)

GL Sector 2814 (May)

Infinite Crisis/52 (June – July)

Batman: Knightfall Saga (August – October)

Seven Soldiers (November)

Batman: Dark Knight Detective/The Caped Crusader (December)

I don’t have every aspect of 2019 pinned down, which is a good thing. I am leaving myself room to set up a small marathon if an idea sparks for me. Overall, I hope you are as excited as I am for the coming year and find somethings you enjoy in my content.

My Favorite Films I Watched in 2018 – Part 2

Here is the second part of my favorite films I viewed in 2018 and the final blog post of 2018. I will continue in 2019 starting with a State of the Blog post tomorrow.

15. Loveless (2017, dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev)
From my review:
It is entirely understandable to be at the frayed edges of a relationship and want to drag them down in the mud with you on the way down. It’s not a right way to live, but it is a behavior that is very natural to humanity. It is reasonable to want to start a new life and experience that nostalgic freshness that a burgeoning relationship can bring. Are Zhenya and Boris unrealistic in their expectations for their new partners? Oh most, definitely and we see that as the film slowly spirals to its conclusion. Zhenya and Boris are so entirely ordinary, and that is what makes Loveless cut so deeply. These are not exaggerated, grotesque characters. These people could be us if life got bad enough.

Movie Review – Roma

Roma (2018)
Written & Directed by Alfonso Cuaron

Cleo is a maid in 1970s Mexico City, working at a home in the Colonia Roma neighborhood for a doctor and his family. The patriarch of the family leaves for a work trip to Quebec which is quickly revealed to be an excuse to leave his family. Cleo works to serve the family while living a private life beyond their gaze. She finds out she is pregnant after a series of dates with her new boyfriend, Fermin. He shows little interest in staying to gather her child and Cleo is left to reveal her condition to her employer. In the background, cultural and political strife in Mexico are unfolding, and from time to time these conflicts cross over into Cleo and her employers’ lives. Otherwise, Roma unfolds as an unassuming slice of life picture.

My Favorite Films I Watched in 2018 – Part 1

As always these are films I *watched* for the first time in 2018, not necessarily that were released this year. Part 1 contains #30 – 16.

30. Lean on Pete (2018, dir. Andrew Haigh)
From my review:
Charley has never really experienced love, except for that one short time with Aunt Margy. She truly loved him, and then they had to go away. So, when Charley meets Pete, a horse considered valueless, he wants to repay that love. Charley begins to see the beauty in Pete, old but still strong, full of opinions and not easily tamed. He wants to rescue Pete in the same way he needs someone to save him. No one’s coming for Pete, so Charley takes it upon himself without ever asking if anyone is coming for Charley. So often the rural corners of our nation are portrayed as the warm, moral centers, the “Heartland.” Director Haigh has no qualms pointing out how stark and lonely the landscape and its people can be, just as devastating as any urban nightmare conjured up.

Movie Review – The Rider

The Rider (2017)
Written & Directed by Chloé Zhao

Brady Blackburn was a rising star on the rodeo circuit until he suffers brain damage after being thrown from a bronco. He’s back home now, a metal plate in his head and bouts of nausea unsure of his future as a rider. In the meantime, his father and sister share a trailer with him struggling against poverty. Brady works through his pride and gets a job working at a local grocery store trying to keep the family afloat. However, always lingering in the back of his mind is this hunger to get back up on a horse again. He tests the waters by helping a couple of people break stallions they’ve recently purchased and feels the pull. Brady even saves up money and gets help from his dad to buy an Arabian named Apollo that he sees as a path to recovery and his future. But something inside Brady keeps telling him this dream may be over.

My Favorite Television I Watched in 2018

Here are the best shows I watched over the course of 2018.

Detroiters Seasons 1 & 2 (Comedy Central)
It’s always my luck to get into a show as soon as the network decides to cancel it. That is also true of the best thing I (re)watched on this list which you’ll see at the end. Detroiters is a show co-created by and starring Sam Richardson (Veep) and Tim Robinson (SNL). The series tells the story of best friends Tim and Sam who are running Tim’s dad’s advertising agency after his father ends up having a nervous breakdown and is committed. So the duo goes about creating advertisements for clients that aren’t something you’d see airing outside a local market. However, the show isn’t even really about the workplace; its strengths are the friendship between its two central characters and the highlighting the city of Detroit. The comedy here is not meant to shock you, but it also isn’t without an edge, it’s a wonderful balance you don’t find too often anymore. You can’t help but genuinely feel good after watching an episode.

My Favorite Documentaries I Watched in 2018

City of Gold (2015) – Directed by Laura Gabbert
I watched this film earlier in the year only to be shocked in July when the news came that food critic Jonathan Gold had died. In this documentary, we get to know the LA Times premiere food writer. There are interviews with the man himself as well as his family, coworkers, and the chefs he has brought into the spotlight. Gold was very well known for helping to promote small immigrant-owned businesses in the Los Angeles area. These entrepreneurs and little old grandmas speak about Gold with tears in their eyes, grateful for how his kind words brought them to a new level of success. While he is gone, his words and influence remain as vibrant as ever.