// Category Archive for: Movies

Movie Review: Deadpool

By Laury Scarbro

The short-short version of the synopsis: Wade Wilson, a.k.a. Deadpool, is a former Special Forces operative who turns mercenary for hire in his civilian life. He meets a girl, they eventually fall in love, and then tragedy strikes. He undergoes an experimental procedure that turns him into a hideous version of his former self, requiring him to wear a suit to hide his appearance. Then he sets out to get revenge on those responsible. And that’s when the real fun starts.

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In Case You Missed It: February 21 – 27, 2016–Cults, Conspiracy Theories & More

By Less Lee Moore

Let’s get things started with some OMGWTFLOL and a short history of women throwing their tampons at you.

Do you like Charles Manson? Sure, we all do! Popshifter’s latest podcast is available now and it’s full of commentary on The Veil, The Sacrament, Lana Del Rey, and other cult-related ephemera.

Check it out here.

The tenth season of The X-Files ended this week and the Internet hivemind was not exactly pleased. Read what Jeffery X Martin thought of each of the six episodes.

Still not satisfied? FINE. Here’s my take on Season 10.

Full House is back! Well, sort of. Tyler takes on the first three episodes of Fuller House, the reboot that everyone/no-one wanted. Commiserate with Laury on The Walking Dead and Outsiders, and laugh with Sachin about Lucha Underground and Broad City.

The Oscars air on Sunday and while everyone’s been buzzing about #OscarsSoWhite, let’s not forget that they aren’t exactly queer-friendly, either. Here are 5 unfortunate truths about LGBT diversity in Hollywood, plus a scathing assessment of the industry’s transphobia from nominee and transgender musician Anohni.

There is a lot of music news this week, and Unicorn Booty has you covered on NOW HEAR THIS! Learn all about the need for the #FreeKesha movement, Santigold’s latest album, and more.

Looking for some new music? May we suggest Santigold, Emitt Rhodes, Bill Carter, Golden Daze, or Wolfmother?

On the movie front: Tim Murr wonders why 1988’s Alien Nation doesn’t have a proper Blu-Ray edition, Jeffery X Martin wanders down the darkly humorous path of disenfranchisement with Criterion’s new release of The Graduate and calls Creed “one hell of a movie.” If you live in Canada, you can check out the new CBC documentary Girls’ Night Out, which discusses the sobering personal cost of binge-drinking.

What happened this week on Today In Pop Culture? The RMS Britannic, Lawrence Welk, Nazis, Tootsie Rolls, and clones.

The Official Popshifter Podcast, Episode #09: Cults

Welcome to Episode #09 of The Official Popshifter Podcast, “Cults! or, How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Manson Family.”

The reemergence of cults into popular culture leads hosts Less Lee Moore and Jeffery X Martin into a conversation encompassing The Veil, Lana Del Rey, Charles Manson, matriarchal societies, and more.

Movie Review: Girls’ Night Out

By Richelle Charkot

Nearly 14 million women in America binge drink 3 times per month. Photo Credit: White Pine Pictures

It is perhaps a little too appropriate that I’m writing this review of Girls’ Night Out with an upset stomach because I’m growing more concerned that I might be allergic to beer, in spite of the fact that I for some reason keep going out and drinking beer.

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Blu-Ray Review: The Graduate

By Jeffery X Martin

Mike Nichols’ film from 1967, The Graduate, is a darkly humorous ode to the disenfranchised and distant. It’s also a definitive bad romance. The movie has a lot to say about toxic people and how they can mess up your life. Then again, pretty much everyone in The Graduate is toxic.

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Blu-Ray Review: Creed

By Jeffery X Martin

People forget that Sylvester Stallone wrote and starred in the Best Picture of 1977, Rocky. That’s an Academy Award in the hands of Stallone. Isn’t that odd? We forget about it because Stallone’s output since Rocky has been so spastic. He’s given us fantastic performances, like the half-deaf officer in Cop Land. Then again, he’s also given us three Expendables movies and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot.

Does he hate us? Does he love us? How can we know?

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VHS Visions: Alien Nation (1988)

By Tim Murr

My favorite type of science fiction is where it’s basically our real world but with a twist, just one or two things off, like Robocop or The Fly. Dystopian futures and spaceships are fine, but I rarely feel sucked into those worlds in the same way. Alien Nation was one of my favorite films as a kid. It came out in 1988 and I couldn’t wait for it to hit my local video store. Being rated R, I knew there was no chance in hell of my parents taking me to see it in the theater.

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In Case You Missed It: February 14 – 20, 2016

By Less Lee Moore

We are thrilled to publish a Retro Review of The Zombies’ classic Odessey and Oracle album from none other than esteemed musician, Lenny Kaye!

The Witch, which has received an overwhelming number of positive reviews, opened on February 19. Far be it from me to tell you how to live your life, but I think you should go see it. Here’s why.

There’s been yet another death in the music world this week: Vanity, who most will remember as a Prince protégé and the singer for Vanity 6, but who also delighted movie and TV audiences in Action Jackson and Miami Vice, respectively. Unicorn Booty has the scoop on this, the return of Orphan Black, Kendrick Lamar’s secret stash, and much more.

It’s February, and that means it’s Women in Horror month. Maybe Angela Lansbury’s role on Murder, She Wrote wasn’t straight-up horror, but it’s still iconic. Did you know that she’s going strong at 90 years old? It’s true. Just last year, she reprised her role as Madame Arcati in the play Blithe Spirit, which toured North America. Here’s a great list of nine of the best Murder, She Wrote episodes.

There’s been a lot of talk about Silence of the Lambs recently, as the 25th year of its release approaches. While it’s still criticized for its depiction of trans and gay people, the character of Buffalo Bill was a composite of several real-life serial killers, including Ed Gein. Although most crimes are still committed by straight folks, as this article points out, freaky sex crimes and murders are equal opportunity. Here’s a list of ten scary but true gay psychopaths.

We’ve got TV recaps on Popshifter, y’all! The new episode of The X-Files (which is probably my fave yet in this tenth season), Outsiders (where you’ll learn about a “pitfight”), and Lucha Underground (spoiler alert: it involves baby oil).

What happened this week on Today In Pop Culture? Turntables, flying cows, Modern Art outrage, King Tut, and cats.

Retro Review: American Psycho

By Jeffery X Martin

Toronto residents! If you haven’t seen American Psycho in a while or if you’ve never seen it on the big screen, you’ll get your chance February 17 at the Carlton, where The MUFF Society is putting on a screening of the film at 9:00 p.m.

The quirky genius of Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner’s film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ controversial novel, American Psycho, lies in the generic nature of its characters and its excoriation of the wretched Yuppie movement of the 1980s. The movie is infused with comedy as dark as motor oil, and social commentary so sharp that watching the movie could cut your retinas. For a certain level of society, this is the definitive Eighties flick, even more cynical and astute than Oliver Stone’s Wall Street.

There is also an extended scene with a chainsaw, so that’s an automatic win.

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Today In Pop Culture: King Tut Takes The World By Sandstorm

By Less Lee Moore

It seems hard to believe, but there was a time when the name “King Tutankhamun” represented nothing more than a myth to many people, like Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, or aliens. Yet in 1923, on this day in pop culture, archaeologist Howard Carter opened the sealed doorway into King Tut’s burial chamber for the first time.

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