TV Review: Broad City S3 E05, “2016”

By Sachin Hingoo

“Abbi. Hello. Proud Demo-crat. College. Aquarius. I pegged.”–Abbi

It’s one of the biggest weeks in Broad City’s entire run so far, and one that’s unlikely to be topped for quite some time. In addition to the announcement that the show will have an entry in the Tribeca Film Festival’s TV section, this week’s show features their most high-profile guest star yet, even in an episode packed with cameos. All eyes are on our girls, and these kweens won’t leave us hanging.

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SXSW Movie Review: Beware The Slenderman

By Brad Henderson

Beware The Slenderman is one of the most intense, chilling, and scary documentaries ever to exist.

If anyone has surfed any Internet forums, then they most likely they know about Slenderman. What started as a Photoshopped picture on SomethingAwful spawned a urban legend that has made its way into stories, video games, and even movies. Slenderman has only existed for a little over a decade, but it didn’t really get popular until videos started appearing on the Internet.

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DVD Review: Children Of The Stars

By Jeffery X Martin

Documentaries about alternative religious belief systems are always a dicey watch, especially if the religion being examined doesn’t jibe with your own or sounds totally off the wall. The temptation to snicker or outright mock the people who believe this crazy stuff is always there. But religion is such a personal thing; laughing at someone about what they believe just feels disrespectful.

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Today In Pop Culture: The First Rock & Roll Concert

By Jeffery X Martin

They call Cleveland, Ohio, “The Mistake by the Lake.” It’s an unfortunate nickname, stemming from their wretched winters, a river that has a tendency to catch fire, and a seemingly permanent place on any Most Miserable Places to Live in America list. But for as much guff as Cleveland takes, it is a rock and roll town, perhaps the rock and roll town. There’s more than one reason the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is in Cleveland, and today we celebrate one of them: the very first rock concert, held in 1952.

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In Case You Missed It: March 13 – 19, 2016–SXSW Reviews & Music News

By Less Lee Moore

Let Haircut 100 make you happy.

Our tireless SXSW Film Festival correspondent Brad Henderson has returned to bring you reviews of all the genre films playing at this year’s SXSW. First up, is The Greasy Strangler, which is as gross and weird as its title suggests. Look for more SXSW movie reviews next week on Popshifter!

Everyone has been talking about 10 Cloverfield Lane and Jeffery braved the multiplex to bring you this non-spoilery yet mega-praiseworthy review.

Both Jeffery and I loved Baskin, the Turkish horror flick from Can Evrenol that opens in theaters and VOD on Friday, March 25. Hopefully you will love our (also non-spoilery) reviews.

Stepping outside of the horror genre for a moment, Jeffery also checked out the unexpected delights of the new Pee-wee Herman movie called Pee-wee’s Big Holiday. Joe Manganiello obviously needs to take on more comedy roles.

Another premiere on Netflix this week is the much-anticipated second season of Marvel’s Daredevil. I’ve got the scoop on the first seven episodes of the season over at Biff Bam Pop.

In some exciting and unexpected TV casting news, Andy Burns at Rue Morgue reports that Canadian punk rock and acting legend Hugh Dillon is going to be on the new season of Twin Peaks next year. Yet another reason to tune in, as if you needed any.

Sachin has two Lucha Underground recaps this week because last week’s episode, “Death Comes In Threes,” threw him for a loop, and not necessarily in an enjoyable way. The good news is that the show has recovered quickly with the excellent “Life After Death.”

Another show that had a stellar episode was Outsiders, which as Laury reports, finally got some serious character development and plot momentum with “Weapons.” And on The Walking Dead, we’re still in “The Same Boat” in terms of zombies, people dying, and not actually seeing Negan’s face.

So much music this week! Melissa has reviews of three of this week’s best releases: a spectacular album from Grant-Lee Phillips, the crazy Americana compilation Wayfaring Strangers: Cosmic American Music from Numero Group, and a brilliant reissue of the already-brilliant and woefully underappreciated Pelican West by Haircut 100. And from S. Elizabeth at Dirge Magazine, a gorgeous analysis of the equally-gorgeous Full Circle from HÆLOS.

More music news comes from Unicorn Booty’s NOW HEAR THIS! where you can find out about Michelle Obama’s new single (WHA?!), The Pet Shop Boys, and Malcolm McLaren’s annoying son.

Look for reviews of new releases from Dirty Sidewalks, Iggy Pop, and Lust For Youth soon on Popshifter.

In gaming news, you might be interested in this report about how one of the reps for Oculus Rift is a straight(-up) douchebag.

Fannibals got a hint of this in Hannibal’s second season (Achilles + Patrocles 4 LYFE), here’s more evidence that Greek mythology is way gayer than you thought.

What happened this week on Today In Pop Culture? Speaking of Greek mythology, we discuss Caligula, in addition to the Ides of March, St. Patrick, Wings, and Perry Como.

Netflix Review: Pee-wee’s Big Holiday

By Jeffery X Martin

There’s a new Pee-wee Herman movie exclusively on Netflix, and I don’t know why either. I suppose it fits in with the nostalgia wave the network has been riding lately, but going with Pee-Wee seems an odd choice. The curiosity factor must be acknowledged, though, and a lot of people will tune in just to see what this movie could possibly offer.

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SXSW Movie Review: The Greasy Strangler

By Brad Henderson

If Tim and Eric made an R-rated Napoleon Dynamite-esque movie, that’s exactly what The Greasy Strangler would be.

Sometimes it feels that The Greasy Strangler isn’t even a movie, but an overall test of what one person can endure. It also feels like this would be a good social experiment to show your friends and see if they remain friends with you afterwards. That said, The Greasy Strangler is hilarious, sleazy, slimy, and just a fucking weird comedy that actually exists in this world and it’s perfect.

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TV Review: Lucha Underground S3 E08, “Life After Death”

By Sachin Hingoo

It’s a gigantic week in Lucha Underground, friends. After last week’s outstanding triple-threat match between champion Mil Muertes, Pentagón Jr., and Prince Puma, Fenix cashed in his Gift of the Gods title shot which is our main event for tonight. Let’s also hope that the inter-gender content will be handled better this week, because we have a Trios title match between the Disciples of Death and the team of Son of Havoc, Angelico, and Ivelisse that should be pretty good.

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Today In Pop Culture: Caligula Takes Power And Rome Goes To Hell

By Jeffery X Martin

We made it through the Ides of March, which saw the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. But before Julius Caesar began his dictatorship, there was another leader of the Roman Empire who was as infamous as Caesar was famous. His full name was Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. That’s a mouthful, so he was most often referred to by his nickname, Caligula. That very word still brings up images of debauchery and madness today. He came to power on this day in 37 BC.

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Music Review: Grant-Lee Phillips, The Narrows

By Melissa Bratcher

It behooves every writer who will review Grant-Lee Phillips’ new album The Narrows to mention that he was Stars Hollow’s beloved Troubadour on Gilmore Girls, so I will also mention it. I will also mention that Gilmore Girls is being rebooted for Netflix (as most everyone with an Internet connection will know) and that Grant-Lee Phillips will be returning to sing songs on the street corners of Stars Hollow and annoy Taylor Dosey.

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