As an unapologetic feminist, I have a love-hate relationship with hip-hop. While I love a great deal of both mainstream and underground hip-hop, I am often uncomfortable with the violent, misogynistic and homophobic themes in some (though not all) of the music I listen to.
Before Harry Potter took over the world, there was a small, made-for-TV movie based on a series of children's books called The Worst Witch. It featured some well-known British actors (Diana Rigg and the fabulous Tim Curry) and a young, up-and-coming actress named Fairuza Balk. HBO started playing it throughout October in the mid-to-late 80s and it was an instant favorite of mine.
As an extension of MamaPop's ongoing effort to bring you the best in wholesome, family-friendly fun, we'd like to offer you the following list of some of our favorite murderous psychopaths. Some you may know, some you may not... but all of them deserve a very dark, twisted and frightening part of your life.
By Michael Roe
54 years ago, today, Rebel Without a Cause was released, a film since deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry. It was James Dean’s second film (and his second-to-last), and the movie that made the young man an icon.
I just got around to seeing Year One, because I saw the previews and used my superpower of knowing when things are going to be suckish ahead of time and just didn't, but then it's Sunday night and I have to write about something for Mama Pop, so it was this or The Proposal or stapling my tongue to the roof of my mouth, and I couldn't really write about the stapling thing because that's not really pop culture-related. And all the copies of The Proposal were out. And I hate my eyes and my ears and my intellect.
Sometimes, as a movie reviewer, you have to make difficult choices. There are only so many films you can watch and only so many eyes you can watch them with and only so many dollars you might be willing to shake down kids at your son's elementary school for, because no matter how talented and brilliant you are, no one at The New York Times will return your phone calls.
In a stunning piece of news that might've slipped beneath your usually impeccable radar, it's October. I'm not even kidding — you could look it up. In even more stunning news, the end of October means Hallowe'en, a night of trick-or-treating fun and stupid-ass parents who like to pretend they're stuffed scarecrows sitting in a chair next to the front steps until some cute little kid comes along and suddenly they jump up and scream bloody terrifying murder and scare the living bejeezus out of some sweet boy or girl who's been waiting all year to go out as a fairy princess or Superman. I fucking hate those parents.
What were we talking about? Oh, right... Hallowe'en, October... blah blah blah. More pertinently, October is the month where all right-thinking Americans (and the occasional right-thinking Canadian) choose to celebrate the dimming of the day and the fleeting popular embrace of ghosts, witches, demonic were-creatures and other critters not usually welcomed into genteel society by engaging in the time-honored tradition of watching lots and lots of horror movies. Why? Because, unlike children, we can make the conscious choice to be scared — because we understand and experience it as entertainment, as 90 minutes of escapist fun that frees us from the dreary bonds of our day-to-day and provides us with the vicarious thrill of gambling with our lives.
Because I am a frazzled working mom, I'm often way behind on seeing movies with smaller releases. This obviously applies to documentaries since I'm not in a huge release market and these things tend to fly through theaters anyway.
Thankfully, Netflix (and other such services) exist, so I'm able to catch up on some of the awesome stuff that I miss. Most recently, I rented and adored two documentaries that are about subjects so very micro that they're almost ridiculous: Helvetica (the font) and Donkey Kong.
Thankfully, the pr0n in question is not of the estranged Gosselins. Not yet, anyway. But you know with their meteoric rise to "fame" a sex tape is due any day now.
No, the *ahem* film that I'm referring to belongs to that mainstay of the adult film genre: the parody.
For the first time since I was 16, I have had the whole summer off. While I meant to accomplish a whole lot of totally important and enriching things, I've mostly been re-exploring my favorite television shows in the comfort of my living room and bathrobe, usually with a bowl of Lucky Charms in my lap. While the summer is quickly winding down with new shows soon to be fed directly to your cable box and/or Tivo, it's not too late to catch a show you missed when it aired or one you watched and simply want to revisit. Under the fold, I present my picks for must-have television series on DVD.
How did you sleep last night? I ask because I didn't — in large part because I spent most of it awake with a 4-year old who was apparently trying to turn herself inside-out. The good news is that while I was enjoying this extended dance remix tour of my daughter's digestive system, my thoughts wandered to the many and splendored ways that this particular facet of existence has been illuminated on film over the years. In some contexts, it has been treated as comedy. In others, it's an element of high drama or great horror. But no matter how it is presented, these scenes create a portrayal of humanity at its most vulnerable — and, in the process, may even teach us a little something about ourselves.
(cue: a very special episode music...)
• Team America
I can only presume that you're already familiar with Team America, the Academy Award-winning geopolitical documentary featuring hardcore puppet sex. Lovingly crafted by the sensitive minds behind South Park, Team America features an entire galaxy of stars (my personal favorite: Matt Damon), the Eiffel Tower getting blown to smithereens, and a scene in which our hero Gary - having descended into alcoholism - hits bottom and proceeds to engage in a bout of epic vomiting that must been seen to be believed. 56. Full. Seconds. Of. Puppet. Vomiting. So staggering is this mannequinamation expurgation of effluvia that its status as the ne plus ultra of onscreen hurling is challenged by only a single precedent...
This week's edition of the bible of popular culture - aka Entertainment Weekly - features on its cover the three stars of a movie that actually won't be released until sometime in 2010, which scientific research shows is actually a reference to next year despite sounding like some make-believe time in the way-off, far distant future. The movie in question, of course, is Iron Man II, and features the improbably successful Robert Downey Jr. as the title superhero, Mickey Rourke as some superbadass, and Scarlett Johansson as... uh... someone who is apparently in the movie to piss off Gwenyth Paltrow. Personally I'm somewhat indifferent to the dynamics of Johansson vs. Paltrow, but if it features either one of them looking reasonably hot and wrapped up in spandex, then - if I may be so bold as to speak for the heterosexual males of North America - boo to the yaa.
Of course, not every superhero movie/comic book adaptation has been quite so star-studded, critically lauded and mainstream-embraced as the first Iron Man, or The Dark Knight, or.... well, you get the idea. Between the launch of the modern superhero movie with 1978's Superman and next year's Iron Man II, there have been a handful of less-renowned but nonetheless culturally essential films du genre worthy of your attention. And insofar as that the good people of MamaPop live to educate and enlighten, we hereby present you with a quick overview of some comic book adaptations that might have slipped past your otherwise foolproof radar.
While most MamaPop writers have their fingers on the pulse of what's hot on TV, I tend to fall really behind on the boob-tube pop culture. I have basic cable, which I barely watch, and for long stretches of time I will only flip between Bravo, VH1, MTV and the Food Network, as though they were the only channels in my cable package. When I finally do catch on to a popular or critically acclaimed show, it's usually well into its run and, in some cases, after it has ended entirely. Usually this is okay with me — I get to watch it on my time, and if I can't wait to find out what happens, I just watch the next episode right then. It's like delayed instant gratification.
When Fanboys came out last winter, it was a limited release that didn't come anywhere near me, and that was about as surprising as that one time when I got picked on in high school. But I still wanted to see it really bad because it had been in production since about 1935 or something, and was a classic road trip movie and the trailer looked really funny, so HAHAHA! Awesome! When has marketing EVER steered me wrong? Except that one time when I was a kid and wanted to try Grape Nuts because the commercials made them look crunchy and delicious, but guess what else is crunchy when you chew it? Dirt. Same flavor, it turns out.
My Brother and I started doing "Zombie Movie Wednesdays" over the winter because we are both statistically unemployed and really we had nothing better to do and what? I'm not being defensive! You're being defensive, so shut up!.
The trouble is, we ran out of zombie movies fast because there are really only so many, and already we were watching things like "Serpent and the Rainbow" which is only vaguely zombie-ish, and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" which has no zombies at all but does star Luke Perry, so Score! .We had to expand our criteria a little and what we came up with was it had to be a) A zombie movie, or b) Something Really Awful (Think anything recent with Jason Statham...) or c) It had to star Keanu Reeves because we both feel he is the most talented non-actor working in show business today, (Although you could make a strong case for Nic Cage.)
This brings us to "The Day the Earth Stood Still".
Here's a time when the various worlds in my pop culture universe collide and splash down into a bowl of fail, stirred with a spoon of shame, and seasoned with a heaping tablespoon of you've-got-to-be-fucking-kidding-me.
Yeah, I know it's not my normal "beat" but hey, everyone else around here is doing it.
And I may be a lawyer but I'm also as much as pop culture junkie as the next MamaPop writer. So, after the jump, my picks for the things I loved in 2008. And I will warn you, quite a few of these are very puffy pink heart girlie fluffy. I work in child abuse, and sometimes, I just need some things in my life that do nothing but make me smile.
MAMAPOP IS SMART POP CULTURE ANALYSIS, COMMENTARY, MERCILESS FUN-MAKING AND OTHER SUNDRY AWESOME, DISHED UP DAILY BY PARENTS, FOR PARENTS, AND ANYONE ELSE WHO UNDERSTANDS THAT PLAYTIME IS BETTER WITH VODKA. PLEASE TO ENJOY. READ MORE...
