Pop Culture Maniacs

Pop Culture Maniacs

Corporate Retreat

"We don't want your money. We want your transcendence."

Pop Culture Maniacs

Fuze

Following the staggering success of Avatar in 2009, Sam Worthington disappeared into a labyrinth of anonymous thrillers and franchise starters (well, attempted franchise starters) and a few romance films. Most have been long since forgotten trash that he failed to elevate. Some did better than others at the box office,

Pop Culture Maniacs

Forbidden Fruits

Forbidden Fruits starts as a riff on Mean Girls, but set in a mall (somehow still thriving in 2026) at a store halfway between Forever 21 and Nordstrom, called "Forever Eden". The "Plastics" are replaced by the "Fruits", Apple (Lili Reinhart), Cherry (Victoria Pedretti)

Pop Culture Maniacs

Alpha

Bursting onto the scene with a strong voice, a distinct style, and a fresh tale is a fantastic way to get yourself noticed. But if your follow up repeats (or even deepens) the same beats and style, you risk pigeonholing yourself as a certain kind of director. Some are perfectly

Pop Culture Maniacs

Crime 101

"Inhale. Exhale. You are safe. You are calm. You are exactly where you need to be."

Pop Culture Maniacs

Iron Lung

Until a few weeks ago, I'd never heard of the video game Iron Lung. Neither had I heard of the YouTube channel Markiplier, much less Mark Fischbach, whose name it bears. His feature film debut (which he wrote, directed, edited, and starred in) only came to my attention

Pop Culture Maniacs

We Bury the Dead

While the zombie movie refuses to die, it's certainly not thriving. In the years since the onset of COVID-19, only a handful of films featuring the archetypal monster in one form or another get released every year, and vanishingly few cause a stir. It should come as no

Pop Culture Maniacs

100 Nights of Hero

“Nothing much was supposed to happen to me. I was supposed to get married, have children, do needlepoint, I guess, then die.”

Pop Culture Maniacs

Sisu: Road to Revenge

Sisu has had a strange life. Made by the same team that gave us Rare Exports, it landed fairly quietly at TIFF 2022. Its reception was warm enough, however, to be picked up for distribution. And although its US release didn't light the box office on fire, it

Pop Culture Maniacs

Keeper

With Longlegs, director Osgood Perkins burst onto the scene. It may have been his fourth movie, but it represented a stark evolution of his style into something more technically precise, more tonally playful, while still staring into the darkness. That shift, combined with Neon's brilliant marketing and audience

Pop Culture Maniacs

Dream Eater

The first movie from Eli Roth's new production studio, The Horror Section, was Jimmy and Stiggs, a jaw dropping descent into goopy, neon madness. It was a perfect midnight movie that nonetheless played the multiplex. That was all it took to convince me that seeking out the studio&

Pop Culture Maniacs

Anemone

"Romans make Romans."