Pop Culture Maniacs

Pop Culture Maniacs

40 Acres

"To have given each one of the million Negro free families a forty-acre freehold would have made a basis of real democracy in the United States that might easily have transformed the modern world." - W. E. B. Du Bois

Pop Culture Maniacs

Dangerous Animals

Every shark movie lives in the shadow of Jaws. While not the first, it had an immediate and lasting impact on movie culture and the industry. For one, it spawned a bunch of imitators, most of which failed to make any impression, much less a comparable one. Even once that

Pop Culture Maniacs

Sister Midnight

"Oh sure, I'm a domestic goddess."

Pop Culture Maniacs

Steppenwolf

"Is there any need for good? It's unnecessary."

Pop Culture Maniacs

Final Destination Bloodlines

As a staple of the aughts, it’s fitting that the last entry in the Final Destination horror franchise came fourteen years ago. It’s a series of mid-budget horror films with almost no recurring characters spawned from a rejected spec script for The X Files, squarely situating it in

Pop Culture Maniacs

Rosario

The decline of the movie star has been well-documented. For the uninitiated, the idea is that audiences historically showed up to a movie on the strength of its lead actors, but that’s not generally true anymore. Currently, the ones who can draw a crowd are mostly over forty, indicating

Pop Culture Maniacs

The Shrouds

"How dark are you willing to go?"

Pop Culture Maniacs

The Amateur

"Overestimate your chances to build confidence."

Pop Culture Maniacs

Hell of a Summer

At first, the offer of Hell of a Summer is very recognizable. An unknown and unseen killer slowly picks off a bunch of kids at a summer camp while their friends obliviously go about activities nearby. There are campfires, tall tales, tiny cabins, lame ice breakers, and awkward hook-ups. There&

Pop Culture Maniacs

Ash

There's a certain type of low-budget sci-fi I will always show up for. They lack the money to pull off a grand epic. They feature limited action, although a clever director can disguise that with filmmaking tricks and careful planning. They never feature current stars, although rising actors

Pop Culture Maniacs

The Rule of Jenny Pen

My whole life I've been bored. I look back and see an empty bin.

Pop Culture Maniacs

Cleaner

Cleaner feels like a relic from a bygone era. The many comparisons it's received to Die Hard are debatable, although the marketing is certainly inviting them. To be fair, their cores are the same: an action-thriller in the style of an airport novel about an unassuming person thrust