Popcorn Zombies

  By Michael Momper     Good art challenges us. It nudges us toward self-reflection. From the earliest days of Old Hollywood, profound storytellers have been using the craft of filmmaking to make comments about the state of the world. The best of these films offer a sort of diagnosis on the affairs of the human soul, and suggest certain remedies, or at least make clear the pitfalls that we must avoid in order to lead a good life. Often, masterpieces of film that capture humanity's greatest strengths or weaknesses do so unambiguously, and stick with us because of their startling clarity. This clarity can take the form of either uplifting beauty, in the case of an Old Hollywood "happy ending" done right, or haunting horror, as exemplified by the greatest works of dystopian fiction. I intend to discuss how both of these storytelling roads, in the hands of a capable writer or director, can lead us down the path of virtue and provide prescriptions for the many ills in our sin-...

To Live is to Love By Graham Craycraft You would rarely hear the name Townes Van Zandt and think “Christian” or perhaps if you did you would be conjuring in your mind a man in desperate need of Christ. Van Zandt lived a life of booze and ramblin’ and tragically passed away from a serious hip fracture coupled with his alcoholism. You could say, however, that life killed Van Zandt. He just couldn’t leave behind his demons- something that is tragically and beautifully expressed in his songwriting. He lived a public, if not exaggerated, version of us all.  Van Zandt’s song “To Live Is to Fly” contains the lyrics “living’s mostly wasting time/and I’ll waste my share of mine/ but it never feels too good, so let’s don’t take too long.” Living, for most of us, does seem to be just wasting time. Little moments that seem to amount to nothing. Even the grand moments of life are fleeting. The Psalmist laments “Man is but a breath/ his days are like a passing shadow.” We are loath to think that...

By Graham Craycraft Longlegs is Oz Perkins’ fourth film as a director and third film in which he both directed and wrote. A 2025 film based on Stephen King’s The Monkey is currently in post production.  Longlegs is a horror film starring Maika Monroe and Nicholas Cage that begins with intensity that seldom lets up for the one hour 41 minute runtime. Monroe plays Lee Harker- an FBI agent with some unexplained supernatural powers that is a perfect fit to hunt mysterious serial killer Longlegs (Cage). Longlegs appears to be killing people, entire families, without ever making direct contact with them; so, what is the FBI to do? Harker is assigned to the case and with her esp makes immediate headway.  As the investigation progresses, the horror takes a deep and skin-crawling turn when we learn that Harker is somehow connected with Longlegs and that these killings are demonic. Cage gives a fantastic performance as essentially a servant of Satan. One could almost feel bad for him...

  By Michael Momper Can a movie be morally irresponsible? Where should we draw that line? I submit to you that it can, and I think you will agree. Consider two subjects: tone and content. When a movie's tone is problematic, even if the intentions are good, we might have a compromised piece of art. Consider a movie about a real serial killer that fumbles the tone so badly that you actually root for the killer, or find him charming and likeable. Rightfully, audiences call this out as irresponsible filmmaking- the killer had real victims, and likely living, still-grieving families, so whatever the intentions of the filmmakers it is still important to never let the film revel in the evil of its subject. Content is a slightly thornier subject. If you've read our blog, you know that Graham and I are no prudes. We aren't going to call out a film as "morally irresponsible" just for having some nudity and lots of swearing. However, a piece of art that glorifies evil is som...

Graham Craycraft   Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is the latest project for the Mad Max franchise and the first that does not feature Max Rockatansky as the central character. George Miller continues his impressive world building with this fifth edition into the post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland.   Furiosa (the titular character for this film) is the secondary protagonist of 2015’s Mad Max Fury Road which was both a box office and critical smash. Played by Charlize Theron in 2015, this prequel sees Anya Taylor-Joy take the reins. From a young girl Furiosa grows up under the grueling regime of the Wasteland as a slave to later become the imperator of Immortan Joe in Fury Road . We see some returning figures such as Immortan Joe and his half-life war boys, but we are introduced to a new villain Dementus, played by Chris Hemsworth, and his gang of marauders.   Hemsworth and Taylor-Joy both kill their performances. Hemsworth is cruel, funny, and destructive. Taylor...

  By Michael Momper " You're the nice guy! And that's a fine thing to be!" Banshees of Inisherin is the latest movie to be both written and directed by much-acclaimed filmmker Martin Mcdonagh. If you haven't seen any of his work, it is well worth checking out- he has had a tremendous working relationship with Colin Farrell for most of his career, and has created some absolutely incredible laugh-out-loud dramas in the past couple decades, many of which have fared very well at the Oscars. Though his 2017 drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri took home the most Oscar hardware, his films In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths are arguably even better, and are among my favorite films. Mcdonagh is a master of dialogue, blending gut-busting insults, witticisms and jokes with tense confrontation deftly and seamlessly. He is a master of world-building and character development. Mcdonagh's films are imbued with scenery and mysticism from his homeland of Ireland, rich...