Pop Culture Weekly Round-Up  14/01/2022

Hello, everyone! I hope you are all well. 2022 started with a bang. So many great shows (and a few movies too) getting released in January. I’m super excited for the second season of EUPHORIA and the first half of the season finale of OZARK. The last episode of the first season of YELLOWJACKETS is also dropping this weekend. So I will finally be able to binge-watch the whole thing. I can’t wait.

In this week’s newsletter, I share my thoughts on two really solid new Netflix series, THE JOURNALIST and ARCHIVE 81. I also talk about how well crafted THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH is. And how much fun I had watching the new SCREAM movie.

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QUICK THOUGHTS

• THE JOURNALIST is a Netflix thriller/drama from Japan based on a film of the same name. First of all, I think it is fascinating how some of the best original content from Netflix is coming from outside the United States. Well done Netflix! You are really giving us some gems.

  Anyway, the series follows Anna Matsuda, a  journalist who is regarded as "the rebel of journalism" because she always aims to reveal problems in Japan. She employs her strong convictions to get to the bottom of every story and seek the truth. When confronted with political crimes and modern Japanese society's scandals, Anna makes it her mission to expose the corruption that is endangering her country.

  The show's broader picture and five-hour run-length allow for an in-depth examination of who is truly exercising power in Japan. And does not make light or minimize the horrific realities of a corrupt government. However, after a strong start, its pacing gets a bit sluggish, and it drags in the later episodes, becoming redundant and more and more overly emotional.

  But overall, The Journalist is an excellent cautionary tale about the ephemeral nature of political power. A very welcoming addition to Netflix's growing collection of exceptional stories from around the world.

• ARCHIVE 81 is Netflix’s newest horror series, which is loosely based on a podcast with the same name and has an intriguing psychological horror plot. 

  Mamoudou Athie plays a film archivist who agrees to work on an attractive project for a mysterious businessman played by Martin Donovan. This gig revolves around fixing a collection of broken videotapes shot in 1994 by Melody (Dina Shihabi), who gets obsessed with capturing the goings-on at a peculiar apartment complex named Visser Building.

  It's not easy to talk about ARCHIVE 81 without giving too much away, but it's even more difficult to avoid talking about it at all, because of its intriguing premise and the level of creepiness. The series also plays around with many horror genres but, its approach to the found-footage idea is sporadic at best. With that said, the gimmicks are frequently amusing, and the resulting atmosphere is genuinely spooky. 

  I enjoyed ARCHIVE 81 a lot and it'll probably be one of my favorite horror series of 2022.

• THE HOUSE is a stop motion anthology miniseries from the Nexus Studios. This is a weird and unnerving horror-comedy with its interrelated storylines acting as one large metaphor for how we live our lives today. 

  The first story sets the tone for the whole miniseries and the events that unfold have some good dark comedy mixed with sinister and dread-inducing atmospheres.  I really enjoyed the surprising plot twists as each story reaches its climax.  Also, the use of stop motion animation, further adds to the creepy atmosphere.

  The House has a few flaws in its general delivery but, Its loosely connected plotlines, deeply convincing storyline elements, and sleek stop motion look, more than make up for its imperfections.

• THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH is a such well-crafted film, is one of the most stunning adaptations of Shakespeare's writings for the big screen you'll ever watch! The cinematography is unquestionably stunning. The performances are excellent, and the dramatically lit sets and amazing costumes give the actors more than enough room to work out this well-worn material, which the director Joel Coen has condensed into a digestible 105-minute film.

  Denzel Washington plays Macbeth, while Frances McDormand, plays Lady Macbeth. They're both great, as always. But the greatest and creepiest moments are courtesy of stage performer Kathryn Hunter, who plays the trio of witches. Hunter's performance is particularly remarkable, as she reshapes her body and recited prophecies in a terrifying voice. 

  With THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH, Joel Coen triumphs without his brother Ethan. I'm not a huge fan of Shakespeare's plays since the language can be difficult to understand. However, I appreciate fantastic films, and this is a beautiful one.

SCREAM (2022)

The first SCREAM remains one of the best horror flicks of past decades. Mainly because it breaks traditional slasher clichés and keeps us guessing at every step. It was the first of its kind, and it was also responsible for reviving the horror genre in the 1990s.

While this new SCREAM does not break any new ground, it does give what fans have come to expect from the franchise. And I really liked what the new directors created. The movie's pacing is excellent. There's some delightful humor, gruesome killings, and I believe that the amount of people getting murdered has been increased too.

The flick introduces us to a wonderful cast of new characters as well as some major surprises. It was very entertaining to watch the original and new cast members mixed together, and it made for a wonderful guessing game of who did it.

SCREAM (2022) makes an ambitious and brutal return to Woodsboro. It succeeds in blending the past with the present while also making fun of itself and current horror tropes. I thought I wouldn’t enjoy it but it was a very fun ride. Original director Wes Craven would be proud of it.

Top 5 Songs 

These were the 5 songs on heavy rotation in my house last week. You can listen to them on Spotify and YouTube.