by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer

Sometimes I forget traditional network shows exist. Since they appeal to the masses, they tend to feel more risk-averse than shows on a streamer. Throughout the COVID-19 Era, Abbott Elementary has continued to be one of the most consistently good shows. Season Four is no exception.

When a show reaches episode counts comparable to those of Abbott Elementary, the formula can start to become stale. However, this one manages to find ways to keep everything fresh. Last season, they expanded the story’s reach to include the district. This season, they are making more efforts to develop the surrounding neighborhood and the impact it has on the school. Season Four features storylines that explore gentrification, business, and the effect of striking bus lines on the students. None of these arcs are forced, and their consequences have a lasting impact on the students and teachers.

While the show has always been student-centric, Season Four is a significant step in expanding that reach. No doubt that all these teachers are outstanding at their job. In this season, though, we see the impact they have as students move throughout their grade school journey. The finale features a moment when Jacob (Chris Perfetti) realizes he’s at the tail end of the students’ journey at Abbott, and that when this crop graduates, it’s a moment to reflect on how much each teacher has shaped each student in different ways, both inside and outside the classroom. It’s a beautiful moment about growing up, and the people who have the most significant impact on the development of young minds.

Beyond Jacob, every teacher experiences profound moments of self-reflection in their professional life. Janine (Quinta Brunson) has a storyline when she realizes the way she’s been teaching something for years doesn’t work for this year’s class. Some of the more tenured teachers rally and encourage her that it’s okay to change things up, which experience has taught them. Janine’s Season Three decision is still impacting everything in Season Four, but it’s not harming everything.

Barb (Sheryl Lee Ralph), the group’s older veteran teacher, has two moments that prompt self-reflection. During a party, her students fail to respond to a tradition she has observed for years. Similar to Janine, she has to adjust her thinking on how she has done things in the past. Yet unlike Janine, Barb just has to let this go. This decision prompts her to reflect on the next steps for her career. She was allowed to do something music-related that she loves, but a deeper discussion is coming moving forward when a teacher starts to feel like they are nearing the end.

Jacob is also dealing with this feeling, but he’s starting to think of the ways he can have the maximum impact on students. He has the opportunity to help students find their passion outside of the classroom. This causes him to think whether teaching can accomplish what he wants to do for the students. I love these storylines for Jacob and Barb, as they will have a lasting impact for years to come.

One character I’ve always had an issue with is Ava (Janelle James). I always thought she was funny, but that she doesn’t belong in her role within the school. Season Four fixes this in some fantastic ways. It gives Ava time to shine as principal in ways previous seasons haven’t: She’s trying to develop the teachers and put them in the best place to be successful. In addition, she gets called out multiple times, and she listens. Combine this with some much-needed context and backstory, and Ava is now a fully fleshed-out character that is integral to Abbott’s success as a school and the show as a whole.

Season Four is largely about relationships, both between students and teachers, as well as schools and districts. As the season focuses more on school and neighborhood, the relationships outside of the school are brought more into focus. Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter) is so averse to being in a relationship that when she finds someone, she has to make a choice. Janine evolves more in her relationship so she can feel more comfortable. Even Ava has the opportunity to explore a relationship that causes her to lower her guard.

I’ve always appreciated how uniquely Philadelphia Abbott Elementary is. Between the way the city has an impact on the school (as seen when the Eagles won the Super Bowl this year), and how the town’s history has shaped the way each of the teachers works, the show’s roots in the city matter. That said, when a series crossover with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia was announced, I was skeptical about how the two very different shows could be integrated. But it ended up being one of my favorite episodes of the series, because it was a natural way for the shows to collide.

Thematically, Abbott Elementary continues to bring school-related issues to the forefront, as budget and resource constraints remain in the spotlight. Season Four raises some fascinating issues to the forefront, such as inclusivity in religion and book banning. I’ve always appreciated how Abbott Elementary can incorporate more issues within the education space, and it’s always exciting for them to expand their reach.

Abbott Elementary continues a long streak of consistently funny and beautiful television. The teachers and performances are all on point, and the way the show expands its story is fantastic. Brunson continues to demonstrate why she’s one of the best showrunners in television, and I’ll continue to watch as long as the series is produced.

Rating: Loved It

Abbott Elementary is currently streaming on Hulu

You can read more from Mike Hilty and follow him on Instagram, Letterboxd, and Serializd

by Jake Hjort, Contributing Writer

Welcome back, fellow time travelers, to another edition of 20th Century Flicks! This month, in a continued effort to check classic cinema off of my list of shame, I’m diving back to the year 1991 to watch Kathryn Bigelow’s Point Break. As I carry on with my journey to cover some of Hollywood’s greatest directors, I figured my quest would not be complete without a look-in on Bigelow, who has made her mark as one of the greatest action directors working today. Additionally, with temperatures rising and my first year of vet school nearly in the rearview mirror, I wanted to find a film to get me in the summer mood, and I figured this surfing action flick was a great place to start. 

Set in sunny Los Angeles, Point Break follows Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves), a former college football star and a new recruit to the FBI. Utah and his partner Angelo Pappas (Gary Busey) are tasked with tracking down the “ex-presidents,” a group of highly skilled bank robbers who commit their crimes in rubber president masks. Thinking that the ex-presidents may be surfers, Utah goes undercover on the beach, developing a romantic relationship with one surfer named Tyler (Lori Petty) and befriending another named Bodhi (Patrick Swayze). Eventually, it becomes clear that Bodhi and his friends are the ex-presidents, and a game of cat-and-mouse ensues, with Utah having trouble balancing his burgeoning career in law enforcement and his newfound friendship with Bodhi and respect for the surfing culture. 

I hate to say it, but Reeves’s performance alone drops this film down a rating or two for me. The man isn’t exactly known for his range as an actor, but he’s especially wooden here, infusing no life or emotion into what should be an exciting action hero. I don’t buy Johnny Utah as a talented up-and-coming FBI agent, I don’t buy his exploration of surfing culture, and I don’t buy his romantic pairing with Tyler. The one part of Utah’s character that I do enjoy is his friendship with Bodhi and the scenes that Reeves shares with Swayze. Far and away the heart and soul of the film, Swayze is giving a great performance, highlighting Bodhi’s free spirit and great chemistry with anyone he shares the screen with. When it comes to supporting performances, the big standout is John C. McGinley as Utah’s demanding boss at the FBI, giving shades of what would become McGinley’s career-defining performance as Dr. Cox 10 years later on Scrubs. 

Where Point Break really excels is in its action sequences and direction. This is still early in her career, but you can absolutely see aspects of Zero Dark Thirty and The Hurt Locker (despite some pretty stark differences of tone) in Bigelow’s filmmaking. The surfing scenes are fun and dynamic, allowing the viewer to really feel some of the exhilaration of being out one the waves, and there are some great skydiving scenes towards the end of the film that really ramp up the tension. There’s also a great chase scene between Utah and Bodhi in the middle of the film, beginning with a high-speed car chase and ending on foot, as they weave through the streets and neighborhoods of Los Angeles. The film may be a little cheesy at points, but I was always having fun, and the action is engaging and exciting throughout. 

Where I really struggle with Point Break is trying to get a firm grasp on its philosophy. Now, I’m not saying that an action movie needs to have some underlying philosophy or greater point to make to be worth watching, as many are great without that, but Point Break constantly feels like it’s trying to say something. Bodhi’s character, with his “moral” bank robbing and impassioned speeches on surfing and thrill seeking, feels like he should be more profound than he really is, and Utah’s waffling on whether or not he should arrest or hang out with his new buddy only muddies the water further. I guess you could say there are some explorations of masculinity and violence here, but everything is so half-baked and as empty as Keanu’s performance. 

Point Break has the plot and leading performance of a campy B movie that would have been forgotten within the few years, but on the shoulders of Bigelow and Swayze, it is able to elevate its subpar material and become a cult classic that has survived the test of time. There’s a lot of fun to be had in this movie, and it’s an easy watch with exciting heists and surfing thrills, making it something I’m sure I’ll turn to again when I want to get into a warm, summery mood, or for those moments where I just want to fire my gun up in the air and go “ahhhh”. 

You can read more from Jake Hjort, and follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd

by Alice-Ginevra Micheli, Contributing Writer 

We all have that feeling. You know the one: You finish watching a movie and something about it hits you in just the right spot. 

Whether it was the theme, the story, or even the characters, there was a quality about it that almost makes you want to turn around and go back a second, third, or even fourth time! 

Bar the reality of living in the movie theater for the rest of your days, you turn to the rest of pop culture and start to look for other avenues where you can find that same feeling.

Well I’m here to make this plight easier for all. Each month, I take a piece of pop culture that was prevalent in the social consciousness — whether it is a movie, TV show, or something else — and then recommend other forms of media for those who want to stay in that world a little bit longer. 

Welcome to your One Stop Pop, internet!  

This month has been a doozy. Netflix has put a big shining light on society, and quite literally not allowed you to look away. What I mean by this is that Adolescence has made its name truly staking its place as one of the most talked about pieces of pop culture for 2025, and for good reason.

Creating commentary on the manosphere, modern masculinity, and scaring the daylights out of every parent who watches, while also fascinating our brains due to its single-shot episodes, is enough to hail this as an important exercise in creativity and media.

So it makes sense that we look at the themes and conversations sparked by the show, and then look at other things that you could fill your brain with if you’re still being kept up at night by everything this show has said, and done, to all those who have watched. 

So, without further ado, we begin…

Book: Not All Dead White Men by Donna Zuckerberg

What do you get if you take a historian, sociologist, and sister to one of the most infamous figures of modern society? An author deciding to break down the role of men in the classics era — I’m talking ancient civilization classics — and how they’ve been twisted and re-interpreted today.

Donna Zuckerberg (yes, she is related to the other one), presents a provocative exposé that shines a light onto our modern way of thinking, as well as how we’re being influenced. Much like Adolescence, the book decides to look at an alternative direction in looking at the basis of all of the conversation happening now around modern masculinity, as well as its influence by the societies of yore, revealing how these ancient sources are being co-opted by alt-right men’s groups to support antifeminist and white supremacist ideologies.

While the topics being explored in this book are inflammatory at best, controversial for some at worst, Zuckerberg analyses them in a factual tone and dispassionate manner, allowing the reader to take in the information without worrying about being influenced by a biased take. 

It really is an interesting crossover between ancient myth and modern propaganda. So if you’re a history nerd, or politically inclined in any way, this is the book that might just give you some more of what you’re looking for. 

Movie: Mass

Adolescence doesn’t just focus on the son at the center of the story, but on the adults surrounding him, and how their own behaviors and decisions have influenced him. A great film that also does this is Mass. 

Released in 2021, the film follows four parents that meet at a church following an unspeakable tragedy. One couple just lost their child to a school shooter, the others’ son was the said perpetrator. What follows is 111 minutes of some of the most brutal tension and authentic portrayals of emotion that have ever been put to screen — that is until Adolescence came about this year. 

Coming out in Oscars season, this one unfortunately didn’t make its way above the radar as it should have. In fact, it very much flew underneath it, so not many people have actually gotten a chance to witness what is a masterclass in both acting, and writing. 

There isn’t much else to say here, as it’s something you should go into with the least knowledge possible. But just trust me: If you were hooked by the Netflix series we’re talking about today, you’ll be hooked by this. 

Album/Podcast: Science Vs.

Now that you’ve been given what is possibly an emotional overload, it’s probably time for me to insert some levity into the conversation. Just because learning and critical thinking are important, doesn’t mean that it has to do nothing but weigh people down. That’s where Science Vs. comes in. 

Hosted by scientific journalist. Wendy Zukerman, Science Vs. takes fact and humor, and combines them into a myth-busting podcast that takes controversial and/or hot-button topics, and unpacks them using research, citations, and interviews with experts. It’s known for taking a stand on the spread of misinformation, and has garnered popularity and interest through its lighter tone learning.

In a world where we’re constantly assaulted by everyone’s opinions, it’s nice to have some quick 30- to 40-minute bites that can inform us further on topics that we’ve all questioned, but never bothered to actually look into.

With some of her recent episodes focusing on elements like ADHD, microplastics, and the Keto diet, there is certainly an episode to pique any podcast enjoyer’s interest, and have them flicking through the other ones in no time. Before you know it, you’ll be full of fun facts to combat the misinformation you hear in your own social circles, and feel good about it too. 

Video Game: LISA: The Painful

Even with some levity, these have been all quite information-heavy, so it’s time to change pace to something that lives heavily in the metaphorical, and in the interactive.

LISA: The Painful goes heavy on the dark comedy, as well as on the emotional journey — but before we get to that, I’ll explain a little of what to expect. Not made for the faint of heart, players find themselves in the twisted RPG wasteland of Olathe. Having to make decisions that may or may not result in sacrifice, loss of limb, moral decay, and many other quandaries, the game helps you to discover where your boundaries lie exactly. Haunting, unforgettable, and low-key a bit goofy, this 64-bit stylized exploration into what it means to be human is a great way to assess a little more of your own character in a fun, video-game way.

On top of that, as with Adolescence, the game is a unique deep-dive into the facets of masculinity, and looks into how it can greatly affect, and defect a person’s character. 

Another kind of darker month of recommendations. We really deep-dived into the harrowing and the intellectual there. However, hopefully it helps feed the hole left inside by Adolescence’s horrors, and now you can move on to greener, slightly happier pastures. I’ll return in May with what the fourth month of the year brings to our shores. Until then, thank you for visiting SiftPop’s One Stop Pop — we hope to see you again soon!

You can read more from Alice-Ginevra Micheli, and follow her on Instagram and Letterboxd

by John Tillyard, Contributing Writer

Adapted from the 2015 horror video game of the same name, Until Dawn tells the story of a group of teenagers who travel to a remote valley area. Clover (Ella Rubin) looks for answers to the mystery of her missing sister Melanie (Maia Mitchell), who disappeared a year before. However, upon arriving, the group finds themselves in a time loop where everything resets whenever they die, with new things threatening to kill them every time they restart in the evening. The group must work together to determine what is happening, what has happened to others in this valley, and how they can survive Until Dawn!

The first thing to be aware of here is that this is very much an in-name-onlyadaptation. There are a few game elements present, such as the hourglass, some monsters, and one particular character, albeit in a very different role. But otherwise, it’s an entirely original story. Some game fans will be disappointed, because they would have been excited to see a live action version of the game. But having played the game myself, I’m relatively okay with it, because the game Until Dawn, based on its presentation, is already a movie. Watching a version of the game where I have no control over the characters and what they do would have been dull and maybe a little frustrating. With that said, it’s interesting that the premise for this adaptation involves the typical video game mechanic of everything resetting when characters die, since that’s not a feature of the particular game this is based on. When characters die in the game Until Dawn, it carries on regardless.

The setup here is more like Happy Death Day, where the characters must learn from each cycle of the night’s events and figure out what to do to survive the night. While this doesn’t affect the quality of the overall movie, I must question why this has even been branded as a video game adaptation. I know most video game adaptations don’t follow the game closely — they are generally set in the same world or about the same characters — but this adaptation does not even have those things. The premise has more in common with Groundhog Day than the game it shares its name with. It would have been far better off as a standalone movie. That at least would have convinced viewers that this was an original idea. The only thing I can think of is the filmmakers wanted the existing IP to get people to go and see it.

But looking at this as a movie on its own terms, the story takes many elements from essentially every subgenre of horror, such as the things trying to kill the main characters. These include, but are not limited to, character possession, a masked slasher with a machete, and wendigos. The characters all remember what happened in previous cycles of the night, so there are new things that try to kill them in progressively worse ways every time. This helps to give the scares a bit more variety, and the threat increases gradually, becoming more formidable.

A lot of the entertainment here comes from the fact that the characters are constantly dying, so there is an abundance of brutal kills in creative and visually interesting ways. The issue with that is you know the deaths don’t mean anything; everything will reset, and the characters will start the night again. Later on, some of the characters even commit suicide to make the night reset sooner. The deaths become so frequent that you are just expecting them after a while. When a new threat shows up, you are no longer wondering if the characters will survive or escape and how that might happen — you are just wondering how long it will be before they are killed. Part of the shock factor when characters in a horror are killed is that you don’t expect it. But the reset element of this story means that it’s not only expected, but you start to anticipate it. There is one death here that is quite shocking for a moment — however, the movie repeats this particular type of death several times, including during the climax. Once the surprise aspect is gone, it is no longer interesting. 

About two-thirds of the way through, there is a moment where the characters figure out they can’t afford to die anymore, and they are essentially on their last life. It might have felt like they were raising the stakes, bringing some sizable tension to the situation. But it has the opposite effect, because you know by then that if they can’t die, they won’t.

Additionally, the characters are unbelievably dull; the group consists of five teens, each with one significant personality trait, but there isn’t much else to them. Generally, in a teenage horror, the lack of character doesn’t matter much, because you know most of them are there to die. However, in this story, the night resets when they die, so these flat characters are with us throughout the story. They don’t learn anything from their experiences or try anything to better adapt to the things trying to kill them. It is so disappointing, because one of the best aspects of the game is the characters you play as; they have a lot of good banter and funny moments, and there is nothing like that here.

The visuals are at least compelling and varied, because many horror creatures are shown. That said, how they are presented is no different from anything in other horror films. Most of the scares come from them trying to startle you, which works at first, but obviously won’t work if they’re repeated. There is some creepy imagery in the beginning when the group enters the area. Still, it becomes monotonous once you understand what’s happening.

Even if you ignore the adaptation aspect and treat this as only a movie, Until Dawn is still a largely forgettable experience. There is a significant shortcoming in terms of story and characters. The second half is a particular slog, as the threats the characters face are no longer keeping you engaged, and there is no feeling of satisfaction in the way things are wrapped up. 

Outside of the basic idea of the character trying to survive the night, and a few Easter eggs, there is nothing from the game here, and the absence of that will disgruntle its fans. Those who haven’t played the game will enjoy the visuals and scares, but find the story tedious and the characters unexciting. It won’t please anyone.

Rating: Low Side of It Was Just Okay

Until Dawn is currently playing in theaters

You can read more from John Tillyard, and follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd

by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer

A showcase of comedic chops, which also features some genuinely poignant moments about life and legacy, Dying for Sex is about Molly (Michelle Williams), a young stage four cancer patient who has just been given a terminal diagnosis. Since this is not her first time with cancer, she’s determined to make the most of her situation and focus on herself and her sexual empowerment. Supporting her on this journey is Nikki (Jenny Slate), Molly’s best friend extraordinaire and new caregiver when Molly decides to leave her husband, Steve (Jay Duplass).

There is no easy way to infuse comedy with something as serious as a cancer diagnosis, but Dying for Sex balances heavy subjects with comedy. The writing in the series is outstanding, doing a fantastic job of providing enough material for all the performers, while also telling a meaningful story of Molly’s journey of sexual liberation.

As a character, Molly is a remarkable example of resiliency and taking ownership of one’s destiny. At first, she’s timid and submissive to a fault. We meet her during couples therapy with Steve, and she’s already uncertain about how she’s living her life. Her second cancer diagnosis gives her a deep sense of clarity that causes her to go on a quest for sexual freedom. It’s not just about sex for Molly, but the empowerment and pleasure that she’s been lacking most of her life. While this causes her to confront her past traumas, it gives her time to explore what she wants. Williams is outstanding in the role, and I’d expect nothing less. She is a jack of all trades. I’d expect, at minimum, some Emmy love when nominations come out.

The real standout is Slate, though. Nikki is a fascinating character who knows how to be a friend, but struggles with taking care of herself, let alone others. When Molly decides to leave Steve, Nikki volunteers to be her caregiver, but doesn’t truly understand the implications of what it means after she agrees to do it. She’s a carefree spirit, and this has led to her adopting a more structured approach than she had before. Slate is excellent as Nikki, in one of the best performances I’ve ever seen from her.

Thematically, Dying for Sex shines in some incredible ways. What this series reveals about the meaning of death and its parallels with life is both chilling and profound. Little by little, Molly figures out that there’s no point in dying with the way she’s living. It’s an incredible moment when she decides to take her life into her own hands. This spirit guides her throughout the series, even when she chooses to fall in love again, and continues to influence her treatment decisions. There are genuinely hilarious moments throughout, but also moments that made me cry. Most importantly, Dying for Sex talks about sex in a way that not many shows have the courage to do. It doesn’t shy away from kinks and fetishes, and encourages everyone to explore. Several people help Molly with this, but none more influential than her counselor, Sonya (Esco Jouley). As an entry point into this world, Sonya serves as a spirit guide and cheerleader for Molly, and one who made the journey beautiful.

On top of these performers, there’s also Rob Delaney, the neighbor guy whose name is never given throughout the show. He’s the yin to Molly’s yang that enables her to explore herself sexually. The comfort level they have with one another is a journey, and one of the more outstanding relationships the show offers us. Delaney is dynamic and well-suited for this role. 

Lastly, Dr. Pankowitz (David Rasche) is Molly’s lead doctor for her treatment. The evolution he undergoes throughout the show is remarkable, as he is initially skeptical about Molly being sexually active. By the end, he’s rooting for her the same way the audience is rooting for her. He could have been a stick in the mud throughout the whole series, but he turns out to be very caring, helping convey how doctors shepherd patients through the darkness. Dr. Pankowitz experiences just as much growth as others on the show, as someone who realizes that sometimes you must treat the spirit before you can honestly treat the body.

Dying for Sex is one of those shows in the same vein as Scrubs: It knows when to push the comedy, but also when it’s time to be more serious. The writing and performances make this one of the most complete shows you’ll see all year. Dying for Sex shines in how it can talk thematically about death, sex, and life in a way that other shows can’t. I felt for Molly at the end of this, but I felt a sense of joy in her that outweighed sorrow. That is the mark of a truly special show.

Rating: Loved It

Dying for Sex is currently streaming on Hulu

You can read more from Mike Hilty and follow him on Instagram, Letterboxd, and Serializd

by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer

Welcome to Cross-Platform Partners! In honor of a new movie release, I have selected a TV show to watch to pair with the movie. Think of it as a way to get hyped for the new movie, a preview of things to come, a means to tide you over if the movie won’t be released where you live for a little while, or a change of pace if you’ve run out of related movies or sequels.

For April, I paired Mr. Robot with The Amateur!

As someone who has worked in several different technology companies, ethical hacking is becoming increasingly necessary. As hackers become more sophisticated in their methods, movies and television have developed various ways to incorporate hacking into their narratives. Even this year, there have been a few TV shows that deal with hackers, such as Zero Day and The Hack. Rami Malek has had the chance to play numerous versions of analysts and hackers, as he now does in The Amateur. Before that, though, his most prominent role as a hacker was in Mr. Robot.

The series is about a cybersecurity employee named Elliot Alderson (Malek). Suffering from a variety of afflictions, Elliott is recruited by a hacker group called fsociety by someone named Mr. Robot (Christian Slater). One of the organization’s tasks is to eliminate everyone’s debt worldwide, which is controlled by E Corp (or Evil Corp, as several characters on the show refer to it). Elliot doesn’t realize the world he’s stepped into is much more sinister, connected, and weird than he can ever realize.

Right off the bat, Mr. Robot is a crazy show that has so many twists and turns that it’s hard to keep up. Between the twists of the organization and the family reveals scattered throughout the series, Mr. Robot positions itself as one of the most twist-filled shows I’ve seen in a long time. Couple this with a highly unreliable narrator/main character in Elliot, and the show’s perception of reality is deeply skewed. In the cyberworld, everything can easily be misconstrued through misinformation and deepfakes. It can be jarring at times, but it also requires you to pay close attention and never trust that what you’re seeing is face value. Season One starts relatively tamely, but the further along the show gets, the more dicey it gets.

Malek is so incredibly unhinged as Elliot that it’s hard to deny his incredible performance. Winner of the Emmy for Best Actor in a Drama series in 2016, Malek takes all the twists and turns amazingly well. Most notably, as a main character, Elliott is as unreliable as they come. Through everything, Malek does a great job of distorting reality while also conveying grief and anger once he figures out what caused him to get to this point in his life.

In addition to Malek, several performers are giving excellent performances. Slater is crazy, waffling from a truly unlikable good guy to an unsympathetic yet somehow likable villain. He helps to blur the reality even more than Malek does. In addition, numerous characters in Elliot’s life come and go, with trust becoming an issue. One of his friends, Angela (Portia Doubleday), goes from coworker/friend to working with E Corp in quick succession. Moreover, Elliot’s family is highly involved in cybercrime, which makes the stakes more personal for him. Darlene (Carly Chaikin), Elliot’s sister, is another character whose allegiance is unclear. 

Mr. Robot’s greatest strength is its messaging about what people’s online lives say about themselves. Everything has a dual persona, from businesses, organizations, and foreign countries, to individual people. The show conveys this by visualizing the depths to which people will go to protect their online privacy, while also illustrating the lengths to which others will go to hack into someone’s personal information. In addition, the series goes to great lengths to demonstrate the power that access to information holds. Possessing information is far more valuable than possessing money in this world, which is why organizations like fsociety are attractive to people to join.

Mr. Robot is a weird show. It’s a distorted thriller that will cause you to question everything you watched. Malek is electric, the support cast is outstanding, and the story is bizarre yet captivating. Weathering all the twists that happen will be key, and it can be tough to stomach how weird the show is. However, for those who love a mystery wrapped in an enigma, this might be the jigsaw puzzle you’ve been waiting for in television form.

You can read more from Mike Hilty, and follow him on Instagram, Letterboxd, and Serializd

by Jake Bourgeois, Contributing Writer      

When Gareth Evans, director of The Raid and The Raid 2, comes out with a new action flick starring Tom Hardy, it’s going to get my attention. So I fired up Havoc, the director’s first feature film since 2018’s The Apostle,to see if he could recapture that action magic in a bottle. 

We follow Walker (Tom Hardy), a cop caught up in a web of corruption. In trying to do one last favor to clear his ledger for a corrupt mayoral candidate (Forest Whittaker), he has to fight his way through his fellow corrupt cops and Chinese gang members out for blood. 

The film starts off with a car chase, and it looks kinetic and has some flair — but that feeling is fleeting. Too often, car chases look like video game scenes with cartoonish-looking vehicles and that mirror the laughable CGI squibs littered throughout the action set pieces. The camera flourishes too often distract, rather than add, to what’s being put on screen. It takes a while, but once the first hand-to-hand fights scene kicks off at the film’s midpoint, it (very briefly) becomes the spectacle I was hoping for. However, aside from one fairly lengthy sequence, none of the rest of the action comes close to hitting that high. 

Hardy feels like he’s still in Venom mode. Given the fact his accent was one of the reasons I never dove into the franchise, not exactly a revelation I was pleased about. There are some interesting moments for his character where you see the good cop underneath it all, but he’s a tough protagonist to get fully behind. The film also has him do his best Will Graham in Hannibal impression, with a visualization of how a crime scene came to be, but it’s only used once, therefore being more of a confusing one-off than a cool feature. 

Hardy isn’t alone in being underwhelming. Whitaker is legitimately bad as the corrupt real estate mogul-turned-wannabe-mayor with the police force under his thumb, and Timothy Olyphant isn’t given nearly enough to do in his role as a foil for Hardy within the rotten police department. 

Look, the scripts were never the strength of The Raid films, but the action was so otherworldly spectacular, it didn’t really matter. Without the set pieces being on that level, the fact that Havoc tells a story about corrupt cops that you’ve seen a million times has nowhere to hide. There are no real good guys here, outside of Walker’s new partner (Jessie Mei Li), so it was hard to get too invested in their fates. 

If you can get to the halfway point (and I don’t blame you if you can’t), for a moment, while the movie’s flaws don’t disappear, it becomes fun enough to at least cover them up for a while (until they rear their ugly heads again). Unfortunately, such moments are far too fleeting and, too often, the action is little more than just audio and visual noise. 

Rating: Didn’t Like It

Havoc is currently streaming on Netflix

You can read more from Jake Bourgeois, and follow him on Bluesky and Letterboxd

by Jeffery Rahming, Contributing Writer

When you hear about a movie where Anthony Mackie and Chloe Bailey play talking sneakers, how do you feel? Does it interest you or excite you? If you’re like most of the world, the answer is a resounding no, and that answer leads to another question. Why does Sneaks exist? That’s the only question that can be asked after a movie like this wastes an hour and a half of your life. 

Bailey and Mackie play two sneakers, Ty and Maxine, who are won in a contest by human boy Edson (Swae Lee). Unfortunately, a greedy shoe collector, aptly named The Collector (Laurence Fishburne), wants those shoes for his own benefit, and steals them away from Edson. Ty and Maxine end up separated in the kidnapping. Now the two shoes must find their way back to each other: Ty from the rough-and-tumble streets, and Maxine in the pristine dungeon of The Collector’s shoe display.

What you have here is a copy of the Pixar formula, with none of Pixar’s budget or heart. The anthropomorphic shoe idea borrows a lot from both Cars and Toy Story (the shoes even “play dead” when humans walk into the room, like the toys do). Like many animated movies, the voice cast features high-profile names who all seem like they should be doing something else. Even though their voices are coming out of what I can only describe as CGI monstrosities attempting to resemble shoes, the voice acting in Sneaks is quite great. The script is just a collection of hit-or-miss jokes and random events loosely held together by the thinnest of plots. The voice actors are good enough to almost make you believe it’s a good one. Mackie and Bailey do a great job of endearing you to the rather flimsy characters through their sheer charisma. Martin Lawrence also has a surprisingly heartfelt turn as J.B., a street sneaker who takes Ty under his wing. Even rapper Quavo is unrecognizable as Spike, a depressed and lonely shoe trapped with Maxine.

But with the cast pulling most of the weight, one wonders if the money spent on its star-studded cast could have been better spent ensuring the movie didn’t look like watching a PlayStation 1 cutscene. The animation is rough, to say the least. If it were consistently bad, that would be one thing, but the quality fluctuates significantly between frames. One moment, the scene looks reasonably fine; the next, it looks like someone forgot to render the footage all the way. It’s hard to stay engaged when the characters suddenly seem to lose the soul behind their eyes at random times or when they’re slightly floating away mid-conversation. These critiques can’t be placed solely at the hands of the animators. This whole film looks like it was made for 100 dollars and a pizza, and I’m sure even the pizza went to Fishburne. Everything just feels like a half-effort. 

Kids might get a few laughs, and the cast’s performance makes it better than absolute straight-to-DVD garbage, but Sneaks is undeniably awful — the kind of bad that makes you feel a little sorry for everybody involved. A failure, to be sure, but not one without its moments. It’s ridiculous enough to firmly go into so-bad-it’s-good territory. Five years from now, YouTubers will make fun of it and ask how and why it got made. For now, I think it’s better for us to forget this ever happened. 

Rating: Didn’t Like It

Sneaks is currently playing in theaters

Read more from Jeffery Rahming

by Shane Conto, Staff Writer

Do people deserve second chances? A fighter can go for another chance at success in the ring. A father can get a second chance at being there for his daughter. A friend can make the right decision and turn away the wrong crowd. A lot of strength is needed to push through and change one’s life. That is the story behind Bjorn Franklin and Johnny Marchetta’s crime drama, Salvable.

Franklin’s screenplay certainly leans on a lot of familiar ideas, threads, and narrative beats. You can see these types of stories in plenty of films, but Salvable unfortunately is a similar exploration to what Darren Aronofsky navigated with The Wrestler. Salvable is a bitt too derivative and predictable. 

Yet there are added narrative layers which explore some more crime thriller elements. Shia LaBeouf’s Vince is a terrible influence on our protagonist Sal (Toby Kebbell), and unfortunately the audience must sit back and see Sal make bad decision after bad decision. Vince represents the mercurial friend who is there to get the protagonist in trouble, which is certainly not a fresh character type (looking at you, Jeremy Renner in The Town). Salvable takes some chances in the third act and delivers some impactful moments. Thematically, Franklin takes a bit of a more sobering approach to this redemption narrative, as not everything works out.

This is a stark and gritty film that benefits greatly from the tone that Franklin and Marchetta craft. Since it’s is not an uplifting comeback story like Rocky, there’s a grayer feeling that fits the more dour perspective. The filmmaking is dynamic and visceral during both the boxing scenes, as well as in heist elements introduced later in the film. A particular bareknuckle fight is draped in suspense. This film is pregnant with emotion, tension, and an unnerving atmosphere that will keep you on edge right up to the poignant crescendo.

As for the cast, Kebbell continues to show that he is a top-notch talent, despite flying under the radar in so many projects. Salvable allows him to flex his range, as well as the physicality of being a boxer. Kebbell keeps the audience hooked up until his final moments are captured with some intimate filmmaking choices. 

But it is not just Kebbell who stands out. While LaBeouf doesn’t quite have the same level of material compared to many of his other roles, he still channels an unpredictable presence. He is a horrible role model, and is only trouble for Sal, bringing him into a world of crime that he tried to put escape forever. LaBeouf has a strange presence and look here. 

James Cosmo is also perfect for his role, as he is a veteran presence in the film, as well as the mentor to Sal. A pleasant surprise is Kíla Lord Cassidy, who portrays Sal’s daughter. They have great, authentic chemistry and tension.

But unfortunately, Salvable is not quite a strong and memorable addition to the classic redemption story. It is a competently made and moving film, despite being overly familiar and tired in some ways. The cast goes a long way in elevating the film. As a whole, it knows when to not pull punches in its presentation. There is enough here to make Salvable a rock-solid genre flick with some sobering thoughts on redemption.

Rating: It Was Just Okay

Salvable is currently playing in theaters

You can read more from Shane Conto, and follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd

This week sees the rerelease of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. Since one of the most iconic parts of Star Wars is its lightsaber fights, we decided to discuss some of our favorites. Let us know your favorite @SiftPop!

More could (and should) be said about the massive disservice done to The Acolyte by the Star Wars fandom, but we’re here to talk FIGHTS today! In the season (and, by default, series) finale, Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) went up against the Stranger, also known as Qimir (Manny Jacinto), a different kind of Dark Side user to the ones we’ve seen before… one more focused on the raw ferocity required for cold-blooded murder and the merciless action that draws his plans forward. In their battle, the two cross blades above, between, and below, changing terrain while leveraging Force abilities we have never before seen used on screen. Both are masters of their craft, and are uncompromising in their movements, proving to be so evenly matched that it takes an unexpected addition to the fight to finally take Sol down. Regardless of how one might feel about the series as a whole, it’s difficult to understate how exciting and tense this fight is. It’s the perfect coda for an imperfect, but still incredibly unique, series. (Rowan Wood)

How many people expected to get a lightsaber battle between Anakin Skywalker and his former apprentice, Ahsoka Tano, in the Ahsoka series? The episode “Shadow Warrior” took a lot of viewers by surprise, as Ahsoka connects with Anakin in a dominion outside of time and space. They travel back in time, and we get treated to some cool The Clone Wars callbacks. But the lightsaber battle between Anakin and Ahsoka is the real highlight. Anakin’s turn towards aggressiveness, pushing Ahsoka’s limits, is fantastic. The fight’s choreography is well done, and Hayden Christiansen reminds everyone just how good he really is with a lightsaber. But the creative visuals and direction are what really make this battle shine. The incredible shot of Anakin walking through the fog of the past, with quick edits flashing in with Darth Vader’s visage, is one of the most amazing moments in Star Wars. Intense, thrilling, and meaningful, this duel between wayward friends and allies is a true highlight of the Disney+ series. (Shane Conto)

The first time we saw a lightsaber fight on screen, the showdown between Obi-Wan Kenobi and his former apprentice, Darth Vader, holds a special place in cinematic history. Though the former friends do cross blades, it’s much more about what’s said than the fight itself. The banter sets up the intriguing mystery of the lore that will be expanded upon in the future. We know there’s a history there, but we don’t have the full context. The way Kenobi chooses to sacrifice himself by not, well, fighting in the end is all the more powerful for the path it sends both Kenobi and young Luke Skywalker down. Lightsaber choreography has come a long way since 1977, but the original fight still deserves respect. (Jake Bourgeois)

Try to imagine: It’s 2004, Revenge of the Sith is still a year away, but Cartoon Network has been drip feeding you five-minute mini adventures of the most amazingly stylized animated Clone War action imaginable in the form of the Star Wars: Clone Wars, lovingly nicknamed “The Micro Series.” Up till this point, you’ve seen mostly battles between Jedi and droids, mainly showing off the incredible power of the Force. But then, the finale of Season Two plops you down in a crashed Republic Destroyer surrounded by super battle droids. Only six Jedi survivors fighting for their lives. When suddenly the blasters stop, and an evil robotic voice taunts the run-down warriors. We are then introduced to General Grievous in the most brutal showdown to date, one which leaves one Padawan flattened like a pancake, and another obliterated with a robotic claw. The Whiphid knight manages to hold his own for a moment before being sliced through. Grievous then proceeds to engage Jedi Masters Ki-Adi-Mundi and Shaak-ti in the coolest lightsaber battle to date. He is terrifyingly unstoppable and dispatches Shaak Ti with a near-fatal blow before descending on Mundi, wielding three lightsabers. We then had to wait an entire year for the conclusion to this battle. It’s pure Star Wars lightsaber beauty, and to experience that left me on cloud nine, as a Star Wars fan forever chasing that “lightsaber fight dragon.” (Nick Ferro)

It’s not an understatement to say that some of the best lightsaber action has come in Star Wars’ animated shows. The Clone Wars is filled with great fights — from Anakin vs. Barriss Offee, to Maul and Savage Opress vs. Darth Sidious, there’s no shortage of great choices. Even picking my favorite Ahsoka fight was hard, as her fight against Obi-Wan and Anakin is fantastic, as are her fights with the inquisitors and her long-awaited showdown with Darth Vader. However, if we’re talking favorite fights, nothing quite tops her fight against Maul in the final season arc of The Clone Wars. It’s both expansive and emotionally charged — complete with some fun in-fight quipping. The showdown between two of the more acrobatic fighters, one fighting with his iconic double-blade and the other with her dual sabers, allows for choreography that’s exciting and unique. Brought to life with stunning animation and the motion capture work just made the fight feel more real, it was a crucial part of an epic conclusion fans had literally been waiting years for, and it lived up to the hype. (Jake Bourgeois)

The granddaddy of them all, movies don’t get much better than the Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader finale of The Empire Strikes Back. Where Obi-Wan Kenobi’s lightsaber duel with Vader first introduced audiences to the concept of a lightsaber fight in 1977, this was where their true, awesome potential was fully unveiled. Luke attempts to hack away at the man who would soon be revealed as his father, as Vader remains largely unfazed, toying with Luke at every turn. That is, until Luke gets in one good slash, and Vader fully lets loose, neutralizing Luke’s power in a matter of seconds. Not only is this a top-tier fight in the Star Wars universe, it is also one of the single most compelling sequences ever put to film. (Foster Harlfinger)

Star Wars has plenty of the best lightsaber duels to choose from, but one of my favorites is the final boss fight in the video game Jedi: Fallen Order. You play as Cal Kestis, a young Jedi who survived Order 66 and has spent the last five years hiding from the Empire. Until one day, he is forced back into the light to protect and save the future of the Jedi. Relentlessly tracking you is Second Sister Trilla, who was once a Padawan herself. The final fight takes place in the Fortress Inquisitorius, and is repetitive as far as fights go, but she is a tough one to beat. One of the key moments is once you have the upper hand, you hear Darth Vader’s respirator. Now the fight is on, mainly because Cal has no idea who he is, which makes this fight all the more challenging. Leave it to modern-day Star Wars to truly make Vader one terrifying foe. (Austen Terry)

The Sequel Trilogy is not a rich tapestry when it comes to lightsaber fights. The most iconic is probably the throne room scene, but seeing as it’s Kylo and Rey working together to take on non-lightsaber wielding foes, I’m going in a different direction from the same movie. While I did give some consideration to Finn and Rey vs. Kylo in The Force Awakens for its incredible use of lighting, and the Rey vs. Kylo fight in The Rise of Skywalker is probably the most well-choreographed of the trilogy, there’s something about how the fight between Kylo and the force projection of his former master, Luke Skywalker, plays with the form that we’ve come to expect that makes it my favorite. Like the fight that came in A New Hope before it, the encounter is much more about the story being told with the moves than the moves themselves. The subtle clues about what’s really happening are genius, and it’s a great homage to the fight that started it all. It’s not the flashiest scene in the trilogy, but it’s the one that’s stuck with me the most. (Jake Bourgeois)

The Phantom Menace features hands down the coolest introduction to any lightsaber battle, and it may be one of the best intros to anything period. As Queen Amidala and her troops fight their way through the royal palace, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi hang back as hangar doors open to reveal a patiently-waiting Darth Maul, set to the needle drop of “Duel of the Fates.” Saying this is one of the greatest works in the iconic career of legendary composer John Williams holds immense gravity. Its intensity could make weak content feel epic, but pairing it with a beautifully choreographed battle makes for a must-see moment. You get master and apprentice together against a silent force of nature with a sick makeup job. Any previous trade dispute boredom is erased the second Maul drops his cape and unveils the dual lightsaber. With countless flips, dangerous heights and seriously skilled swordsmanship, the action starts at a 10 and never lets up. You get a tragic death, instant revenge, and a brutal bisection. The stunt work is breathtaking, especially once Obi-Wan lets his anger take over. The prequels have their flaws, but this fight is among the greatest moments in Star Wars history. (Jason Mack)

George Lucas set out to create a modern mythology with his Star Wars series, and given the way the franchise has seeped itself into every facet of our culture, it is not a stretch to say he succeeded. The arc of Anakin Skywalker remains one of the most compelling character evolutions in cinema, and seeing his descent into evil throughout Revenge of the Sith remains a highlight of the Prequel Trilogy. Obi-Wan and Anakin’s final confrontation is nothing short of iconic these days, with the red lava backdrop of Mustafar exploding into a spring of flames as two blue lightsabers meet. For the sheer visual spectacle of it all, the Battle on Mustafar may be the single most striking sequence in all of Star Wars. (Foster Harlfinger)

In recent years, I’ve been itching for the Star Wars universe to expand and try some new things. It’s why the idea of Star Wars: Visions excited me as a project that was not restricted by having to be a part of official Star Wars canon. The first season starts off with “The Duel,” the classic tale of a mysterious stranger defending a village from bad guys. It’s animated in a style where it seems straight out of a sketchbook. Being largely animated in a black-and-white style (complete with flickering film imperfections), the sparing use of colors really pops. It leans into the samurai influences, down to the character designs. The village showdown is a tense one, told compellingly and with one of the more unique lightsaber faceoffs ever put to screen. I mean, it has A SPINNING UMBRELLA LIGHTSABER ATTACHMENT. Aside from the flashiness, the duel itself at the center also delivers on the samurai-inspired fight choreography. There’s a reason this was the choice to kick off the series, and few lightsaber set pieces are as captivating to watch. (Jake Bourgeois)

by Jake Bourgeois, Contributing Writer      

I’ve always had a soft spot for animation. More years than not, at least a couple of animated features find their way onto my top 10 list. So I’m setting out to shine a light on some films that may have passed you by. The idea here is to take a look at some underseen gems—so no Toy Story or Frozen here. 

Let’s get started. 

Video game adaptations are having a moment right now. 

The Last of Us is back for Season Two, and A Minecraft Movie is currently providing a much-needed win at the box office. So that all got me thinking about possible video game adaptations in the animated medium. 

It’s no secret that I love Arcane, and even Netfllix’s Carmen Sandiego has a lot of charm, but I found myself taken in by another adaptation from before Hollywood started this current run of quality with an impressive voice cast. 

Back in 2010, Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic came out. Released in conjunction with the Dante’s Inferno video game, the film follows Dante’s (Graham McTavish) trials through the levels of hell in order to retrieve his love Beatrice (Vanessa Branch).

Up front, I came away more intrigued than anything, and was helped by knowing a couple of factors going in:

First, I obviously knew the code hadn’t really been cracked on the formula for video game adaptations. So I didn’t go in with high expectations at all. I just accepted it for what it was — something to tie into the release of the game. In that way at least, I think the video game sort of structure, where Dante’s fighting a series of bosses, works for the film. I met the film on its level, and was able to have some fun. 

Secondly, I knew that it was made by a handful of different directors, including Studio Ghibli and DC animation veterans, who imbued their own sort of styles on what the trials will look like. That means from scene to scene, the characters like Dante, Beatrice and Virgil (Peter Jessop), Dante’s guide, can look wildly different. While I could see how that could be distracting, by knowing that going in, I found the different styles to be an interesting exercise, and enjoyed seeing how the different directors visualized our characters and the trials. 

As an adaptation of a very M-rated video game, the film follows suit. While the action is well-shot, it is very graphic and gory. During my viewing, I found myself thinking of another, more recent video game adaptation. The horrifying creature design paired with the graphic violence reminded me of Netflix’s Castlevania.

The script isn’t the greatest, which is ironic, given the source material, which is why it’s to the movie’s benefit that they’ve got some voice acting heavy hitters. If you’ve got some cheesy lines, but the likes of Mark Hamill absolutely chewing up the scenery, I’m going to have my fun. 

While the video game aspect does help the story structure, it also hurts it a little when it comes to the action, even if it is fairly well realized. At a certain point, the trek through the circles of hell can feel repetitive, and certain circles feel more like obstacles than others. To help break things up, we are treated to flashbacks of Dante’s time in the Crusades. However, seeing everything he had done makes rooting for him a bit of a challenge, as I found myself wondering if he was redeemable. 

All in all, I went in intrigued by the oddity of the project, knowing I was selecting something at a time when no video game adaptation had really garnered overwhelming acclaim. As a result, I was able to appreciate the project for what it was, despite its flaws. 

Just go into the experience with your bar closer to hell than heaven.

I’m excited to continue to geek out on some great animated work you may not have had a chance to catch.  Next month, we’ll have a guest writer as I take on another project.  

You can read more from Jake Bourgeois, and follow him on Bluesky and Letterboxd

by Samuel Nichols, Contributing Writer

Die Hard has been at the forefront of action movies since its release. Your protagonist is not a powered being or a trained assassin or a billionaire with a vendetta, so they are relatable to an audience. They do have more skill the average Joe, but they are up against impossible odds. So now the viewers are even more on their side. The hero’s success is a reflection on what anyone is capable of. This grounds your movie. Think of how simple the premise of Die Hard really is. A cop saves his family and coworkers from baddies in a hire ride. G20 missed the memo on grounding the movie. Because I cannot to relate to the President, and I have no idea what the baddies are after.

Here’s our setup, kids: President Sutton (Viola Davis) is attending the G20 summit with her family in tow. While trying to negotiate compromises toward a better world, a terrorist cell led by the mysterious Rutledge (Anthony Starr) takes hostages and begins making demands. There are questions of ideals and money at stake. Sutton will do anything to protect her family and stop these extremists. Oh, did I mention she’s ex-military and is going to take matters into her own hands?

On paper, Davis as a version of John McClane could work. She’s got the chops and aura for the part. Whenever she is on screen, I am down to watch what’s going on. She grabs my attention. So if nothing else, Davis’ star power comes out of this Amazon Prime original unscathed. 

After that, all bets are off regarding this movie, if it’s even appropriate to call it that. The problem with streaming service originals is that they often lack the intangibles. The sets look computer generated. Writing gets lazy and cliche. Sure, a big name or recognizable face is in front of the camera, but their presence is not going to do that much if the rest of the movie is subpar. G20 hits each of these pitfalls.  

Yes, Starr is here to add another known commodity to this project, but it is quite obvious his role was shot between production days for The Boys.  His hair literally has the same styling and dye as his infamous role as Homelander. You talk about missing the little things. Give this man a hat or a buzz cut. Do something to make him look different. Similarly, beloved Anthony Anderson is here too as the First Gentleman. He definitely put a little elbow grease into his role, as he delivers a few impactful lines. But his part is exceedingly underwritten as well. One-dimensional is the best word for Anderson’s part. 

Where the movie starts to pick up a little bit is when guns are blazing. Now this is not John Wick, so do not get your hopes up. But when the guns are out, it is a little more fun. The underdog situation of a president with a few Secret Service agents versus a kill squad of insurgents gets your heart pumping. So if you are second screening this movie with your email or some homework in front of you, just look up when things get loud. 

Come to think of it, second screening this movie is probably the very best choice. Seriously, do your laundry, build that shelf from IKEA, or meal prep for the week with this on in the background. There is nothing deep going on. The terrorists are after some kind of cryptocurrency, and simultaneously are trying to crash the global economy. Somewhere in there is a commentary about capitalism. This could be intelligent if they weren’t also try to use AI to spread misinformation about their attacks, which just adds another layer of confusion to what these terrorists’ beef with the world leaders is. 

Overall, G20 could be a pleasant way to pass time in the background. But it’s not a good option if you are planning to sit down for a movie night. Just watch Davis, Starr, or Anderson in any of their better projects. 

Rating: Didn’t Like It

G20 is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video

You can read more from Samuel Nichols, and follow him on Letterboxd