Kevin MacLeod is a name most people won’t know, but his work has been wide-reaching. The documentary Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod looks at the man and his impact on the music industry. MacLeod is a composer who has an extraordinary business model: he releases his music for free in exchange for credit, or a […]
Film
Judas and the Black Messiah Review
To say the story of Fred Hampton and the Black Panther movement of the 1960s has not been well represented in mainstream media is an understatement. We’ve allowed for this aspect of our history to be watered down and excluded from the narrative for the sake of easy consumption. As a result, there are very […]
Malcolm & Marie Review
Malcolm & Marie centers on the eponymous couple, played admirably by John David Washington and Zendaya respectively, who return home after the premiere of Malcolm’s latest directorial effort, to yell at and manipulate each other for 106 straight minutes. This is a deeply troubled, toxic relationship where neither party says what they really mean, preferring […]
Ruth – Justice Ginsburg In Her Own Words Review
The late US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was beloved for many reasons – her stellar legal acumen that helped bring about greater constitutional protections for gender equality (as immortalized in the film On the Basis of Sex), her often scathing (yet exquisitely worded) dissents that laid the groundwork for future courts should they […]
Pop Culture Maniacs Podcast Episode #12: Historical Films and TV Shows
Kieran Freemantle and Jean Henegan discuss the art of historical adaptations and drama for the screen.
The World to Come Review
Up until it reached its (frankly, inevitable) ending, I absolutely loved The World to Come. It’s an utterly gorgeous film, shot with a keen eye by Mona Fastvold, and containing some remarkably still and nuanced performances. But then the ending comes and well, let’s just say that, as a queer woman, I could have told […]
Songbird Review
Songbird was a film that was written and filmed during the Pandemic and subsequent lockdown. It was a cynical attempt to capitalise on the crisis we are living in. In 2024 the COVID-19 virus has mutated into COVID-23, a more deadly variant. America has experienced a four-year lockdown, millions of deaths, and anyone who is found […]
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Review
It’s a far trickier thing than one might assume to adapt a stage play to film. After all, a play is written to be performed in the intimate medium of the theatre, with an audience sitting mere feet from the performers and the actors feeding off the energy through the immediate feedback provided by their […]
Sound of Metal Review
Sound of Metal, a film from Darius Marder (co-written with Abraham Marder) is a film that knows what story it wants to tell and then sets out to tell it. Now, that might seem like an odd description of a film, but think about it for a moment. How often do you find yourself watching […]
10 Potential Harry Potter Spin-Off Ideas
Recently there has been reported that Warner Brothers and HBO Max are in the early stages of developing a TV series based on the Harry Potter franchise. Harry Potter is one of Warner Brothers’ most lucrative franchises – there have been seven novels, spin-off books, video games, studio tours, and theme park attractions. And of course, there’s the […]










