M3GAN sees two giants of the horror genre, Blumhouse and James Wan’s Atomic Monster team up for a high-tech version of Chucky. Gemma (Allison Williams) is a robotics expert who works at the toy company Funki. Gemma’s life is altered forever when her sister and brother-in-law die in a car accident and she must take care […]
His Dark Materials – No Way Out Review
“No Way Out” puts its own spin on Lyra and Will’s journey to the Land of the Dead as the pair continue their darkest mission. Lyra and Will arrive in the Land of the Dead and discover it is a barren wasteland made up of rust and decay. The inhabitants are listless spirits, with some […]
The Best Show You Aren’t Watching: The Traitors
I’m not one for reality TV shows – unless it’s a competition cooking show, and then I’m all in – but I had heard some rumblings about the new Peacock series The Traitors, so I took some time over the holiday weekend to give it a look. And, a mere 36 hours later, I had […]
Empire of Light Review
Empire of Light is a romantic drama and a smaller-scale film by Sam Mendes. Hilary Small (Olivia Colman) is the duty manager at the Empire Cinema in Margate. She lives a lonely life, takes pills to manage her mental health, and is having an affair with her boss, Donald Ellis (Colin Firth). A ray of […]
Things Get Better?: LGBTQ Representation in Animation in 2022
In January 2022, I wrote that there was a possibility that in 2022 things would “get better” in terms of LGBTQ representation, with new fandoms developing from shows which take risks by telling diverse stories. Although 2022, in some regards, more than lived up to this possibility and went beyond, there were challenges. In the […]
The Last of Us – When You’re Lost in the Darkness
Before I get into the review of the premiere of The Last of Us, some housekeeping notes. If you listened to our recent Pop Culture Maniacs podcast on video game adaptations, you might know that I am not a gamer. I don’t play video games (outside of the occasional Mario Kart race) and I don’t […]
Pop Culture Maniacs Podcast #34: Video Game Adaptations
Kieran Freemantle and Jean Henegan by joined by Andrea M. Catinella to discuss the history and issues of video game adaptations. d
A Man Called Otto Review
A Man Called Otto is a remake of the Swedish comedy-drama A Man Called Ove. The American version sees Tom Hanks as the curmudgeon lead character. Otto (Hanks) is a widower who’s forced to take early retirement. He has a reputation as being a grumpy and confrontational man who enforces his strict standards on his neighbours. However, […]
Till Review
The murder of Emmett Till was an event that shocked America and became an important milestone in the Civil Rights Movement. The story of his mother attempting to get justice is told with Till. Mamie Till (Danielle Deadwyler) is a woman who is incredibly close to her 14-year-old son, Emmett (Jalyn Hall). He is often […]
Line of Duty Season Six Review
Line of Duty is one of the BBC’s biggest shows and the sixth season is arguably the biggest produced. Since the events of Season Five, DI Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure) has transferred from AC-12 to Operation Lighthouse, to an investigation into the murder of a journalist. The investigation is led by DCI Joanne Davidson (Kelly Macdonald) who becomes a person of […]










