Using “Don’t Stop Me Now” in Visual Media: The Umbrella Academy vs. SHAZAM!

This post features SPOILERS for both Season 1 of The Umbrella Academy and the DCEU film SHAZAM!.

I’ve started noticing that Western visual media really likes using Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” for high-energy sequences. It’s popped up in no less than two TV commercials that I’ve seen since the release of Bohemian Rhapsody last November. One commercial featured the people in the ad singing it while walking, running, or doing other high-energy things, while the other one used the original recording with Freddie Mercury’s vocals. It’s also apparently showed up in works like Shaun of the Dead for action scenes. My new favorite Netflix obsession, The Umbrella Academy, uses it for an action scene in this way, while the new DCEU film SHAZAM! uses “Don’t Stop Me Now” for a comical superhero training montage. I bring this up because I think one of these two uses of the song works better than the other, and I want to talk about why that is.

First of all, which characters do these scenes involve, and what are they doing?

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Oscar Week Post: Nothing Really Matters (TO MEEEE!!!!!)

So we’re approaching the 2019 Oscars (sorry, the 91st Academy Awards), and this is the time when various entertainment journalists post their Oscar picks. I’m not going to do that because I haven’t seen enough of the movies, and I would either choose only the safe bets or only the long shots. Instead, we’re going to talk about why and how none of this matters in the long run.

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What I Figured Out About Movies and Popular Culture in 2018

A lot of “10 Best Films of 2018” articles are popping up in people’s social media feeds right now, and I’m not going to write one of those because every time I look at one of those lists, I think, “WOW. I didn’t see ANY of those movies.” I enjoy movies, books, and TV, but I am definitely not a cinephile. I will never be one of those people who considers movie theaters sacred ground. Theaters are all right, but I like consuming media in the comfort of my own home, too. I will also never be one of those people who feels culturally and morally superior to other people because I watch/read/listen to obscure pieces of media. I’m just someone who loves stories, some obscure and many mainstream, and I’ll watch/read/listen to anything that piques my interest.

With that said, here are a few insights I had about popular culture in 2018:

Here, have some opinions…