about contributors submissions book series advertising contests tour dates Mixed Media PopMatters Picks
|
|
Jack Patrick RodgersAbout Jack Patrick Rodgers Jack Patrick Rodgers is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia. His work has been published in Slate, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Geek Monthly. You can follow him on Twitter at RestlessJack or contact him via email at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Features
Await Your Reply: Dan Chaon Talks About Self-inventionLost, indie music and Final Destination inspired Dan Chaon's latest novel, Await Your Reply -- all deal with issues of self-invention and how we conceptualize the self, he tells PopMatters. [14 October 2009] China’s Factory Girls: A Conversation with Author Leslie T. ChangTraditional and often sensational coverage of China is only a partial interpretation: the people themselves are being lost in the translation. [15 September 2009] A Glimpse of a Fast-changing China‘Factory Girls’ and ‘The People's Republic of Capitalism’ give us a snapshot of the dramatic changes China is undergoing. [15 July 2009] Remembering the Orphan: Final Fantasy VIIIWarts and all, the ambitious push to expand video game storytelling found in Final Fantasy VIII deserves a closer look at this too-often neglected franchise entry. [27 May 2009] You Know His Name: A History of James BondJames Bond was the perfect hero for Great Britain of the 1950s, still licking its post-war wounds and eager for a champion who defended old-fashioned values like upper-class snobbery. [27 April 2007] Geek Goes MainstreamThe year 2006 saw many examples of so-called geeks breaking into the mainstream. [9 January 2007] Reviews
Mad Men: Season 2Our characters are noticing subtle changes in the air, but they don’t quite realize that the social conventions they’ve staked their lives on will be shattered by decade’s end. [17 July 2009] 
Batman 20th Anniversary EditionThis is the template for the modern summer blockbuster which makes it, for better or worse, the most-influential film of the last 25 years. [16 July 2009] 
The Last EmperorMaybe it takes a humanist like Bertolucci to see an emperor as an everyman, but anyone who has ever felt humbled by the heartlessness of fate can understand Pu Yi’s plight. [16 March 2009] 
The X-Files RevelationsTen years later, Mulder and Scully return to the big screen to face their greatest mystery yet: whether or not they're still relevant in a world that's changed since they've been away. [18 July 2008] 
Lost in BeijingThis film knows that you can't buy happiness, but since real happiness is such a rarity, people will never stop trying. [13 June 2008] 
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet StreetBurton indulges in meticulously designed, deliberately artificial sets, cinematography that makes the world monochromatic, protagonists with pale skin and sunken eyes – but it's that passion coursing beneath the surface that makes this film feel more alive than anything he's done in years. [2 April 2008] 
1968 with Tom BrokawThis documentary is filled with revealing moments, both big and small, that show just how much – and how little – things have changed. [25 February 2008] 
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black DossierI hope that Moore decides to put the world of League aside and returns to telling stories about people. [8 January 2008] 
Rescue DawnWerner Herzog has made a career out of profiling men with impossible dreams who end up fighting against nature and society to make them a reality. [18 December 2007] 
I Am Cuba (Soy Cuba)I Am Cuba is a showcase for some of the most astonishingly complex long takes ever devised. Even today, its virtuosic camerawork is breathtaking. [10 December 2007] 
InterviewPierre and Katya are too strange and too duplicitous for their conversation to have any deeper level than simply skewering the vapidity of most celebrity journalism. 
Shanghai KissI really wanted to love Shanghai Kiss and recommend it as a breakthrough for Asian-American cinema, but it's merely an uneven, occasionally soulful film handicapped by some one-dimensional characters and over-familiar plot elements. [24 October 2007] 
Heroes: Season OneDo we really need yet another story about people discovering supernatural abilities and learning to do good – or evil – with them? The answer: if it’s this good, why not? [11 September 2007] 
The Drifters: Greatest Hits LiveThe Drifters drift through time and incarnation; there may be plug-in replacements over the years, but they can never replace the originals. [29 August 2007] 
The Spanish-American War: First InterventionPrivately, Roosevelt felt that the thrill of warfare was good for building a young man’s character, and he didn’t want to miss the opportunity for his generation to channel its patriotism into the glorious cause of battle. [30 July 2007] 
My Neighbor Totoro (2007)Cinematic flights of imagination don’t come more satisfying than this. [27 July 2007] 
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8 #1-4Buffy has returned in the form of a monthly comic book series, and the most important thing to note is that Whedon's imagination no longer has a dollar value attached to it. [26 June 2007] 
Hex - The Complete First SeasonHex is more than just raging hormones and gothic clichés. [4 June 2007] 
Army of Shadows (1969)A timeless and decidedly sober look at the desultory nature of everyday life during wartime. [31 May 2007] 
Whisper of the Heart (1995)You know a movie has meant something to you when you care about its characters as if they were real people, even if they’re made out of ink instead of flesh and blood. [17 May 2007] 
Hacking Democracy (2006)This film shows a growing, dangerous mentality in American political and corporate life: the widespread refusal to acknowledge any problem, to accept any responsibility for mistakes made, or to fix any error until a disaster occurs and enrages the public. [9 April 2007] 
Curse of the Golden Flower (2006)Even with all the gilded luxury surrounding them, the feverish tension between these characters is what holds your eye. [26 March 2007] 
Stranger Than Fiction (2006)Stranger than Fiction isn’t sure if it wants to be a comedy that relies on stereotypes in order to accentuate the humor, or a drama with the absurdities played as deadpan as possible. [8 March 2007] 
Babel (2006)With a movie that encompasses international relations, broken families, personal epiphanies, romantic longings, painful secrets, and our constant aching need for human connection, Iñárritu might have bitten off more than he could chew. [23 February 2007] 
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (2005)The end result of this movie is almost meaningless compared to the simple sense of satisfaction Kouichi has taken from his journey. [6 February 2007] 
The Beauty Academy of Kabul (2004)An all-too-brief story of Afghani women who are finally able to reclaim a small piece of their independence after years of horrific oppression, and the relative shallowness of the Americans who have come to teach them. [2 February 2007] 
Fables: 1001 Nights of SnowfallComic books are ultimately a fusion of literary and visual mediums; what makes them wonderful is the way they can combine the playfulness and elasticity of language with the stark simplicity of imagery to create something that's more than the sum of those parts. [2 January 2007] 
Battle Royale (2002)Battle Royale is ultraviolence with a bleeding heart; A Clockwork Orange meets My So-Called Life. [20 December 2006] 
FablesIts respect for its characters and the intellectual nuance that Willingham provides makes it a must-read for anyone out there hungry for a story of real substance that's somehow still got all the primal resonance of a good fairy tale. [5 November 2006] 
Lost GirlsOf all the ingredients necessary for good erotica, Moore forgot about the most crucial one: passion. [17 October 2006] BlogsConsuming Consumables: I Am Cuba: The Ultimate Edition [$49.95] [2 December 2007] |
Now on PopMatters
Columns
Queer, Isn't It?: For Your Consideration: Trophies for Queers The Difference Engine: Electronic Music: The Invader and Infiltrator
Music
:. Sade: Soldier of Love :. Fear Factory: Mechanize :. The Brunettes: Paper Dolls :. AM: Future Sons and Daughters :. Locksley: Be in Love :. Little Girls: Concepts :. Reigning Sound: Love and Curses
Books
:. I Want to Be Left Behind: Finding Rapture Here On Earth by Brenda Peterson :. I See a Darkness by Richard Kleist
News
:. The once and future Sims :. ‘The Phantom,’ ‘A Serious Man’ top list of latest Blu-ray releases :. Leno’s prime-time send-off to be departure from tradition :. INTERVIEW:Larry Holmes and Joe Frazier recall when they were ‘Facing Ali’ :. Sony’s two-volume ‘Bad Girls of Film Noir’ sets bring them out of the shadows
|
