Bill Gibron

Film & TV Columns Editor

About Bill Gibron

A big city Chi-Town (Chicago) boy transplanted to the tourist trap known as Tampa, Florida, Bill comes to PopMatters with a lifetime of unusual experiences. He's worked every type of job from pipefitter to appellate lawyer, from assistant manager of a fast food restaurant to drive time disc jockey at his college radio station. Speaking of education, Bill's background includes stints in an exclusive, all boys boarding school, Florida State University (where he earned his BA in Creative Writing before the campus became the #1 party location in the nation), and the Stetson University College of Law (receiving his JD in 1986). As a result, he loves to think of himself as both relentlessly imaginative and doggedly rational. Such an odd juxtaposition might explain how he can champion both 2001 and Pink Flamingoes as two of the greatest films of all time, or how The Clash and The Partridge Family can sit comfortably together in his CD rack.

Since deciding to employ his underdeveloped muse muscles over five years ago, Bill has been a significant staff member and writer for three of the 'Net's most influential websites: DVD Talk, DVD Verdict and, of course, PopMatters. He also has expanded his own web presence with Bill Gibron.com a place where he can explore his creative options without restriction. It is here where you can learn of his love of Swindon's own XTC, skim a few chapters of his terrifying tome in the making, The Big Book of Evil, and hear samples from the cassette albums he created in his college music studio, The Scream Room.

Features

The PopMatters Summer 2008 Movie Preview

Remembrances of Summers Past: 40 Years of Movie Memories

[2.May.08] :. When I look back at my 40 years at the Cineplex, I recall hundreds of singular scenes or sequences, characters whose wisdom (or wit) I keep with me all these years later.

The PopMatters Summer 2008 Movie Preview

The Return of the Popcorn Circus: August 2008

[1.May.08] :. Talk about a crowded schedule. There are more offerings scheduled this month than in the previous two combined.

The PopMatters Summer 2008 Movie Preview

The Return of the Popcorn Circus: July 2008

[30.Apr.08] :. And it just doesn't stop. If part two in this three-ring play was packed with well hyped product, July just keeps the receipt treats coming.

The PopMatters Summer 2008 Movie Preview

The Return of the Popcorn Circus: June 2008

[29.Apr.08] :. If May almost tent-poled itself out of existence, June will be even worse. After all, are audiences really ready for 13 major release in less than two months -- with more to come?

The PopMatters Summer 2008 Movie Preview

The Return of the Popcorn Circus: May 2008

[28.Apr.08] :. In the first act of this four-part production, Tinsel Town decides to do some unbelievable front loading. Will there be room for independent offerings, or former HBO carnal comedy divas? Who knows? Without a doubt, it's an interesting way to start the season.

The PopMatters Summer 2008 Movie Preview

Featured Article

DVDs

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie, Jake

[22.Feb.08] :. Chinatown remains a stalwart of '70s cinema. The uninspired follow-up 16 years later reminds one that, sometimes, a masterpiece needs to simply be left alone.

Recent features

PopMatters Picks: The Best TV, Film, and DVD of 2007 Gone and Not Forgotten: The PopMatters DVD Wish List

PopMatters Picks: The Best TV, Film, and DVD of 2007 Hype, Interrupted: The Most Anticipated Films of 2008

DVDs Incomplete Coquette: The Brigitte Bardot Collection

DVDs Past Imperfect: Luis Buñuel's Early Work

Film The Good, The Bad and the Unknown: December

Film The Good, The Bad and the Unknown: November

Film The Good, The Bad and the Unknown: October

Film The Good, The Bad and the Unknown: September

PopMatters Pick

Film

The Lives of Others: Almost Complete Control

[21.Aug.07] :. Under the heavy, grey tread of Stasi control, made more brutal by the friends, family and neighbors recruited to spy on one another, Art, though trampled, will send out tendrils of subversive inspiration.

Recent features

Film Visionary Valhalla: Film's Future Exalted Ones

Film Film Fete: The Best of Short Ends & Leader

Film Future Shock: The Death of Serious Science Fiction

Film Monkey Business (Part 4: August)

Film Monkey Business (Part 3: July)

Film Monkey Business (Part 2: June)

Film Monkey Business (Part 1: May)

Film Wim Wenders: Merging the Infinite Via the Enigma of Cinema

Film The PopMatters 'Short Ends & Leader' Spring Film Preview

Featured Article

Film

Primal Screens: Mark Savage and Australian Independent Cinema

[10.Jan.07] :. A promiment figure in Australia's burgeoning genre scene, Mark Savage is more or less unknown in America. Now, thanks to a stellar DVD overview of his two decades behind the camera, he's finally poised to take his place among independent cinema's standouts.

Recent features

Music This is the Radio's Clash - The Singles Box Set

Film The Boob Tube: Elvira, Mistress of the Dark and Movie Macabre

Featured Article

DVDs

Fight the Power?

[2.Oct.06] :. If the right to vote is so important, why aren't more people angry at the admitted flaws in the 2000 and 2004 elections? Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and documentarian Ian Inaba have some very disturbing answers.

Recent features

Music Found Genres #2: The Soundtrack to Satan's Life

Columns

The Outré Oeuvre When They Were Fab

The Lost Signal Living La Vida Shadows

The Outré Oeuvre A 'Head' of Its Time

The Lost Signal Junior Samples, Rube Bard of Days Gone By

The Outré Oeuvre Billy Jack, the Original Blockbuster

The Lost Signal NBC News Overnight: And So It Went

The Outré Oeuvre Almost Auteurs: Elaine May

The Lost Signal The Gallant Gourmet

The Outré Oeuvre Calling William Castle!

The Lost Signal The 12 Days of Prozac

The Outré Oeuvre Dreck the Halls

The Lost Signal Food of the Clods

The Outré Oeuvre Skunk Ape Confidential

The Lost Signal Monkey Business

The Outré Oeuvre Hit the Road, Bonejack!

The Lost Signal Sunday School

The Outré Oeuvre Big Girl Blues

The Lost Signal Monster Mash-Up

The Outré Oeuvre The Grindhouse's Greatest Hits

The Lost Signal Faith's Freak Show

The Outré Oeuvre Findlay vs. Jason

The Lost Signal Cable Carnal-val

The Outré Oeuvre Trailer Fabulous

The Lost Signal Monochrome Christmas

The Outré Oeuvre The Neo Neo-Realist

The Lost Signal Duck...Duck...Duck...GOOSE!

The Lost Signal Food for Naught

The Outré Oeuvre Mudlark Movies: Lucky Stiff

The Outré Oeuvre Rudy Can't Fail

The Outré Oeuvre The Science Behind the So-B.I.G.

The Outré Oeuvre The Undead Underground

Reviews

Featured Article

DVDs

The Up Series

[15.Oct.07] :. Give me the boy at age seven, and I'll give you the man. The Jesuits may have had something with that saying, especially after watching Michael Apted's masterwork 49 years into the making.

Recent DVD reviews

DVDs Next

DVDs Invasion of the Body Snatchers

DVDs Space: 1999: 30th Anniversay 17 DVD Megaset

DVDs Greg Lake: Greg Lake: Welcome Backstage [DVD]

Film Balls of Fury

Featured Article

DVDs

South Park: The Complete Tenth Season

[29.Aug.07] :. This is the season when the series became self-aware, when addressing the constant media scrutiny lead to episodes that pushed the boundaries of satire and taste.

Recent DVD reviews

Film Manda Bala (Send a Bullet)

Film Mr. Beans Holiday

PopMatters Pick

DVDs

Ace in the Hole

[21.Aug.07] :. While we like to think that every modern malady is new to our particular generation, a film like this reminds us that many of life's troubles have their foundation in past, not present trends.

Recent DVD reviews

Film Stardust

Film The Invasion

Film Superbad

Film Rush Hour 3

DVDs Disturbia

Film Underdog (2007)

Film The Bourne Ultimatum

Film El Cantante

Featured Article

Film

The Simpsons Movie

[27.Jul.07] :. After 18 years on the air and nearly 400 amazing episodes, The Simpsons Movie delivers the entertainment equivalent of a 90 minute greatest hits package.

Recent Film reviews

Featured Article

Film

Hairspray (2007)

[20.Jul.07] :. When Hairspray is good, it’s fantastic. It radiates an energy and a joy that’s beyond infectious.

Recent Film reviews

Film I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007)

DVDs The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007)

Film Eagle vs. Shark (2007)

Film Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

Featured Article

DVDs

Les Claypool: Fancy [DVD]

[6.Jul.07] :. Les Claypool is a rhythm stick surrealist, a man who uses the lower octaves of the scale to simulate all kinds of musical madness – funk, progressive, rock…even the ridiculous

Recent DVD reviews

Film Transformers (2007)

DVDs Creepshow III

Film Ratatouille (2007)

PopMatters Pick

Film

Sicko (2007)

[29.Jun.07] :. SiCKO is sensational. It's perhaps the best movie Michael Moore has ever made.

Recent Film reviews

Film Evan Almighty (2007)

Featured Article

DVDs

Pans Labyrinth (2006)

[25.May.07] :. As harsh as it is human, filmmaking doesn’t get any more enlightened than this. Like the Brothers Grimm before him, this is a filmmaker who wants to give fairytales back their teeth.

Recent DVD reviews

Books Directed By Steven Spielberg: Poetics of the Contemporary Hollywood Blockbuster by Warren Buckland

DVDs Night at the Museum (2006)

Books Alice Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

Featured Article

DVDs

La Haine (1995)

[14.May.07] :. There is a thin line between acceptance and prejudice; and an easy tilt to the balance, from love to hate.

Recent DVD reviews

DVDs Spider-Man 2.1 - Unrated, Extended Cut (2004)

Music Andy Partridge: Monstrance

DVDs Only Human

DVDs The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning

Multimedia 50 Cent: Bulletproof

DVDs Edward R. Murrow: The Best of Person to Person

Featured Article

DVDs

The Prisoner: The Complete Series - 40th Anniversary Collectors Edition

[16.Jan.07] :. It's a show that still causes heads to spin some 40 years later. But what makes The Prisoner so special is not its spy drama approach, but its anti-conformity agenda.

Recent DVD reviews

DVDs Return to the Land of Wonders

Multimedia Tringo

Featured Article

Music

The Residents: The Residents Present The River of Crime Episodes 1 - 5

[8.Jan.07] :. Always on the cutting edge of the cultural hub, The Residents has returned to one of entertainments oldest formats -- the radio drama -- for their latest exercise in oddness.

Recent Music reviews

Music Giuseppe Andrews: Giants

DVDs Jenifer

Books Catch a Wave by Peter Ames Carlin

Books Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock and Roll by Rick Coleman

Featured Article

DVDs

10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America (2006)

[11.Oct.06] :. The resulting crazy quilt of content adds an extra layer to the overall argument about the power of a single incident to inexplicably change the course of events.

Recent DVD reviews