Monday, March 23 2009
Part 1: The Thin Red Line to Star Wars Episode I (January - May 1999)
The first part of PopMatters' look back at the films of 1999 is bookended by the long awaited return of two cinematic auteurs of wildly different styles, Terrence Malick and George Lucas.
Wednesday, January 28 2009
Obama & More Critical Commentary on Cultural Imperialism in 2008’s ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still’
The Day the Earth Stood Still was rich in contemporary and relevant social criticism despite the regurgitating an apocalypse narrative and re-hashing Keanu Reeves as another prophetic savior.
Friday, December 12 2008
The Day the Earth Stood Still
On its face, casting Keanu Reeves as Klaatu, that most thoughtful visitor from another planet, seems inspired. Or maybe just obvious.
Friday, September 12 2008
Talk, Talk, Talk: December 2008
Just like the end of an inspiring speech that may or may not succeed in making its point, these final four weeks before 2009 tend to define or defeat the entire awards season purpose.
Friday, April 11 2008
Street Kings
In Street Kings, Tom (Keanu Reeves) is puffy and surly, Neo if he hadn't met Trinity, Neo unsaved.
Friday, October 5 2007
Bram Stokers Dracula
Coppola's take on Bram Stoker's masterpiece is a visual stunning feast worth revisiting in a Collector's Edition that is more than just a time capsule.
Friday, June 22 2007
Part 5: The Return of the Auteur
That noise you heard near the start of the new millennium was the creative din of a brash new breed of filmmakers tearing down the traditions of mainstream moviemaking. Their motion picture mission statements -- including the ones featured on this list -- remain the rulebook for new generations of anxious film artists.
Tuesday, May 29 2007
Future Shock: The Death of Serious Science Fiction
The serious Science Fiction film genre is dead or at least on cinematic life support. As the new millennial marches forward, and an omnipresent production paradigm that substitutes spectacle for smarts, futurist filmmaking is definitely gasping for breath.
Thursday, January 11 2007
The Pay Off: The Best Film of 2006
For many of the movies on PopMatters' 2006 list of the year's best films, it is clear that a heavy personal and professional stake was riding on the final product.
Thursday, July 6 2006
A Scanner Darkly (2006)
Simultaneously strange and familiar, not himself, Bob lives inside an ooky, unsolvable world that mirrors our own ongoing fears, of surveillance, loss, and forgetting.
