Features
Monday, January 28 2013
The Best Films of 2012
From popcorn perfection to animation experimentation, foreign finesse and good old Hollywood hokum, 2012 delivered the shiny cinematic goods and then some. Here are our choices for the titles that took on the challenge, and won.
Friday, September 21 2012
Reflections on the Revolution in Gotham: Of Burke and Batman
Amidst the wheezing voice of Bane and the thunderous roar of the Batpod, The Dark Knight Rises offers a quiet reminder to cherish the important and enduring things in life, and to remember one’s obligations to friends, neighbors, and fellow citizens.
Thursday, July 26 2012
Fear and Low Things in Aurora: The Dark Knight Also Rises
The story of Aurora, the real story of Aurora isn't the story of psychotic action. Jim Holmes will not inscribe himself into this. I will simply not allow it, and neither will you...
Wednesday, January 12 2011
The Best Films of 2010
Among this year's winners include a fake documentary, a comedy about Jihad, a vampire story NOT dealing with tacky tween romance, a haunting hillbilly noir, and an elegant tale about clones. Not necessarily the usual cinematic suspects.
Thursday, January 6 2011
The Best DVDs of 2010
As the medium continues to struggle with significance in the steady "streaming" of the 21st Century, here are PopMatters' picks for the best the format(s) have to offer.
Columns
Tuesday, July 24 2012
In Defense Of... Film Critics Who Didn't Like 'The Dark Knight Rises'
Love it or hate it, The Dark Knight Rises isn't worth the type of outlandish responses received in light of the movie's initial reviews.
Reviews
Thursday, January 10 2013
Christopher Nolan Was Never as Playful or Energetic as in 'Following'
The humble $6,000 budget of Following is nothing compared to the cost of Nolan’s Dark Knight movies, but the difference is that the superhero movies don’t feel half as alive as the former.
Monday, December 3 2012
Batman's Bad Day(s): 'The Dark Knight Rises'
Batman has always been the Dark Knight. His origins are in an alleyway, his story is essentially a vengeance narrative that explores obsession, totemistic fascination with symbolism, and near madness.
Friday, July 20 2012
'The Dark Knight Rises': Into the Pit and Out
Bane comes at Batman with a prodigious force and bloody fury, premised on the fact that he is built to deliver the hero's punishment and thus his motivation for rising.
Thursday, March 3 2011
I Can’t Remember to Forget You: 'Memento' Ten Years Later
While reviewers raved about its challenge to traditional linear narrative, it’s really in the realm of character development that Memento most destabilizes cinematic conventions.
Tuesday, December 7 2010
'Inception': The Burden of Dreams
As visual storytelling goes, very few films released this year compete with the ambition and realization of Inception's nested dream-spaces.
Blogs
Wednesday, January 16 2013
No Love for a 'Dark Knight' Yet Again
Christopher Nolan's Batman franchise has terrible awards luck. Ben Travers asks why...
Friday, August 10 2012
In ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Money Matters
Christopher Nolan’s final Batman film shows the inhabitants of Gotham wrestling with issues of the real world, namely: money, class, and power.
Thursday, August 2 2012
'Rises' Is More Like 'Begins' Than 'Knight', and That's a Good Thing
The final installment in Nolan’s saga brings the focus back where it belongs: on the man behind the mask.
Wednesday, July 25 2012
What Now, Christopher Nolan?
Even if Christopher Nolan wanted to go in a completely different direction, making something outside his frame of reference or comfort level, he would more than likely meet with near universal approval from within the industry.
Monday, July 23 2012
What If They Didn't Report the Box Office Figures... and Nobody Cared
For many, the lack of an 'official' box office result will mean very little this week. Considering what it does and does not represent, it should have never really mattered in the first place.
News
Thursday, July 12 2012
Nolan-free ‘Justice League’ raises questions for Warner DC films
LOS ANGELES — Warner Bros. will need a new hero to invigorate its DC Comics brand on the big screen, now that director Christopher Nolan’s…
Thursday, July 8 2010
Will there be an 'Inception' backlash before the movie even opens?
I've been getting the feeling lately that Hollywood movies are finally driving our nation's embattled film critics completely crazy. Reviewers are either full of vitriol…
Monday, February 23 2009
Backstage at the Oscars: Heath Ledger's family discusses win
HOLLYWOOD - Heath Ledger's sister Kate knew all along. She told us backstage that her brother had been sending her photos from the set of…
Thursday, February 19 2009
Academy's snubbing of 'The Dark Knight' is a crime
It conjured up a complex and detailed alternate universe. It featured one of the most convincing portraits of wanton evil ever seen in an American…
Friday, January 23 2009
Oscars ignore ‘The Dark Knight,' except for Ledger nomination
It was a dark day for "The Dark Knight" as the 81st annual Oscar nominations, announced Thursday, snubbed the most popular film since "Titanic." Christopher…
