A Gallery of Good Works: The Best Films of 2007

By PopMatters Staff

From Julian Schnabel's artsy The Diving Bell and the Butterfly to the legendary Coen Brothers splendid adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men, PopMatters counts down the 30 best films of 2007. [11 January 2008]

Performance Art: The Best Acting of 2007 - Male

By PopMatters Staff

From the tender and eerie precision of Sam Riley's depiction of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis in Control to yet another superlative performance by Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood, PopMatters highlights the best male actors of 2007. [9 January 2008]

The Big Lebowski: 10th Anniversary Edition

By Evan Sawdey

A generation-defining comedy about peace and brotherhood, set in a world of backstabbers, liars, and semi-professional bowling leagues. [19 September 2008]

No Country for Old Men

By Cynthia Fuchs

The desolate landscape and moral layout evoke old Westerns, but the film, based on Cormac McCarthy's novel, also reconsiders the genre's conventions, comparing now and "the old times." [9 November 2007]

The Ladykillers (2004)

By Cynthia Fuchs

Pious, earnest, and broadly drawn, Marva is the first black character in a Coen brothers movie to occupy center stage. [8 September 2004]

The Ladykillers (2004)

By Cynthia Fuchs

Pious, earnest, and broadly drawn, Marva is the first black character in a Coen brothers movie to occupy center stage. For a minute, anyway. [26 March 2004]

Intolerable Cruelty (2003)

By Cynthia Fuchs

The Coen brothers' latest venture is a rat-a-tat romantic comedy of the Preston Sturges persuasion, at least for its first hour or so. [9 October 2003]

Fargo (1996)

By Cynthia Fuchs

This is the film's genius, its simultaneous emulation and excavation of true crime's obsession with dull or spectacular minutiae, coupled with a refusal to make such details cohere into master plans and meanings. [30 September 2003]

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

By Lucas Hilderbrand

It's a Depression-era musical laid on top of a chain gang escape film, inspired at once by Homer's 'The Odyssey' and Preston Sturges' screwball comedies. But outrageous as it might seem, this ultra-high-concept project suffers from a lack of inspiration. [1 January 1995]

The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001)

By Cynthia Fuchs

While Ed confides his dissatisfaction, you also get a glimpse of how he sees the world, the camera peering down at scalps or neck napes, apparently always in need of trimming or cutting or buzzing.

How to play at being a villain: Bardem, Ledger reignite media interest in craft of acting [14 August 2008]

There will be confusion: Deliberately vague films leave critic cold [24 February 2008]

Joel and Ethan Coen’s ‘No Country for Old Men’ is favored for the Oscar [22 February 2008]

Sex and violence are not always gratuitous, directors say [12 November 2007]

Q&A with ‘No Country for Old Men’ makers Joel and Ethan Coen [9 November 2007]