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'Pompeii', Slaves and Their Short-Lived Payback

On one hand Atticus, the most awesome slave-gladiator in Pompeii, is smart and splendidly charismatic. On the other, he's tormented.

Reviews

The Thing (2011): Bringing Quiet Tones and Space Vaginas Back from the '80s

Matthijs van Heinjningen Jr.'s prequel to John Carpenter's The Thing summons the chilly vibe and the cinema-sexual psychoanalytic undertone of the best of '80s genre cinema. It's only the generic modern "female empowerment" story that seems dated.

Film

Back to Basics - The 30 Best TV Shows of 2008

The Year in TV was a lot like the US economy: struggling until summer and then tanking under the hope of a 2009 comeback. Still, our staff found 30 solid reasons to be cheerful come entertainment investment time.

Film

High Redefinition: The 30 Best TV Shows of 2007

In memoriam of a TV season cut down before its prime time, PopMatters staff celebrates the Top 30 TV Shows of 2007. Some are old favorites. Others have barely made their impression felt. But at a time when all broadcast fortunes are up in the air, they definitely deserve the recognition.

Featured: Top of Home Page

Net-Works: The Best TV of 2006

You won't have to look far along your television dial to discover the Top TV picks from PopMatters staff. From 20 upward, each entry represents the boob tube at its best.

Featured: Top of Home Page

Lost: Season Three Premiere

Squabbles over book clubs, burned muffins, and broken plumbing are not what one would expect from the marauding band of brutes who have captured and brutalized some of the island's most cuddly inhabitants.

Marisa LaScala

Reviews

Lost

Sometimes -- when I'm buying the Lost-companion novel Bad Twin or navigating the perplexing websites of the Dharma Project's sponsor The Hanso Corporation -- I think if Lost were my boyfriend, we'd have to break up.

Daynah Burnett

Reviews

Lost / The Amazing Race

Of course, we know that Lost's producers are an international '911' call away, should anything go terribly wrong, but for the most part, the contestants are left to their own devices.

Jonathan Beebe

Television

Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005)

Jim Sheridan notes, 'There's no initiation anymore for young men. They just grow up and there's nowhere to put these confused feelings that they have.'"

Cynthia Fuchs

Reviews

Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005)

And where, you might ask, is 50 Cent coming from? In a word, money.

Cynthia Fuchs

Film

Lost

This is a story about human beings who were, in some way, lost well before they boarded their flight.

Glenn McDonald

Reviews

Oz - The Complete Fourth Season

Arresting for any number of reasons -- graphic violence, extreme masculinity, harsh language -- Oz also brilliantly inventive with its percussive soundtrack.

Cynthia Fuchs

Reviews

Lost

In Lost, the remnants of civilization loom ominously.

Marco Lanzagorta

Television

The Bourne Identity (2002)

The CIA here is an intensely low-down, sinister, and duplicitous organization.

Cynthia Fuchs

Film

Pop Ten

The 25 Best Classic Progressive Rock Albums

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 1: 100 - 81

Jackie Chan's 10 Best Films

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '90s - Part 1 (100 - 81)

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 5: 20 - 1

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Mixed Media

Collapse Expand Mixed Media

PM Picks

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'Pompeii', Slaves and Their Short-Lived Payback

On one hand Atticus, the most awesome slave-gladiator in Pompeii, is smart and splendidly charismatic. On the other, he's tormented.

The Thing (2011): Bringing Quiet Tones and Space Vaginas Back from the '80s

Matthijs van Heinjningen Jr.'s prequel to John Carpenter's The Thing summons the chilly vibe and the cinema-sexual psychoanalytic undertone of the best of '80s genre cinema. It's only the generic modern "female empowerment" story that seems dated.

Back to Basics - The 30 Best TV Shows of 2008

The Year in TV was a lot like the US economy: struggling until summer and then tanking under the hope of a 2009 comeback. Still, our staff found 30 solid reasons to be cheerful come entertainment investment time.

High Redefinition: The 30 Best TV Shows of 2007

In memoriam of a TV season cut down before its prime time, PopMatters staff celebrates the Top 30 TV Shows of 2007. Some are old favorites. Others have barely made their impression felt. But at a time when all broadcast fortunes are up in the air, they definitely deserve the recognition.

Net-Works: The Best TV of 2006

You won't have to look far along your television dial to discover the Top TV picks from PopMatters staff. From 20 upward, each entry represents the boob tube at its best.

Lost: Season Three Premiere

Squabbles over book clubs, burned muffins, and broken plumbing are not what one would expect from the marauding band of brutes who have captured and brutalized some of the island's most cuddly inhabitants.

Lost

Sometimes -- when I'm buying the Lost-companion novel Bad Twin or navigating the perplexing websites of the Dharma Project's sponsor The Hanso Corporation -- I think if Lost were my boyfriend, we'd have to break up.

Lost / The Amazing Race

Of course, we know that Lost's producers are an international '911' call away, should anything go terribly wrong, but for the most part, the contestants are left to their own devices.

Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005)

Jim Sheridan notes, 'There's no initiation anymore for young men. They just grow up and there's nowhere to put these confused feelings that they have.'"

Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005)

And where, you might ask, is 50 Cent coming from? In a word, money.

Lost

This is a story about human beings who were, in some way, lost well before they boarded their flight.

Oz - The Complete Fourth Season

Arresting for any number of reasons -- graphic violence, extreme masculinity, harsh language -- Oz also brilliantly inventive with its percussive soundtrack.

Lost

In Lost, the remnants of civilization loom ominously.

The Bourne Identity (2002)

The CIA here is an intensely low-down, sinister, and duplicitous organization.

Hip-Hop Legend Kurtis Blow: The Interview

With a New Covers Project, Juliana Hatfield Sets Her Sights on the Police

Kapil Seshasayee Addresses Bollywood Misogyny with "The Item Girl" (premiere)

Brooklyn Funk Essentials Go Space Age on "Funk Ain't Ova" (premiere)

Bersarin Quartett Create Stunning Forward-Looking Ambient with "Wenn wir nur wollen" (premiere)

Habibi Funk Previews Their Reissue of Issam Hajali's Early Work with "Intazirne" (premiere)

New York Producer BAILE Blends Potent House Beats and Downtempo Rhythms on "Winte"(premiere)

Winterpills' Frontman Philip B. Price Issues New Solo Album 'Bone Almanac' (album stream + interview)

Rebecca Turner Returns with 'The New Wrong Way' (premiere) (interview) (album stream)

Wilderun's 'Veil of Imagination' Is a Wonderfully Chameleonic Progressive Metal Adventure (album stream) (premiere)

Flora Hibberd Captivates with the Heart-Stirring Folk of "As Long As There Is Night" (premiere)