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On the Socially Conscious Filmmaker, Sidney Lumet
Maura Spiegel's biography provides a thorough and compelling look at the life and films of the progressive New York icon filmmaker, Sidney Lumet.
24 Feb 2020
Books
The Rolling Stones Go to College
The Cambridge Companion to the Rolling Stones, the first book of academic essays about the band, considers not only what the band accomplished, but why, 60 years since they formed, the Rolling Stones still matter.
13 Jan 2020
Books
The Curmudgeonly King of Noir Chronicled in 'Notes From the Velvet Underground: The Life of Lou Reed'
Howard Sounes' Notes From the Velvet Underground is a beautifully considered book, with enough detail about the life and career of Lou Reed for the geeks, enough context for the historians, and just enough juicy stuff for everyone else.
11 Dec 2019
Books
Chavisa Woods: 100 Times (A Memoir of Sexism)
Chavis Woods' 100 Times (A Memoir of Sexism) is the ideal tool for inciting the collective rage needed to subvert gender-based harassment and violence.
19 Nov 2019
Film
Ludicrous Irony in Scorsese's 'The Irishman'
With its big performances and stellar script, The Irishman is the glorious culmination of Scorsese's lifelong fascination with mobsters and their built-in self-destruction.
15 Nov 2019
Books
Irving Berlin: New York Genius (By the Book)
Exploring the interplay of Irving Berlin's life with the life of New York City, noted biographer James Kaplan offers a visceral narrative of Berlin as self-made man and witty, wily, tough Jewish immigrant. Enjoy this excerpt of Kaplan's book, Irving Berlin: New York Genius.
James Kaplan
05 Nov 2019
Film
Cynthia Erivo's Performance Carries Kasi Lemmons' 'Harriet'
Cynthia Erivo's transcendent turn as Union spy, escaped slave, and Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman shines through Kasi Lemmons' heroic but oversimplified biopic, Harriet.
31 Oct 2019
Film
Rupert Goold's 'Judy' and the Queer-ing of the Biopic
Recent queer icon films Judy, Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman tease their key audience while keeping one foot solidly in straight land. Is this progress?
24 Oct 2019
Film
Eddie Murphy Returns to Form (and Fun) in 'Dolemite Is My Name'
Director Craig Brewer helms his breezy tribute to Rudy Ray Moore, the '70s Blaxploitation icon who influenced an entire generation of young Black performers, with Dolemite Is My Name.
18 Oct 2019
Books
William S. Burroughs and the Cult of Rock 'n' Roll
Critic Casey Rae depicts William S. Burroughs as a wise sage whom the wild creatives seek out for his wisdom... well, almost.
17 Sep 2019
Books
Joanna Russ, the First Minister of Feminist Science Fiction
Gwyneth Jones's masterly account of the life and times of Joanna Russ serves as a timely reminder of the strides made in visibility and diversity in science fiction literature —and the distance still left to traverse.
11 Sep 2019
Film
'Official Secrets' Is a Devastating Reminder of the Power of Deception
Gavin Hood's thriller about British whistleblower Katharine Gun's attempt to stop the Iraq War, Official Secrets, is nothing special artistically, but its intense relevance burns the screen.
29 Aug 2019
Books
A Biography Worthy of 'Hiroshima' Author John Hersey
John Hersey covered Hiroshima and America's race riots with empathy, courage, and profound humility. Jeremy Treglown's biography, Mr. Straight Arrow, should bring a new generation of readers to Hersey's work.
19 Jul 2019
Film
Chanya Button's 'Vita & Virginia' Imprisons and Cages Virginia Woolf
Looking upon Virginia Woolf with an immature and childish creative lust, writer/director Chanya Button and co-writer Eileen Atkins reduce her to a bland literary figure in Vita & Virginia, leaving us to remember the contrarian truth.
15 Jul 2019
Books
Could Marion Turner's Book on Chaucer Alter Future Scholarly Work?
From Marion Turner's work, Chaucer: A European Life, Chaucer emerges as a man who lived through intrigue, rebellions, a peasant's rising, and above all, a determination to translate.
11 Jun 2019
Books
When Harper Lee Came up Short: 'Furious Hours'
Casey Cep traces Harper Lee's winding road to defeat in Furious Hours.
10 Jun 2019
Film
Lanthimos' 'The Favourite' Plays with History and Our Emotional Impulsivity
Stylistically risqué, The Favourite relates to a certain type of subversive British cinema from filmmakers such as Peter Greenaway, although it is not an imitation.
03 Jun 2019
Books
On Warren Zevon, the "Kurt Vonnegut of Rock Music"
Author C. M. Kushins talks with PopMatters about the complicated legacy of Warren Zevon, from crack-up to recovery and back again, and his research for Nothing's Bad Luck: The Lives of Warren Zevon.
07 May 2019
Books
'Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom' Is as Monumental as the Man It Chronicles
Noted historian David W. Blight offers readers the fullest portrait of Frederick Douglass yet in this "biography of a voice".
04 Apr 2019
Books
'All the Lives We Ever Lived' Finds Comfort in Mourning with Virginia Woolf
These days, when personal grief becomes a public performance on social media, it's heartening to have a book such as Katharine Smyth's All the Lives We Ever Lived, wherein deep introspection is given space and literature provides both solace and inspiration.
28 Feb 2019
Books
'The Song Is You' Is the Sinatra Biography That’s Not a Biography
The revised and expanded version of Will Friedwald's acclaimed Sinatra book, The Song Is You, is about the music and nothing but the music.
27 Feb 2019
Books
Edward Gorey, Agent of Chaos
Two recent books on screenwriter, illustrator and author Edward Gorey, Born to Be Posthumous and Gorey's Worlds, are engaging works that show that Gorey's mystique remains safely impenetrable.
19 Feb 2019
Books
On 'Love and Strife', but Mostly the Strife, of Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow has won many literary awards, including the Nobel, Pulitzer, and National Book Award. Yet Zachary Leader's thorough work, The Life of Saul Bellow: Love and Strife, 1965-2005, a PopMatters pick, begins with Below asking himself, "Was I a man or was I a jerk?"
23 Jan 2019
Books
Townes Van Zandt: 'Music, Genius, and Rage'
Townes Van Zandt's longtime road manager and producer, Harold F. Eggers, Jr., looks back on road-life with the haunted songwriter. He has more stories than most.
21 Jan 2019
Books
John Berger was a Lifelong Cultural Agitator with a Valuable Point of View
Joshua Sperling's biography of John Berger is more of an art history text that's focused on specific social and political elements as they are connected through Berger's perspective.
14 Jan 2019
Film
'Vice', Dick Cheney, and the Satisfaction of the Deed Itself
Adam McKay's gonzo Dick Cheney biopic satire, Vice, won't be compared to Shakespeare, but it shares the Bard's disinterest in supervillains' motivations.
21 Dec 2018
Books
Why Does Natsume Sōseki Still Resonate with Readers?
Literary scholar John Nathan's biography of Natsume Sōseki puts his great accomplishments -- and many shortcomings -- in superb literary and historical context.
14 Dec 2018
Books
Hayao Miyazaki's Films Help Us See Ourselves "with Eyes Unclouded"
Japanese Studies scholar Susan Napier's Miyazakiworld reveals an animation auteur with an urgent message to convey about our future -- and ourselves.
03 Dec 2018
Film
Jason Reitman's Tabloid Journalism Film About Gary Hart, 'The Front Runner' Is Altman Lite
Funny and thoughtful but not sharp enough, Jason Reitman's satire about Gary Hart's tabloid downfall aims for controlled chaos but settles for conventional finger-wagging.
19 Nov 2018
Film
Band of Brothers: Jason Reitman, Matt Bai, and Jay Carson on 'The Front Runner'
Filmmaker Jason Reitman and co-writers Matt Bai and Jay Carson delve into the band-like creative process behind their thought-provoking political drama, The Front Runner, revolving around Gary Hart's scandalous 1988 presidential campaign.
15 Nov 2018
Books
'Freak Kingdom': On Hunter S. Thompson's Fight Against Fascism
In Freak Kingdom, Timothy Denevi gives a charmingly sensational account of Hunter S. Thompson's life in order to prove his point that Thompson actually conducted himself as quite a serious anti-fascist.
13 Nov 2018
Film
'On Her Shoulders': Awareness of Trauma Is Not Enough
In this interview with Director Alexandria Bombach centered on her recent documentary about Nadia Murad, On Her Shoulders, she reflects on how we process another's trauma, and how we might be moved beyond simply awareness.
13 Nov 2018
Film
All the Right Intentions Can’t Bring 'Boy Erased' to Life
The tragedy of conversion therapy is confronted in Boy Erased, a well-meaning but perfectly conventional message movie.
08 Nov 2018
Books
'Confidential Confidential' Analyzes Scandal, Libel, and '50s-era Celebrity Culture
Samantha Barbas' Confidential Confidential brings to mind Fox News, Donald Trump, and the current American cultural-political climate of lies and hysteria.
07 Nov 2018
Film
'Can You Ever Forgive Me?' Is an Honest, Empathetic Look at Big City Loneliness
In sneaky ways Can You Ever Forgive Me? works as a rallying cry for the dejected.
05 Nov 2018
Film
Melissa McCarthy Wonderfully Dominates the Unlikely Caper, 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?'
Director Marielle Heller offers this witty, observant insight into the psyche of a desperate writer, Lee Israel, who becomes a master forger.
02 Nov 2018
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