Recent

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?"

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.

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.

Books

'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.

Film

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.

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.

Books

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.

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.

Film

'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.

Books

'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.

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.

Film

'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.

Books

'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.

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.

Film

Gay Conversion Therapy Onscreen: Joel Edgerton On 'Boy Erased'

Actor-director Joel Edgerton details the sensitive process of making Boy Erased and how the film could act as a lifeline for families who have experienced gay conversion therapy.

Film

'Colette' Upends the Biopic's Stodgy Maleness

Although Wash Westmoreland's Colette is a tale of becoming, its titular star is impressively self-contained from the start.

Film

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