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A Good Lie: Lulu Wang on the Real Lie Behind Her Film, 'The Farewell'

Why don't we have more immigrant stories in film? Lulu Wang talks with PopMatters about fighting to tell her story, her way, and how that came to fruition in her latest film, The Farewell.

Interviews

'The Art of Self-Defense' Is a Knockout Black Comedy

If director Riley Stearns sometimes loses his thematic bearings, he never forgets to deliver large, violent doses of comedy in the instant cult classic, The Art of Self-Defense.

Film

The Cost of Comfort: Racial Hierarchies in 'King of the Hill'

At its best, animation comedy show King of the Hill asks, Why are"race" issues in America always about white people?

Television

'Sword of Trust' Is Random-Generation Comedy for a Truth-Deficient Time

Lynn Shelton's lo-fi Southern satire Sword of Trust yokes historical artifacts, the quest for meaning, Civil War Truthers, and the devastation of addiction to a pleasingly ramshackle comic quest.

Film

Lisa Hanawalt's 'Tuca & Bertie' Explores Female Friendships with Raunchy Humor and Compassion

Tuca & Bertie is decidedly female-centric and bold, featuring -- among other things -- a plethora of boobs: boobs on pastries, on plants, and boobs shaking on buildings.

Television

Commodified Authenticity and Ethnic Resistance in Nahnatchka Khan's 'Always Be My Maybe'

'Authenticity' is an ideological construct that should be questioned and critiqued, as Nahnatchka Khan has done so well in her film, Always Be My Maybe.

Film

'The Dead Don't Die' Confronts Climate Change with Deadpan Whimsicality

With The Dead Don't Die, Jim Jarmusch deliberately deprives his latest film of the propulsive terrors innate to most zombie films, instead using the genre to matter-of-factly rhapsodize about consumer culture and the inevitability of the apocalypse.

Film

'Guardians of the Galaxy' Blew the Door to Comic Book Films Wide Open

With Guardians of the Galaxy, set to the soundtrack of an Awesome Mix Vol. 1 cassette tape, Marvel Studios adapted a little-known comic book property -- with a raccoon superhero -- into a hugely successful film and launched the next wave of comic book films.

Film

'Booksmart' Is the Best Comedy of 2019 So Far

Olivia Wilde's directorial debut, Booksmart, featuring a lineup of superbly talented young performers, revels in a utopian view of progressive America.

Film

When Capers Were Mod: Heist Films 'Robbery' and 'Midas Run'

By the time Yates' Robbery and Kjellin's Midas Run came along, the Hollywood Production Code was weakening as the western world entered a period of rebellious youth, short skirts, sexual permissiveness, Cold War cynicism, colonial wars, and general political uppity-ness.

Film

Film Composer Carter Burwell Provides the Missing Link to Chris Butler's 'Missing Link'

Among today's most prolific film composers and a two-time Academy Award nominee, Carter Burwell ventures into animated fare with the Chris Butler's Missing Link.

Film

Hulu's 'Ramy' Offers a Refreshing Angle on the Coming-of-Age Dramedy

Ramy's representation of the Muslim-American experience, the first-generation immigrant experience, and the bilingual experience, is a necessary and welcome addition to the millennial dramedy genre.

Television

Director Bill Blackhurst Explores Adolescent Life in Post-industrial Britain in His Film, 'Pond Life'

Blackhurst reflects on letting go as director, letting the story just happen, and drawing out the darker side of adolescence in his film, Pond Life.

Film

Netflix's 'Bonding' Is Worth Getting Tied Up With

With Bonding, Netflix offers up a sweet and salty treat that explores what we must otherwise suppress within ourselves.

Television

Cross Examination: David Cross on His New Special, Trump, and (Of Course) Colonics

David Cross, the alum of comedy classics like Arrested Development and Mr. Show, talks Trump, time travel, and his penchant for coming up with terrible names for his standup specials.

Television

Olivier Assayas' 'Non-Fiction' Fiddles with Seriousness

In Olivier Assayas' speedy, slightly wan dispatch from salon society, Non-Fiction (Doubles vie), Parisians have badly concealed affairs and argue loudly but inconclusively about books and society.

Film

Pop Ten

The 50 Best Albums of 2019 So Far

Jackie Chan's 10 Best Films

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

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