Film
'Thor: The Dark World' Comes Close to Being a Viable Story
In Thor: The Dark World there's a dangerous villain, a universe-ending threat, and a star-crossed romance -- but none of it makes sense.
18 Mar 2019
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Recent
Film
TIFF 2018: 'Vox Lux'
Brady Corbet's Vox Lux is a horror movie about the link between hedonism and explosive violence in the 21st century. Don't let anyone tell you differently.
10 Oct 2018
Film
Born to Die: Interview with Filmmaker Christopher Quinn and Farmer Frank Reese on 'Eating Animals'
Frank Reese is one of the country's last truly independent farmers, and filmmaker Christopher Quinn tells his story and explores the devastating effects of factory farms on the planet in Eating Animals.
28 Jun 2018
Film
Fear and Loathing in the Zone: 'Annihilation's' Dreamy 'Death Drive'
Annihilation's reflections on what Freudian psychoanalysts have referred to as the 'death drive' offers an account of modern life we cannot ignore.
11 Jun 2018
Music
The Sound of the Shimmer: Interview with Annihilation's Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow
Emmy-nominated composer Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow, music producer and founding member of Portishead, speak with PopMatters about their original score for Alex Garland's science-fiction film, Annihilation.
05 Jun 2018
Film
What 'Annihilation' Shows Us about the Future of Serious Nerd Movies
Contrary to Alex Garland's disappointment that Paramount sold his film to Netflix, it might be a good thing for film nerds.
09 Apr 2018
Film
'Annihilation' Scares and Baffles in Equal Measure
Alex Garland's follow-up to Ex Machina is a visceral cinematic experience that, while plagued with structural problems, delivers plenty of thrills and eye-popping spectacle.
22 Feb 2018
Film
'Thor: The Dark World' Brings the Hammer (and the Enthusiasm) Down
Thor worked due to its surprisingly-effective Shakespearean framework. Thor: The Dark World follows conventional Hollywood tropes and suffers for it.
24 Feb 2014
Reviews
Is 'The Other Woman' Competing in the Cliché Olympics?
Although The Other Woman has the potential to be socially relevant given today’s blended families, it doesn’t present anything new.
16 May 2011
Film
Super Spots or Big Blunders
A lot of production, distribution, and marketing companies spent a lot of time and a lot of money to air ads for movies that are six months away. Which ones will make them a lot of money instead of costing exactly that?
08 Feb 2011
Film
Part 1: The Thin Red Line to Star Wars Episode I (January - May 1999)
The first part of PopMatters' look back at the films of 1999 is bookended by the long awaited return of two cinematic auteurs of wildly different styles, Terrence Malick and George Lucas.
22 Mar 2009
Reviews
My Blueberry Nights
Wong's films are structured around images of characters in repose, of interactions weighted with desire, and of individual memory and fantasy.
27 Aug 2008
Reviews
My Blueberry Nights
In Blueberry Nights, attractions are premised on separate losses, cultivations of similar heartaches, and delights in desserts.
09 Apr 2008
Reviews
The Other Boleyn Girl
Based on the bodice-ripping novel by Philippa Gregory, The Other Boleyn Girl is, in a word, ridiculous.
28 Feb 2008
Reviews
Mr. Magoriums Wonder Emporium
The adults aren't fully to blame for their dreariness, as they are saddled with a cumbersome script that too plainly emulates Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
18 Nov 2007
Reviews
Goya's Ghosts (Los Fantasmas de Goya) (2006)
If Miloš Forman's movie doesn't take up his distinctive visual style, it does embrace his broad satire, ferociously targeting religious, state, and financial leaders.
22 Jul 2007
Reviews
Free Zone (2005)
After the initial early promise of its opening 15 minutes or so, the film resorts to spinning its wheels, then driving down dead-end alleys, and then plowing head-long into exactly the sort of heavy-handed didactic symbolism that gives me fits and has me reaching for the remote.
Jake Meaney
08 Jul 2007
Reviews
V for Vendetta (2006)
"He's a pretty complex man," says Hugo Weaving of V. "He's been imprisoned and tortured and abused mentally and physically... and then burnt in fire."
01 Aug 2006
Film
Free Zone (2005)
The first shot of Amos Gitai's new film is arresting. Natalie Portman cries for eight minutes.
Cynthia Fuchs
08 May 2006
Film
V for Vendetta (2006)
The Natalie Portman film is an earnestly angry, vaguely philosophical, but ultimately generic action movie.
Cynthia Fuchs
16 Mar 2006
Reviews
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
For all its lavish effects, Sith's primary purpose is to showcase Anakin's dilemma.
Cynthia Fuchs
18 May 2005
Reviews
Closer (2004)
This leads to titillation, judgment, desire, and commerce all around. How Howard Stern.
Cynthia Fuchs
06 Apr 2005
Reviews
Garden State (2004)
Natalie Portman brings to this sad, strange, vibrant girl her own remarkable, brilliant energy.
Cynthia Fuchs
27 Dec 2004
Film
Closer (2004)
This leads to titillation, judgment, desire, and commerce all around. How Howard Stern.
Cynthia Fuchs
02 Dec 2004
Reviews
Cold Mountain: Collector's Edition (2003)
Anthony Minghella's image of the birds in snow articulates Cold Mountain's aesthetic and themes, its interest in collision and reverie, in nostalgia and resistance.
Cynthia Fuchs
11 Jul 2004
Film
Cold Mountain (2003)
The first scene in Cold Mountain is sensational and sickening, an apt introduction to what will be a Civil War saga.
Cynthia Fuchs
22 Dec 2003
Reviews
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
So in a post-September 11th world replete with conflicts from Afghanistan to continuous Palestinian-Israeli disputes, the lines between good and evil often seem blurry, and the cut-and-dry antics of galactic warriors instill a sense of hope, a realization of what morality should be. Who would've thought that the likes of Yoda, Obi Wan Kenobi and Chewbacca would serve as heroes for a celluloid generation whose sense of a world order would become crystal clear as a result of a few fictional characters?"
Tara Taghizadeh
23 May 2002
Reviews
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
There are so very many characters playing central roles in the second half of the series, and accounting for all of their geneses is tricky indeed.
Todd R. Ramlow
14 May 2002
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