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Do We Dream of Electric Sheep Like Blade Runner's Corporate-produced Replicants?

The isolation of Blade Runner 2049's inhabitants continually reinforces and enlivens their deep need for genuine connection, communal relationships, which the divisive effects of global capitalism actively undermines.

Film

'The Big Short' Falls Short

An informative and sometimes entertaining take on the recent financial crisis,The Big Short doesn't quite deliver on our investment.

Reviews

The Best and Worst Films of Spring 2015

January through April is a time typically made up of award season leftovers, pre-summer spectacle, and more than a few throwaways. Here are PopMatters' choices for the best and worst of the last four months.

Film

'The Place Beyond the Pines' Is Three Stories Linked by Grit, Father Issues and Family Foes

This is a powerful film offering a fascinating insight into the father and son complex.

Reviews

"My Humor Is Traced with Dark": An Interview with 'Drive’s Albert Brooks

Everyone is talking about Albert Brooks' transformation from funnyman to hitman in Nicolas Winding Refn's excellent Drive. The legendary comic, author and Best Supporting Actor Oscar hopeful recently spoke with PopMatters about being ahead of the curve and more.

Film

Transformer, Singular: 'Drive' Sings the Body Electric

Va-va-va-vroooom: Cannes Best Director winner Nicolas Winding Refn talks Drive with PopMatters.

Lee Dallas

Film

Drive (dir. Nicolas Winding Refn) Red Band Trailer

Nik Ruckert

Film

'Blue Valentine': You Always Hurt the Ones You Love

Ultimately, Blue Valentine isn’t something you merely watch: it’s something that you feel. Even though it proves to be one hell of a devastating experience, it’s worth the pain.

Reviews

Various Artists: Blue Valentine OST

While Grizzly Bear was the perfect choice to score the heartbreaking indie vehicle, listening to their score without the visuals leaves the listener a little wanting.

Music

Hitting 'The Road' with Director John Hillcoat

Director John Hillcoat talks to PopMatters about the hazards of being intimidated by legends, the funny side of cannibalism and Viggo Mortensen's sweet tooth as his adaptation of the seminal apocalyptic novel The Road hits theaters.

Film

Summer of Same: July 2009

In a rare attempt at novelty, July jets along with only Harry Potter and the Ice Age crew sampling continuing series spoils. The rest provide unknown pleasures.

Film

Lars and the Real Girl

This is the reductive conceit of Lars and the Real Girl, Lars' representative incongruity: he's so unlike everyone else that he becomes their cause and sign of sanity.

Reviews

Fracture (2007)

Part police procedural, part courtroom hijinks, and part cunning murder plot, Gregory Hoblit's new movie brings the usual canards.

Reviews

The Pay Off: The Best Film of 2006

For many of the movies on PopMatters' 2006 list of the year's best films, it is clear that a heavy personal and professional stake was riding on the final product.

Film

Half Nelson (2006)

In Half Nelson, Dan's (Ryan Gosling) take on history -- as concept and series of events -- has as much to do with his personal past as any ideological leanings. He sees history in motion, as ongoing questions.

Film

Pop Ten

The 25 Best Classic Progressive Rock Albums

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

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

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 4: 40 - 21

The 10 Best Indie Pop Albums of 2009

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 3: 60 - 41

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Do We Dream of Electric Sheep Like Blade Runner's Corporate-produced Replicants?

The isolation of Blade Runner 2049's inhabitants continually reinforces and enlivens their deep need for genuine connection, communal relationships, which the divisive effects of global capitalism actively undermines.

'The Big Short' Falls Short

An informative and sometimes entertaining take on the recent financial crisis,The Big Short doesn't quite deliver on our investment.

'The Place Beyond the Pines' Is Three Stories Linked by Grit, Father Issues and Family Foes

This is a powerful film offering a fascinating insight into the father and son complex.

"My Humor Is Traced with Dark": An Interview with 'Drive’s Albert Brooks

Everyone is talking about Albert Brooks' transformation from funnyman to hitman in Nicolas Winding Refn's excellent Drive. The legendary comic, author and Best Supporting Actor Oscar hopeful recently spoke with PopMatters about being ahead of the curve and more.

Transformer, Singular: 'Drive' Sings the Body Electric

Va-va-va-vroooom: Cannes Best Director winner Nicolas Winding Refn talks Drive with PopMatters.

Drive (dir. Nicolas Winding Refn) Red Band Trailer

'Blue Valentine': You Always Hurt the Ones You Love

Ultimately, Blue Valentine isn’t something you merely watch: it’s something that you feel. Even though it proves to be one hell of a devastating experience, it’s worth the pain.

Various Artists: Blue Valentine OST

While Grizzly Bear was the perfect choice to score the heartbreaking indie vehicle, listening to their score without the visuals leaves the listener a little wanting.

Hitting 'The Road' with Director John Hillcoat

Director John Hillcoat talks to PopMatters about the hazards of being intimidated by legends, the funny side of cannibalism and Viggo Mortensen's sweet tooth as his adaptation of the seminal apocalyptic novel The Road hits theaters.

Summer of Same: July 2009

In a rare attempt at novelty, July jets along with only Harry Potter and the Ice Age crew sampling continuing series spoils. The rest provide unknown pleasures.

Lars and the Real Girl

This is the reductive conceit of Lars and the Real Girl, Lars' representative incongruity: he's so unlike everyone else that he becomes their cause and sign of sanity.

Fracture (2007)

Part police procedural, part courtroom hijinks, and part cunning murder plot, Gregory Hoblit's new movie brings the usual canards.

'Half Nelson' Is Among the Best Films of 2006

Given its subject -- a drug-addicted teacher -- Half Nelson's success is certainly more surprising than that of the warmer, and more star-blessed, Little Miss Sunshine.

The Pay Off: The Best Film of 2006

For many of the movies on PopMatters' 2006 list of the year's best films, it is clear that a heavy personal and professional stake was riding on the final product.

Half Nelson (2006)

In Half Nelson, Dan's (Ryan Gosling) take on history -- as concept and series of events -- has as much to do with his personal past as any ideological leanings. He sees history in motion, as ongoing questions.

The Ugly and Unlistenable Death Spiral of Eddie Van Halen

'Closer Than Together' Is Up and Down for the Avett Brothers

Deep Tan Amplify the Groove on New Single "Shimmer" (premiere)

Signe Marie Rustad Finds Companionship In "A Thousand Lights" (premiere + interview)

Andrea von Kampen Crafts Reflective, Picturesque Folk on 'Twilight & Evening Bell' (EP stream) (premiere)

John Salaway Celebrates "The Beauty That Surrounds Us" (premiere)

Nobody's Girl Sparks New Life into Old Classic, "Merry Christmas, Baby" (premiere)

The Drunken Hearts Roll Up Their Sleeves for Wild Ride on 'Wheels of the City' (premiere + interview)

Broke Royals Have an Encounter With "Saint Luxury" (premiere)

Ethio-jazz's Anbessa Orchestra Aim For a Better Day on "Tch'elema" (premiere)

Bobby Hawk Keeps It Simple on "Salt and Liquor" (premiere)