Bo Burnham’s ‘Inside’ Mixes Comedy with Anxiety and Sets It to Music
Bo Burnham creates a warm and inviting mood and ironic comfort when he sings “That Funny Feeling” in his comedy special, ‘Inside’.
music
Decoding the Art of Becoming in Rock Memoir ‘The Tompo of the Ringing’
Musician and author Tracy Santa has a way of seeing rock ‘n’ roll that imbues his memoir, The Tompo of the Ringing with broad appeal and larger relevance.
Everybody Stays at the Party Says Podcaster and Comedian Tom Scharpling
The Best Show creator Tom Scharpling talks with PopMatters about his memoir It Never Ends and how he reached the greatest phase of his radio/podcasting career.
What Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis’ Got Right and a Lot That It Didn’t
Baz Luhrmann used many entertaining razzle-dazzle techniques to capture Elvis Presley’s complex story on film. He even got some things right. But there’s a lot he didn’t.
The Past Isn’t Past in Stanley Kwan’s Fantasy Drama ‘Rouge’
Stanley Kwan’s 1987 fantasy drama based in Hong Kong, Rouge, is part romance, part ghost story, part political fable, and all gorgeous.
Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis’ Would Be Better as a Comic-Book Movie
Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic about Presley and his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, is a flashy tale of heroes, villains, and victims – much like a comic book movie.
How the “Indian Liberace” Korla Pandit Swept Hollywood
Were it not for Hollywood credence Korla Pandit – who could only realize himself by pretending not to be who he was – would have been little more than Missouri snake oil.
Tied and Noosed ‘Dancing Pirate’ Waltzes into Technicolor
Restored 1936 Technicolor film Dancing Pirate crosses the early talkies’ vogue for absurd musicals with its other vogue for Hollywood Mexicana.
Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘driving home 2 u’ Is More than a Road Trip
Doubling down on her songwriter image, Olivia Rodrigo makes a pop star rite of passage of her own with driving home 2 u.
Powell & Pressburger’s Radical and Ravishing ‘The Red Shoes’ Performs the Dark Side of Devotion
Powell & Pressburger’s film version of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Red Shoes” asks, is Art worth dying for?
Subversive AIDS Film ‘Parting Glances’ Was Quite Unlike Its Contemporaries
In a brave and subversive move that appealed to mainstream audiences yet was undeniably queer, “AIDS film” Parting Glances used barbed comedy to convey tragedy.
Director Adam Rehmeier on His Abrasive Punk Comedy with a Sweet Heart, ‘Dinner in America’
Director Adam Rehmeier talks with PopMatters about the making of his subversive punk comedy, Dinner in America, produced by Ben Stiller.