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Pop/Culture

Los Angeles Is the American Dream Made Manifest
As the city that made all my dreams come true continues to burn, a few thoughts on what has always made it so great (and the ghouls with pig shit in…
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Cole Haddon
26
Where The Love Light Gleams (Or: Christmas as Ritualized Trauma)
'I'll Be Home for Christmas' and similar ballads share a common origin that explains why they're so good at helping us exorcise personal and cultural…
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Cole Haddon
23
We're All Trying to Escape a Dystopian Thriller Now
Luigi Mangione, the time I pitched 'Squid Game', and why Hollywood and the media will do anything to protect the super-rich
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Cole Haddon
20
Q&A: The Black List Founder Franklin Leonard on the Future of Hollywood
An epic, nothing-off-limits conversation about everything that's wrong with the film/TV industry - including the current backlash against diversity…
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Cole Haddon
4
What This Statue Teaches Us About Art, Colonialism, and Ourselves
Michael Parekōwhai's 'The English Channel' takes the metaphorical role of the viewer literally - providing a singular master class for all storytellers
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Cole Haddon
10
'Wicked' Is the Film We All Need Right Now
Let’s talk about how the big screen improves the musical’s political messaging (and why it's the perfect film to go see after the U.S. election)
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Cole Haddon
27
Q&A: Journalist-Turned-Screenwriter Michael Bronner Is a Big Fan of the Truth
'The Mauritanian' and 'Rogue Agent' scribe on the differences between journalistic truth and dramatic truth - and the critical role of both in changing…
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Cole Haddon
4
Having It All and Then Some
Guest contributor, 'Call Your Daughter Home' author Deborah Spera, on how her three children prepared her to write her first novel
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Cole Haddon
4
Cinema Isn't Dying (Or: Let's All Go to the Movies!)
It's become a common refrain, to complain about how the moviegoing experience is on life support, but maybe the problem is...you
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Cole Haddon
31
'Armageddon': The Most American Film Ever Made From the Most American Director Ever?
Let's consider what this disaster flick has to say about U.S. culture and the rise of Trump's MAGA movement
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Cole Haddon
32
A Eulogy for Everything We Never Were (and Never Will Be Again)
The story of how writing a screenplay about 'The Diary of Anne Frank' convinced me it was time to leave America for good
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Cole Haddon
69
When the Baseball Film Helped Make America (Kind of) Great
Between 1984 and 1994, the baseball genre became one of the biggest draws at the U.S. box office before suddenly going all but extinct. What happened?
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Cole Haddon
34
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