John Powers

John Powers is the pop culture and critic-at-large on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross. He previously served for six years as the film critic.

Powers covers film and politics for Vogue and Vogue.com. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including Harper's BAZAAR, The Nation, Gourmet, The Washington Post, The New York Times and L.A. Weekly, where he spent twelve years as a critic and columnist.

A former professor at Georgetown University, Powers is the author of Sore Winners, a study of American culture during President George W. Bush's administration.

He lives in Pasadena, California, with his wife, Sandi Tan.

Revisiting, Reappraising Cimino's 'Heaven's Gate'

Credit Criterion Collection

Jeff Bridges as John L. Bridges, Isabelle Huppert as Ella Watson and Kris Kristofferson as James Averill in the 1980 Western Heaven's Gate, a director's cut of which was released in November.

By John Powers

Originally published on Fri December 7, 2012 8:38 am

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The director Francois Truffaut once remarked that it takes as much time and energy to make a bad movie as to make a good one. He was right, but I would add one thing: It takes extraordinary effort to make a truly memorable flop.

The best example is Heaven's Gate, the hugely expensive 1980 movie by Michael Cimino that is the most famous cinematic disaster of my lifetime. It's part of that film's legend that it not only took down a studio, United Artists, but was the nail in the coffin of Hollywood's auteur filmmaking of the 1970s.

1:47 pm

Thu November 15, 2012

The New British Empire: Pop-Culture Powerhouses

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Credit HBO Films

The HBO documentary Crossfire Hurricane, about The Rolling Stones, prompts critic John Powers to reflect on the band's five decades of fame.

Credit Francois Duhamel / Sony Pictures

In his three Bond films, actor Daniel Craig has created a portrait of a darker, damaged 007 — evidence of the enduring character's mutability, according to Powers.

By John Powers

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It seems that every time you turn around, you find another anniversary of some big cultural or historical event. I'm weary of the media's habit of playing all these things up, so I'm abashed to admit I'm about to do just that.

But you see, in the same three-day period I recently saw the new James Bond picture, Skyfall, and Crossfire Hurricane, a new HBO documentary about The Rolling Stones. And because the Bond movies and the Stones both turn 50 this year, I began thinking about how they might fit together.

1:08 pm

Thu October 25, 2012

Portis 'Miscellany' Makes A High-'Velocity' Collection

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Escape Velocity: book cover detail

By John Powers

Originally published on Thu October 25, 2012 2:31 pm

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Whenever I hear someone called a "cult writer," my hackles jump toward the ceiling. It's not only that the phrase calls up images of self-congratulatory hipsters, but that writers who become cultish tend to do so because their work is steeped in bizarro sex, graphic violence, trippy weirdness or half-baked philosophy.

10:29 am

Mon October 1, 2012

Being 'Joseph Anton,' Rediscovering Salman Rushdie

Credit Johannes Eisele / AFP/Getty Images

Salman Rushdie is the author of The Satanic Verses, which inspired a fatwah calling for his death. His novel Midnight's Children has been adapted into a film that opens in the U.S. on Nov. 2.

By John Powers

Originally published on Tue October 9, 2012 9:39 am

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In the fall of 1989, I was walking down a London street when someone handed me a flier that asked, "Should Rushdie Die?" The following afternoon, I headed over to the Royal Albert Hall to hear that question answered by a renowned Islamic scholar.

11:48 am

Fri August 24, 2012

How Brazil Lives Now, In 'Neighboring Sounds'

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Credit Victor Juca / Cinema Guild

Joao (Gustavo Jahn) and Sofia (Irma Brown) are among the inhabitants of the Recife, Brazil, street where Neighboring Sounds takes place.

Credit Victor Juca / Cinema Guild

Bia, played by Maeve Jinkings, bears the weight of her children.

By John Powers

Originally published on Fri August 24, 2012 3:39 pm

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Between mass tourism and the Internet, it's never been easier to learn about other cultures. Yet we often stay on the surface. Watching the Olympics opening ceremony a few weeks ago, I was struck by how much of what was presented as quintessential Britishness came from pop culture — James Bond and Mary Poppins and the chorus to "Hey Jude." Although Britain had a global empire not that long ago, the show's director, Danny Boyle, grasped that the world's image of his green and pleasant land now largely derives from movies and songs.

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2:44 pm

Wed December 5, 2012