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Articles by Dw. Dunphy
Dw. Dunphy On… Generation Media, Part 1: Cinema of Trauma
October 14, 2026 8 Min Read You can tell what is on the minds of the collective consciousness by surveying the media being consumed in highest quantities. In this way, what people gravitate towards is as enlightening as answers to a Rorschach test. Movies, television, books, and music have a story to tell beyond their own specific narratives. Such stories aren’t always easy to hear, but are important to recognize, regardless.
Dw. Dunphy On… NPR Doesn’t Have a Problem, It Has a Crisis
October 12, 2026 7 Min Read It was on a morning in February, 2025, and it was deeply saddening. The report ran on National Public Radio’s daily news program, Morning Edition. It was announced that President Donald Trump would install himself as Chairman of board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. This was a troubling piece of news to all who heard it, as we have all seen this story play out in the past, in exactly the same manner.
NPR Doesn’t Have A Problem, It Has A Crisis
October 12, 2026 7 Min Read It was on a morning in February, 2025, and it was deeply saddening. The report ran on National Public Radio’s daily news program, Morning Edition. It was announced that President Donald Trump would install himself as Chairman of board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. This was a troubling piece of news to all who heard it, as we have all seen this story play out in the past, in exactly the same manner.
Dw. Dunphy On… A.I. and the King of the Mountain
September 28, 2026 5 Min Read A fable. The king of the mountain stood atop his perch, sword always unsheathed and at the ready, waiting for anyone who dared approach him, much less unseat him. He was an amoral man who sinned every sin to get to his present position and had no qualms about doing it all again. He had no beliefs, no deity, higher power, or a god and, thusly, no fear of damnation to hell. When he died, he would simply die.
A.I. and the King of the Mountain
September 28, 2026 5 Min Read A fable. The king of the mountain stood atop his perch, sword always unsheathed and at the ready, waiting for anyone who dared approach him, much less unseat him. He was an amoral man who sinned every sin to get to his present position and had no qualms about doing it all again. He had no beliefs, no deity, higher power, or a god and, thusly, no fear of damnation to hell. When he died, he would simply die.
The Top Doctor Who Stories Of The Tom Baker Era
Longtime fans of the BBC institution Doctor Who all have their favorite actors who have served as the title character. Yet above them all, Tom Baker, who played the fourth Doctor from 1974 to 1981, seems to occupy a space reserved only for the most revered. It is no wonder: Given how the previous Doctor, played by Jon Pertwee, practically saved the series from cancellation with his action-oriented depiction, it was going to take a big personality to fill his shoes. Baker obliged.
The Untold Truth Of Max Headroom
The arc for the Max Headroom character within pop culture is filled with unexpected left turns. Max moved from being a satirical commentary on American TV talking heads to become a full-fledged American TV talking head and a completely unironic TV pitchman — and then a nearly forgotten icon of 1980s media. Nearly, but not quite.
Why Prince Of Darkness Is John Carpenter's Best Movie
No one's getting out of here alive. It is the crux of most horror movies featuring an ensemble cast, particularly those of John Carpenter. Even with his Halloween and The Thing embedded in the memories of horror movie fans, few films have filled audiences with dread and foreboding the way his 1987 feature Prince of Darkness does.
Why Midnight Run Is Robert De Niro's Best Movie
The year is 1988. Director Martin Brest is doing well, riding the attention he garnered from his previous movie, 1984's Beverly Hills Cop. His latest movie might prove to be an even greater challenge than developing Eddie Murphy's silver screen phenomenon. Midnight Run features Charles Grodin as an accountant, Jonathan Mardukas, on the run from the mob after jumping bail.
Dw. Dunphy On… Katy Perry Wants to Be a Star Again and I Am So Uncomfortable
October 1, 2024 6 Min Read There were many reasons why. One of the dominant ones was her willingness to work again with the producer Łukasz Gottwald, better known as Dr. Luke. Gottwald was sued by pop star Kesha for “infliction of emotional distress, sex-based hate crimes, and employment discrimination.” Kesha alleged Gottwald engaged in sexual harassment, misogyny, and locking her into a contract where she would be unable to write or record with anyone but him, who she cited as her abuser.
Dw. Dunphy On… Bandcamp Déjà Vu?
October 19, 2023 4 Min Read Okay, take a deep breath. Nothing’s happened yet. Or, rather, nothing has happened specifically to artists yet, but the creeping feeling something will – sooner than later – is hard to shake. Songtradr purchased Bandcamp from video game publisher Epic Games (Fortnite). Half of Bandcamp’s 120-person staff laid off after the completion of Songtradr’s purchase of Bandcamp. Songtradr is a B2B music licensing platform geared toward brand and agency servicing.
Popdose Prime: 11 Moments When New “Star Wars” Makes Old “Star Wars” a Little Worse
September 22, 2023 3 Min Read I like Ahsoka. No, honestly. The first couple of episodes of the Disney+ show in the Star Wars Universe weren’t great, I must say, but the show helmed by Lucasfilm heir apparent Dave Filoni, starring Rosario Dawson as the titular Jedi, has been getting better steadily. The characters of this show are poised to merge with those from The Mandalorian for an Avengers: Endgame crossover event, and many fans are salivating for this impending new Star War.
Dw. Dunphy On… What Hollywood Needs Now Is VHS
August 14, 2023 8 Min Read Editor’s Note: This post’s title, while summarizing the article accurately, is meant in the spirit of humor. What Hollywood truly needs now is for the AMPTP to negotiate with the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA in good faith and get actors and screenwriters back to work with fair deals. But once writers and actors come back, all involved need to take a hard look at the glorified abuse of excess it has slovenly bundled itself within for the past few years.
Dw. Dunphy On… A.I.: The End of Online Anonymity?
A prediction, which is always a dangerous thing to do: Within the next five years, artificial intelligence (A.I.) engineers will develop a generative algorithm that will make online anonymity impossible. On its face, this sounds like a good thing. From the innocuous, like petty review-bombing, to the heartless, being cyber-bullying, to the most deadly, being cyber SWATting, many would cite anonymity as the fuel driving some of the most inhumane behavior facing the species currently.
Dw. Dunphy On… YouTube’s Big-Ads Problem
It seems lately that YouTube has been envious of the chaos experienced by Twitter and secretly wanted in on the action. They certainly have it now. There are a few moving parts in this mess but I assure you, it comes together in the end. But here at the beginning, let’s start with the Supreme Court. A website like Popdose assumes a degree of editorial responsibility for the content that goes out through it, as do web magazines and newspaper portals.
Blu-ray Review: “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen”
Terry Gilliam makes elaborate cult films. He’s not commercial enough to be like Sam Raimi but too commercial to ride on David Lynch’s go-kart. Gilliam loves to puncture all manner of pomposity while, in a way, inflating his own, a truism I believe he himself would cop to. He’s also profoundly perverse in his way of staging operas with one guy and finger puppets while spending $40 mil. on a fart joke.
Blu-ray Review: “Young Sherlock Holmes”
Everything was right for Young Sherlock Holmes (1985). How could it possibly go so wrong? Directed by Barry Levinson, written by Chris Columbus (Gremlins, Home Alone, Harry Potter), produced by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment, featuring a time-tested character, and awash with groundbreaking special effects from Industrial Light and Magic, the movie is essentially a crowd of ringers cracking bats and hitting homers.
Dw. Dunphy On… The End of the End: The New Eternal Media Machine
Both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones are revered by music fans, even long after half a century. However, one of the things many love about The Beatles is that their output was a finite quantity. They went out before they were shown out. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI), however, suggest that the well will not remain dry much longer.
Dw. Dunphy On… “Shazam! Fury of the Gods”: Too Much, Too Little, Too Late?
The second trailer for Warner/DC’s Shazam! sequel, Fury of the Gods, dropped on January 26. The second – or is it the third? – film from the subset of the DC Extended Universe, sometimes described as the (Zack) Snyderverse will arrive under terrible circumstances, even if the Zachary Levi-led flick winds up being entertaining. Because of the relatively recent purchase of Warner Bros.
Dw. Dunphy On… The 95th Academy Awards Nominations
This year’s Oscar nominations were announced on January 24, and as ever, surprises abound. Curiously for some, it isn’t so many of the exclusions that shock, but the inclusions. Here’s the list. Brief thoughts follow.
Dw. Dunphy On… Is Now the Right Time for the Concert-Movie Revival?
Two things happened concurrently during the fourth quarter of 2022. The first was a dearth of high-profile blockbusters in movie theaters during the typically profitable holiday corridor. This allowed Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever to stay in the Top Five longer than most prognosticators expected. It made the conditions for Avatar: The Way of Water even more favorable than they already were.
Dw. Dunphy On… What Are We Gonna Do About “Andor”?
We’re nearing the close of the first season of Lucasfilm’s Andor series. The Disney+ adventure set in the Star Wars universe at the dawn of the Rebellion finds Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) trying to navigate his way through political intrigue, allies who aren’t as they seem, a truly brutal and efficient Empire, not just a clumsy gang of Stormtroopers who can’t shoot straight, and a narrative that demands your attention. As such, it may be one of the best shows on television right now.
Dw. Dunphy On… Why the MCU Was Right to Not Recast T’Challa
Welcome to Halloween 2022, a perfect day to discuss the resurrection of a particularly troublesome argument skulking around the pop culture zeitgeist, specifically within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). There’s a two-pronged impetus for my examination: the recasting of Harrison Ford in the role of General “Thunderbolt” Ross following the death of actor William Hurt, and not recasting the role of T’Challa, also known as the superhero Black Panther, memorably portrayed by Chadwick Boseman.
Dw. Dunphy On… Are Local Weathercasters Partially Responsible for Climate-Change Denial?
The moment has been summarily memed to death by now, so I don’t need to get into too much detail. On July 14, GB News meteorologist John Hammond spoke to the unprecedented heatwave Great Britain was experiencing, and was immediately chided by news anchor Bev Turner for being a downer, and that – essentially – Hammond needed to not make viewers sad and keep the forecasting, however hot it was, light and cheerful.
Dw. Dunphy On… The Real Problem With Marvel’s MCU Phase Four
A lesson from big tent philosophy is that the more people who get under the tent, the more diversity of thought you will encounter. The more diverse the thought, the more discord you’re liable to experience, particularly as all these unique eyes stare down a singular question. This leads us to the most popular “slow news day” topic in entertainment over the last 12 months: what the heck is wrong with Phase Four of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe?
The Untold Truth Of 2010: The Year We Make Contact
× Cookies help us deliver our Services. By using our Services, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn More. By Dw. Dunphy/March 12, 2021 9:19 pm EST In its day, 2010: The Year We Make Contact was a confusing proposition. It arrived decades after the original 2001: A Space Odyssey, a film that achieved a level of cinephile devotion almost too impossible a benchmark to rise to.
Dw. Dunphy Articles on Looper
Writer Dw. Dunphy covers music, movies, and comics. He has interviewed notables such as director Brenda Chapman, musicians Ian Anderson and Alan Parsons, artist Walt Simonson, and more. Contact us:
Why The Abyss Is James Cameron's Best Movie
× Cookies help us deliver our Services. By using our Services, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn More. By Dw. Dunphy/Feb. 26, 2021 2:24 pm EST You read the headline right: We're naming 1989's The Abyss as James Cameron's very best movie. It's not an easy claim to make. The Abyss? Better than either Terminator 1 or 2? Better than Aliens? Better, even, than Titanic and Avatar, two movies that changed the face of cinema forever?
Why Stand By Me Is The Best Movie Based On A Stephen King Story
× Cookies help us deliver our Services. By using our Services, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn More. By Dw. Dunphy/Feb. 25, 2021 8:49 am EST As recently as 10 years ago, the position that "Stand by Me is the best movie based on a Stephen King story" was hardly a hot take.
Why Big Fish Is Tim Burton's Best Film
× Cookies help us deliver our Services. By using our Services, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn More. By Dw. Dunphy/Feb. 10, 2021 3:22 pm EST When people think of Tim Burton, they think of his cartoonish depictions of the macabre. Yep, even when they think of Pee-wee's Big Adventure – remember Large Marge? Few directors have been so deeply associated with a particular aesthetic as Burton, so when he decides to change things up, it's automatically going to make waves.
Why Midnight Run Is Robert De Niro's Best Movie
× Cookies help us deliver our Services. By using our Services, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn More. By Dw. Dunphy/Jan. 29, 2021 9:33 am EDT The year is 1988. Director Martin Brest is doing well, riding the attention he garnered from his previous movie, 1984's Beverly Hills Cop. His latest movie might prove to be an even greater challenge than developing Eddie Murphy's silver screen phenomenon.
Why Prince Of Darkness Is John Carpenter's Best Movie
No one's getting out of here alive. It is the crux of most horror movies featuring an ensemble cast, particularly those of John Carpenter. Even with his Halloween and The Thing embedded in the memories of horror movie fans, few films have filled audiences with dread and foreboding the way his 1987 feature Prince of Darkness does.
The top Doctor Who stories of the Tom Baker era
× Cookies help us deliver our Services. By using our Services, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn More. BBC By Dw. Dunphy/Jan. 11, 2021 7:31 pm EST Longtime fans of the BBC institution Doctor Who all have their favorite actors who have served as the title character. Yet above them all, Tom Baker, who played the fourth Doctor from 1974 to 1981, seems to occupy a space reserved only for the most revered.
When the midnight movie ends
Skip to main content Resign Or Be Impeached: Lawmakers Want Trump Out 'Now' This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own. Movie theaters have, over the years, lost a bit of their luster. They no longer have the cache of an event like they used to, not in the age of 60-inch flat screen TV and surround sound home audio.
The Untold Truth Of True Grit
× Cookies help us deliver our Services. By using our Services, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn More. Paramount Pictures By Dw. Dunphy/Jan. 6, 2021 4:39 pm EST Adapted twice for the screen, True Grit remains one of the great classic western stories. Yet it is a property that was at odds with the spirit of whatever times it landed in. The original novel written by Charles Portis arrived in 1968, just one year before the first film arrived in theaters.
Underrated Sci-Fi TV Shows With A Cult Following You Need To Watch
There are sci-fi shows you've never seen but have heard about. These are the programs your friends have recommended, social media has formed fan groups around, and cosplayers have extolled in the hallways of comic and film conventions. Yet these shows have not often risen to a level of success that causes them to be embraced by larger mainstream audiences, or if they have, they've been changed to be less challenging and more universally crowd-pleasing.
Why 12 Monkeys Is Terry Gilliam's Best Film
The phrase "directed by Terry Gilliam" instantly lets you know what kind of movie you're getting into. His surreal visions, seen even before his film career began in the interstitial cartoons he created for Monty Python's Flying Circus, imagine dead-eyed bureaucrats, brilliant heroes revealed to be feckless and stupid, and commoners stretched into garish totems, giving their lives away in envy of those same bureaucrats and heroes.
Why Punch-Drunk Love Is The Greatest Paul Thomas Anderson Movie Of All Time
You may remember Dirk's prodigious "diggler" or how Daniel Plainview drank your milkshake, along with many other memorable scenes from the mind and films of writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson. You might also recall Punch-Drunk Love (2002), his fourth feature, as "the one with Adam Sandler." But did you know that Punch-Drunk Love is actually Paul Thomas Anderson's best movie?
The Untold Truth Of The Philadelphia Experiment
The 1984 film The Philadelphia Experiment is a romance, a war-time period piece, a time-travel movie, and depending on who you ask, is "based on actual events." Released under the auspices of Roger Corman's New World Pictures, known for its exploitation flick ethos, the film bears all the outward hallmarks of a high-concept b-movie, yet offers ambitious storytelling that aims higher than it needs to.
Ocean Floor, by Dw Dunphy
By Dw. Dunphy OCEAN FLOOR So this is what the sailors meant When the end is near, you know it And all the bargaining in the world Won't for a minute help forego it Did I feel like Captain Briggs Chartering the Mary Celeste Without the benefit of the wreck Even though we both were drowning Accusations all around Even though we both were drowning Pointing fingers as we went down Beneath the waves I'll make my home on the ocean floor With all the rest of the lost at sea With all of those who...
The untold truth of Max Headroom
× Cookies help us deliver our Services. By using our Services, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn More. By Dw. Dunphy/Nov. 24, 2020 9:40 am EST The arc for the Max Headroom character within pop culture is filled with unexpected left turns. Max moved from being a satirical commentary on American TV talking heads to become a full-fledged American TV talking head and a completely unironic TV pitchman — and then a nearly forgotten icon of 1980s media. Nearly, but not quite.
Alita: Battle Angel's backstory explained
× Cookies help us deliver our Services. By using our Services, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn More. By Dw. Dunphy/Nov. 12, 2020 12:41 pm EST Alita: Battle Angel is a franchise with a fiercely devoted global fanbase, first following the manga and original video animation (OVA) by creator Yukito Kishiro, debuting in 1990, and later the 2019 adaptation written by James Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis and directed by Robert Rodriguez.
Why Die Hard Is A Halloween Movie
Here’s why Die Hard will always be a Halloween movie to me, even though it is set on a hot Christmas holiday in Los Angeles. From Wikipedia: “Retired NYPD Detective Joe Leland is visiting the 40-story office headquarters of the Klaxon Oil Corporation in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve, where his daughter Stephanie Leland Gennaro works. While he is waiting for his daughter’s Christmas party to end, a group of Cold War-era German terrorists take over the skyscraper.
CD Review: Life In A Blender, “We Already Have Birds That Sing”
Fresh, bizarre, intricate, yet not afraid to be a little rude, Life In A Blender’s “We Already Have Birds That Sing” is a short, but punchy trip. Don Rauf’s (or Ralph’s, depending on which album you’ve bought) world is a strange one. He resides in a pocket of the indie music sphere that is decidedly in the rock vein, but that doesn’t fully account for the horns and the violins.
All You Need Is A Hook...
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The Popdose Interview: Thomas Walsh from Pugwash
Thomas Walsh resides somewhere between the best-kept secret in pop-rock and the figurehead of the cult of Pugwash. The band he formed back in 1999 with the release of Almond Tea has always been a loose collective (albeit shored up in recent years by Tosh Flood, Shaun McGee, and Joe Fitzgerald) with Walsh being the defining songwriter and vocalist throughout.
Radio Review: Invisibilia
Public radio shows are usually very good at self-policing. The shows that fit the stereotypes of public broadcasting — of being high-minded and instructional, having an over-inflated air of self-value and an overall demeanor of being, yuck, good for you — tend not to last too long on it. In other words, the shows that purport to have unassailable merit don’t stick around much, while the shows that genuinely have that merit do. Such is the case for two programs, This American Life and Radiolab.
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