May 30, 2014 By Austin Trunick Issue #50 - June/July 2014 - Future Islands

Whether you associate him with the X-Men’s heroic leader, Professor X; the friendly faun, Mr. Tumnus, in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Dr. Garrigan in The Last King of Scotland; Robbie Turner in Atonement; or someone else entirely, one thing is almost for certain: you’ll rarely think of James McAvoy as the bad guy.

May 28, 2014 By Matt Fink Dinosaur Jr.

He fearlessly stares down sociopathic killers and hordes of zombies every week as the crossbow-wielding, motorcycle-riding Daryl Dixon on The Walking Dead, but Norman Reedus readily admits that what really makes him nervous is the idea of talking to legendary Dinosaur Jr. frontman J Mascis.

May 22, 2014 By Austin Trunick Patrick Stewart

The new X-Men: Days of Future Past—the blockbuster superhero sequel opening in theaters this week—takes place across two timelines. The film opens in a Hellish post-apocalyptic future where sentient robots have run amok and massacred or enslaved much of the Earth’s population. Most of the film, however, takes place in the early 1970s, as Wolverine is sent into the past to prevent this bleak future from coming to be.

“I think Wolverine never wanted to leave the 1970s,” says Hugh Jackman, who has appeared as the clawed superhero in all seven X-Men films. “The hair, the mutton chops, the clothes… I think the moment that Tears for Fears, A Flock of Seagulls, Wham!, Duran Duran came along Wolverine was like, I’m out.”

May 21, 2014 By Stephen Humphries Syd Arthur

Syd Arthur is a South by Southwest success story. The four-piece British band—no, it’s not the name of an individual—raised money to attend last year’s annual music industry festival in Austin, Texas.

May 14, 2014 By Frank Valish Issue #49 - February/March 2014 - Portlandia

It’s been 20 years since Nina Persson first emerged as the frontwoman for the Swedish five-piece The Cardigans. Now, after six Cardigans albums and two with her own A Camp project, Persson is finally stepping out on her own.

May 13, 2014 By Frank Valish Issue #49 - February/March 2014 - Portlandia

“Less bearded music.” That’s how Nina Persson, Swedish born frontwoman for both The Cardigans and A Camp, describes her debut solo album, Animal Heart. For Persson, releasing music for the first time under her own name has given her freedom to move in a different direction.

May 09, 2014 By Austin Trunick John Slattery

Actor John Slattery—best known for his role as accounts executive Roger Sterling on TV’s Mad Men—is acclimatizing to a new, second career as a filmmaker. His debut feature as a director,God’s Pocket, is adapted from the Pete Dexter novel of the same name, and stars the late Philip Seymour Hoffman (in one of his last roles), John Turturro, Christina Hendricks, and Richard Jenkins.

May 09, 2014 By Austin Trunick Web Exclusive

James Franco put his writing aspirations on hold when he dropped out of the English program at UCLA to become an actor. The gamble paid off when Franco was cast in the sitcom Freaks and Geeks; from there, it didn’t take long for the actor to cross over into film. Unsatisfied with the direction his career was taking, he re-enrolled at UCLA in 2006. It was there he first had the idea for a series of short stories based on his memories of growing up in Palo Alto, California.

May 07, 2014 By Mike Hilleary Issue #49 - February/March 2014 - Portlandia

Almost four years after releasing her debut solo album Without Why, U.K. musical artist and former member of The Pipettes Rose Elinor Dougall will release her new sophomore full-length in 2014.