Displaying all articles tagged:

Criticism

  1. tv review
    Last Samurai Standing Plays a Familiar Game in a New ArenaDon’t be tempted by easy Squid Game comparisons — Netflix’s latest bloody battle royale follows its own code.
  2. endings
    The Running Man’s New Ending Is Way Too Optimistic for 2025Edgar Wright’s new take on The Running Man opts for a hopeful finale that feels downright naïve.
  3. tv review
    Pluribus Is About EverythingAnd unlike anything else.
  4. politics
    Ziwe’s Post-Accountability ComedyIn her recent interview with Mayor Eric Adams, the comedian’s signature style of confrontation appears to have grown outdated.
  5. technical difficulties
    Great British Baking Show Broke the Technical ChallengeWhat should be the ultimate test of a baker’s instincts has become a humiliation ritual that only matters when the judges want it to.
  6. endings
    Drama in a Time of No ConsequencesThe Lowdown finds hope in a world where most crimes go unpunished.
  7. gun-fu
    When Hong Kong Cinema Ruled the WorldAn entire generation of classics from this golden age of action cinema is finally being restored and rereleased in the U.S.
  8. blurred lines
    KPop Demon Hunters Is Worth Watching at Half-SpeedNetflix’s animated megahit owes its success, in part, to a technique that dates back to the earliest days of animation.
  9. family first
    THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS
    Vanessa Kirby’s Sue Storm Is the MVP of The Fantastic Four: First StepsThat Sue is by far the most compelling character to watch, however, accentuates how poorly developed the rest of them are.
  10. way too close reads
    The Final Reckoning Is Closure for Tom Cruise’s Infamous Couch JumpThe new Mission: Impossible hits theaters 20 years to the day since Cruise jumped on Oprah’s couch. And it dares to show him crazy in love again.
  11. cannes 2025
    Yes! Is Unflinchingly Critical of Israel — Which May Make It Hard to ReleaseAs Cannes takes on the war in Gaza, no other film is as incriminating as Nadav Lapid’s latest.
  12. and the winner is…
    Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Finally Wins His First Pulitzer for PurposeAnd New York theater critic Sara Holdren is a finalist in Criticism.
  13. a long talk
    ‘I’m Looking for Someone to Fight, Not Someone to Run Over With My Car’Andrea Long Chu on her new book, Authority; the so-called crisis of criticism; and how she chooses her subjects.
  14. that’s all i wanted
    Be Our Father Figure, HarrisBabygirl’s best scene is when its upstart intern reaches for the brown liquor.
  15. endings
    The Deeper Meaning Behind Conclave’s Surprise Ending, ExplainedThe conclusion of this gossipy Vatican drama makes one distinct change from the book it’s based on, in service of a message about progress.
  16. endings
    Anora’s Ending Is No Fairy TaleAre we seeing a rapturous consummation of two people’s growing feelings for each other, or a bittersweet commiseration?
  17. hammer of the gods
    Becoming Led Zeppelin Isn’t Trying to Tell the Whole StoryA thoroughly researched documentary blessed by control freaks who still can’t, or won’t, wrestle with the less flattering parts of the band’s history.
  18. just as you are
    Bridget Jones ForeverAs long as Bridget Jones lives, we should be allowed to tag along for the ride.
  19. an urgent plea
    When Fans Love a Movie to DeathOscar contenders and Sundance breakthroughs alike are suffering at the hands of the people who want to see them the most.
  20. tv review
    Wildcat Is Down
    It’s a Smooth-Brained Dystopia, and I Feel FineThis may shock you, but things on Paradise are not what they seem.
  21. endings
    Nosferatu’s Final Moment Is an Act of ConsentIn deliberately weaponizing her body, Nosferatu’s Ellen becomes her own hero.
  22. endings
    The Wolf Man Twist Has Been Done Before — But Never This WellTo make a Wolf Man movie, you really only need two things: a werewolf and daddy issues.
  23. docuseries
    The Best SNL Docuseries Episode Is Obviously ‘More Cowbell’This four-part Peacock show has a fever, and we bet you can guess what the only prescription for it is.
  24. tv review
    Lose Yourself in The AgencyThe Showtime spy thriller gets the genre’s essential tension just right.
  25. performance review
    For the Love of God, Give This Woman an Oscar NominationNo one last year gave a performance that comes close to what Marianne Jean-Baptiste does in Hard Truths.
  26. endings
    Juror #2 Delivers a Surprisingly Hopeful Closing ArgumentDownbeat endings are a Clint Eastwood speciality. But the final scene of his new legal thriller delivers a surprisingly hopeful closing argument.
  27. tv review
    It Was Worth the WaitSeverance season two delivers answers. But its greatest pleasure is returning to this world and finding it still exists.
  28. no. 1 angel
    They Don’t Build Statues of Letterboxd CriticsCharli XCX promptly removed the negative movie reviews on her leaked account.
  29. best of 2024
    This Was the Year of Elevated TrashThere’s no shame in being a little trashy. Three of the year’s best movies are silly, soapy, or vulgar, but with a prestige sheen.
  30. tv review
    Squid Game Rebukes Its Own PopularitySeason two of the Netflix phenomenon sinks its claws into the proletariat.
  31. a complete babyratu christmas
    Nosferatu Is So Cozy, ActuallyAm I the only one who finds Wisberg a suitable spot for a snowy romantic getaway? (Ignore the plague.)
  32. guiltless pleasure
    Give Your Brain an ’80s Bubble Bath and Watch RivalsAn unabashedly horny British drama about … a television network in the Cotswolds?
  33. endings
    Joker: Folie à Deux’s Twist Ending Is a Lot Like Lightyear, in a WayTurns out we were watching the origin story of the human that the Joker is based on.
  34. close read
    Say Nothing Says Too MuchAnd shows too little.
  35. endings
    The Ending of Alien: Romulus Is an Abomination By DesignFede Álvarez’s legacy sequel pulls off a satisfying trick, splicing the old and new to create something genuinely freakish.
  36. movie review
    Alien: Romulus Gets the Job Done, But at What Cost?It’s a movie engineered mostly to provide basic genre thrills and keep the IP alive so the now-Disney-owned Fox can generate more Alien movies.
  37. performance review
    Denzel Washington Should Always Have a Little ShawlOnly one element of Gladiator II is serving the pomposity and archness the movie needs: Denzel Washington and his many, many lavish fits.
  38. au hasard dillamond
    The ‘Wicked’ Movie Made One Huge Improvement to the Stage ShowSomething good is happening in Oz.
  39. thumb down
    Gladiator II Should’ve Let Paul Mescal KissThe “dream of Rome,” yeah, whatever. The dream of Lucius and Ravi, though!
  40. endings
    It’s Thumbs-down for the Forgettable Ending of Gladiator IIThe final fight is satisfying neither as spectacle nor dramatic payoff. It just kind of … happens, and then the movie ends.
  41. endings
    Wicked’s Cliffhanger Ending, Explained (and What to Expect in Part Two)Wicked tells only half a story, but we’re not exactly in the dark about what happens next.
  42. tv review
    How to Get Away With More MurderSharon Horgan delivers a second season of Bad Sisters with fewer laughs but plenty more twists.
  43. tv review
    Tell Everyone About Say NothingFX’s exploration of the Troubles captures the thrill and romance of revolution — and the cost of its violence.
  44. close read
    For the Love of Pop CultureOnly Murders in the Building returned to the ties that bind in season four.
  45. tributes
    Gary Indiana’s Exuberant VenomThe late critic and novelist documented the seedy vanities and sorrows of American life with bitchiness and, sometimes, sympathy.
  46. close read
    Shrinking Doesn’t Work Without Harrison FordIn a show that threatens to be too much, he’s giving just enough.
  47. nobody wants this
    Lonely Planet Is the Most Evil of This Year’s Age-Gap RomancesWhat if the only person who understood you was a guy in private equity who hates his girlfriend?
  48. endings
    The Platform 2’s Ending Casts the Original in a Depressing New LightIn its bleak final minutes, the sequel reverses the first film’s message about hope as a force of political change.
  49. relationship goals
    PASCAL, GUY C., JONATHAN R., CHOCK, JORDAN H., JOAN VASSOS
    Actually, They Are Here to Make FriendsIn an age when casts prioritize camaraderie, reality TV has finally retired its most infamous cliché.
  50. politics
    In Praise of Bad ReadersIn a time of war, there is a danger in surveying the world as if it were a novel.
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