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Alison Willmore

Movie Critic
See all their articles from across New York Magazine

Alison Willmore is a film critic for New York magazine and Vulture. Formerly, she was the only critic at BuzzFeed News, the first TV editor at IndieWire, and the host of Filmspotting: SVU.

  1. movie review
    A New Road House by Way of Looney TunesJake Gyllenhaal is better at oddballs than heroes — thank God he’s playing one of the former in this Road House remake.
  2. kingdom of dreams
    The 2024 Oscars Closed the GatesThis year’s Academy Awards turned on the charm and turned away from anything uncomfortable, even as protests raged outside.
  3. movie review
    Oppenheimer Is a Tragedy of Operatic GrandeurChristopher Nolan’s movie about the invention of the atomic bomb is almost too big to wrap your head around.
  4. movie review
    We’re Going to Be Talking About American Fiction All Awards Season LongCord Jefferson’s directorial debut, American Fiction, is a sharp comedy about racial commodification anchored by a terrific Jeffrey Wright.
  5. movie review
    Wonka … Is Pretty Good?Look, I’m as surprised as you are.
  6. movie review
    Problemista Could Use a Little Less Tilda SwintonAnd how often can you say that?
  7. fight club
    Watch Out for the Killer GamsLeg crush. Flying scissor. Whatever you call it, the move has become an inescapable part of action heroine fights.
  8. let’s go
    The 100 Fights That Shaped Action CinemaWhether the scenes featured fists, firearms, or blades, the result was always the same: The crowd was pleased.
  9. epic beauty
    The Case for the Spectacle CryIf the end of Speed Racer makes you well up … well, you’re not alone.
  10. sundance 2024
    The 15 Best Movies We Saw This Year at SundanceThis year’s slate actually felt like Sundance, like the festival it used to be before it became just another stop on Hollywood’s eternal red carpet.
  11. movie review
    Pictures of Ghosts and the Images That Outlive Us AllThe beguiling new film from Bacurau’s Kleber Mendonça Filho is a meditation on place, film, and time passing.
  12. movie review
    Tótem Throws a Goodbye Party You’ll Never Want to LeaveDirector Lila Avilés’ extraordinary family drama is in the vein of party films like Monsoon Wedding and Rachel Getting Married.
  13. movie review(s)
    A Guide to the Blue-Collar Killing-Machine Movies of JanuaryFrom bee movies to B movies, here’s what you need to know about whether to watch The Beekeeper, The Bricklayer, or The Painter.
  14. fall preview 2023
    All Eyes on Lily GladstoneThe actress is the unflinching face of an American tragedy in Martin Scorsese’s historical epic, Killers of the Flower Moon.
  15. movie review
    There’s Nothing Else Like The Book of Clarence, for Better and WorseEven if it doesn’t work, there’s something admirable about how at ease Jeymes Samuel’s new film is with its own erratic rhythms.
  16. movie review
    All of Us Strangers Is Two Movies Trying to Be OneAnd, with all love for Paul Mescal, the romance with his character is the weaker of the two.
  17. movie review
    Saltburn Is All Vibes and Empty ProvocationsEmerald Fennell may be an exasperating filmmaker, but she’s incapable of being boring.
  18. movie review
    We Shouldn’t Have to Grade Barbie on a CurveGreta Gerwig made a weird movie based on a famous toy line. Should that be enough?
  19. movie review
    In Priscilla, She’s the Girl Who Has Everything — Except Actual PowerSofia Coppola’s film, based on Priscilla Presley’s memoir, is a wish-fulfillment dream that loses momentum when its subject wakes up.
  20. movie review
    The Seductive Eileen Flirts With DisasterAnne Hathaway goes Hitchcock blonde and Thomasin McKenzie is deceptively mousy, but the real MVP of this Ottessa Moshfegh is Marin Ireland.
  21. best of 2023
    A Year of Movie EndingsIn 2023, there were plenty of onscreen climaxes, but some of the industry’s most interesting denouements happened offscreen.
  22. best of 2023
    The Best Movies of 2023This year seemed to mark the end of a film era. Has another exploded out of the box already?
  23. timmy wéek
    Timothée Chalamet, the Boy KingHe could be our next great leading man — if he can figure out what kind he wants to be.
  24. movie review
    Napoleon Charges in Without a PlanRidley Scott’s new historical epic isn’t good, but at least it gives us an unforgettably weird Joaquin Phoenix performance.
  25. movie review
    Is Taika Waititi Even Trying Anymore?The New Zealand filmmaker’s new film, Next Goal Wins, is so sloppily made that it might make you wonder why he even bothered.
  26. movie review
    When Did the MCU Start Feeling So Small?The Marvels brings together Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani for far-flung galactic adventures that feel disappointingly dinky.
  27. movie review
    Meg Ryan Isn’t Saving the Rom-Com — She’s Arguing With ItRyan directs and stars alongside David Duchovny in What Happens Later, a curiously sour romantic comedy.
  28. movie review
    To Its Credit, Nyad Makes Its Subject Look Like a Real AssholeNyad may be a frustrating biopic, but at least it doesn’t soften the self-mythologizing long-distance swimmer’s rougher edges.
  29. movie review
    Even Two Great Actors Can’t Make Fingernails’ Romance BelievableJessie Buckley and Riz Ahmed are hard to buy as thwarted lovers, though that’s mostly the fault of the film’s half-baked premise.
  30. movie review
    Paul Giamatti Is Never Better Than When He’s in an Alexander Payne MoviePrep school dramedy The Holdovers, the pair’s first collaboration since Sideways, showcases Giamatti’s capacity for the prickly and the heartbreaking.
  31. movie review
    Errol Morris Duels the Greatest Spy Novelist in The Pigeon TunnelThe documentarian’s brisk, enjoyable new film contains the curiously contentious final interview with David Cornwell, a.k.a. John le Carré.
  32. movie review
    The Royal Hotel Will Give You a Secondhand HangoverJulia Garner and Jessica Henwick are American backpackers working at a remote Australian bar in this thriller from Kitty Green.
  33. movie review
    Dicks: The Musical Is Never as Outrageous as It Wants to BeStill, the A24 musical comedy is determined to avoid self-importance or any greater meaning, which makes it admirable in its own right.
  34. movie review
    The Creator Is a Shockingly Good Sci-Fi Riff on Vietnam War MoviesThere’s a particularly American flavor to the violence done in the name of saving the world in Gareth Edwards’s tenderhearted The Creator.
  35. the algorithm
    I Am Filled With Dread Whenever Netflix Buys a Movie I LoveHit Man, we hardly knew you.
  36. best of the fests
    The 14 Best Movies We Saw at Venice and TIFF This YearFall festival season has brought a bounty of awards contenders, star-making performances, and must-see masterpieces.
  37. tiff 2023
    The GameStop Movie Is More Entertaining Than It Has Any Right to BeIs Dumb Money the first Pete Davidson role that works in its entirety?
  38. tiff 2023
    What’s at TIFF? An A24 Musical, Miyazaki, and the GameStop MovieThis year’s film festival starts with a bang: Hayao Miyazaki’s last film, a “semi-autobiographical fantasy about life, death, and creation.”
  39. movie review
    Denzel Washington’s Weird-Uncle Energy Remains Unmatched in The Equalizer 3This last installment feels tired, but Washington still brings the goods, i.e., the air of a local oddball who happens to be incredible at murder.
  40. movie review
    Bottoms Is an Exercise in Kamikaze FeminismAyo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott’s comedy argues that true equality means that everyone should get a chance to be a dirtbag.
  41. movie review
    Nepo Babies Make Good in You Are So Not Invited to My Bat MitzvahAdam Sandler stars alongside his daughters in this sweet, spiky film about the dramas of middle school.
  42. movie review
    Gran Turismo Isn’t a MovieIt’s an ad.
  43. movie review
    The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Have Never Looked BetterThe easygoing Mutant Mayhem is a marvel of animation.
  44. movie review
    Passages’ Bad Boyfriend Only Leaves You Wanting MoreDespite its love triangle, Passages isn’t about polyamory—it’s about a man who elides his awfulness under the guise of urban sophistication.
  45. movie review
    Communing With the Dead Just to Feel AliveThe new A24 horror movie Talk to Me is an impressively slick piece of work, from two button-pushers who came up on the internet.
  46. movie review
    Theater Camp Is Too Sweet to Take Issue WithOkay, maybe one or two quibbles.
  47. movie review
    Being Young in a World That’s AfireChristian Petzold’s latest movie follows 20-somethings to a beach house near to an ongoing forest fire.
  48. movie review
    Joy Ride Never Really Cuts LooseThe R-rated comedy is ready to make jokes about threesomes and drug smuggling but can’t bring itself to lean into anything truly discomfiting.
  49. movie review
    Nimona Was Worth the WaitAfter multiple delays and a studio shutdown, the film arrives on Netflix with something specific to say about its queer characters and the status quo.
  50. movie review
    The Blackening Stretches a Funny Sketch Into a Less Funny FeatureThe premise at the center of this horror-comedy is still great.
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