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Angelica Jade Bastién

Critic
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Angelica Jade Bastién is a critic for New York and Vulture focusing on pop culture. She was once described by a close friend as “deliciously vulgar”.

  1. ‘Hella LA’ Is Insecure’s Boldest Episode YetA cliché male fantasy gives way to a troubling racial nightmare.
  2. overnights
    Insecure Recap: Kiss ’n’ GrindLawrence, Molly, and Issa each take a loss in different ways.
  3. vulture lists
    The 11 Most Influential Action Heroines of Our TimeThese characters move the conversation forward about how women can behave in film.
  4. overnights
    Insecure Recap: Go for ItIssa is learning that single life can hold embarrassment and loneliness, too.
  5. Why Don’t Dystopias Know How to Talk About Race?Dystopian science fiction seeks to imagine humanity’s future, but misses something important that shapes our lives.
  6. overnights
    Queen Sugar Midseason Finale Recap: The New RealMore than once, I found myself brought to tears by “Freedom’s Plow.”
  7. overnights
    Insecure Recap: Moving On“I’m not dirty like that.” Sure, Lawrence. Suuure.
  8. overnights
    Queen Sugar Recap: Family MattersAs the Bordelon family splinters, who will fight for Charley?
  9. overnights
    Insecure Season Premiere Recap: Why Are You Still Single?Issa Rae is back!
  10. overnights
    Queen Sugar Recap: Making History“Line of Our Elders” is a reminder that the worst resentment can fester among those we care for most.
  11. overnights
    Queen Sugar Recap: Lost in TranslationThe Bordelon siblings confront the wounds from their past.
  12. How The Beguiled Subtly Tackles Race Even When You Don’t See ItAnd why auteur theory has limited conversations about the film.
  13. overnights
    Queen Sugar Recap: The American Dream“My Soul’s High Song” feels like the calm before the storm.
  14. overnights
    Queen Sugar Recap: The Light of Day“What Do I Care For Morning” is an incisive portrait of a family in healing.
  15. Why Jon Hamm Hasn’t Become a Movie Star, YetAnd why Baby Driver may signal a new phase for the actor.
  16. vulture lists
    The 10 Essential Roles of Michelle PfeifferFrom Batman Returns to Scarface.
  17. 25 Years Later, Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman Is Still the Best Superhero VillainShe remains the most incisive depiction of villainy the genre has ever seen cinematically.
  18. In Its First Season, The Handmaid’s Tale Greatest Failing Is How It Handles RaceThe show’s feminist aims are undone by its refusal to be honest about race.
  19. The Strange, Complicated, Feminist History of Wonder Woman’s Origin StoryThat it has been heavily criticized, reframed, and rewritten so often reflects a failure to understand female-power fantasies on a larger scale.
  20. vulture lists
    7 Comics to Read Before Seeing Wonder WomanWant to understand Wonder Woman? These comics are the perfect place to start.
  21. Samurai Jack Was the Most Poignant Depiction of Loneliness on TVThe show was a beautiful, incisive depiction of its soul-warping effects.
  22. overnights
    The Flash Season-Finale Recap: Panic in Central CityBarry finally pays penance for his mistakes.
  23. overnights
    Jane the Virgin Season-Three Finale Recap: Full CircleDid you really think Xo and Ro’s wedding would be a fairy tale?
  24. Why the Female Villains on The Handmaid’s Tale Are So TerrifyingThe series is most trenchant when it examines the ways women are complicit in patriarchal structures.
  25. overnights
    The Flash Recap: Stay With Me“Infantino Street” is the season’s best and most heartbreaking episode.
  26. overnights
    The Flash Recap: The Story of Your LifeWhen Barry loses his memory, he gains a lighthearted freedom he hasn’t had in years.
  27. Why Do Teen Dramas Like Riverdale Keep Sidelining Black Female Characters?From The Craft to Bring It On.
  28. overnights
    The Flash Recap: Who Is Savitar?The Flash reveals the not-so-shocking identity of its big bad.
  29. overnights
    The Flash Recap: Back to the FutureBarry travels to the future, but doesn’t get what he hopes for.
  30. vulture lists
    The Pop-Culture Inspirations Behind the Girls of RiverdaleFrom Black Swan to Clueless.
  31. great debates
    What the Debate Around Black American and British Actors Gets WrongIf black American stories are seen as vital, why aren’t black American actors viewed as their ideal storytellers?
  32. close reads
    Why Bonnie, Big Little Lies’ Most Underwritten Character, Deserved MoreOn Big Little Lies, perfection is impossible, and women’s interior lives should be recognized… unless you’re a black woman, apparently.
  33. vulture lists
    Madeline Martha Mackenzie’s Best One-liners on Big Little Lies“Renata, Jane is not a nanny. She’s just young … like you used to be.”
  34. overnights
    The Flash Recap: Magic ShowThe return of an old villain saves an otherwise lackluster episode.
  35. trends
    Why Are So Many Female-Led Projects Called ‘Camp’?It can turn the boldest works about the interior lives of complex women into a curiosity, a joke, a punch line.
  36. close reads
    Why This Is Feud’s Best Bette and Joan Scene to DateThey finally come across as real, complex women.
  37. overnights
    The Flash Recap: Super FriendsThis Flash/Supergirl musical crossover doesn’t make sense, but it’s so fun and sweet, you’ll hardly notice.
  38. overnights
    Humans Season-Finale Recap: The Cost of ConsciousnessWill the synths find freedom or a new kind of subjugation?
  39. overnights
    Humans Recap: Do the Right ThingThe synths may dream of revolution, but Humans is headed for a violent reckoning.
  40. overnights
    The Flash Recap: The Hero Problem“Into the Speed Force” reminds us why Barry hasn’t felt like much of a hero lately.
  41. overnights
    Humans Recap: Freedom Denied“Has any great change been accomplished, any unjust oppression ever overturned without violence?”
  42. overnights
    Feud Recap: Blind GossipThis episode includes my favorite scene between Bette and Joan thus far.
  43. close reads
    Why There’s Never Been a Female Rivalry Like Faith and Buffy’sModern TV needs to take a page from this feud.
  44. close reads
    Why Won’t Critics Let Natalie Portman Grow Up?Being an actress often means having your body up for discussion in uncomfortable ways.
  45. overnights
    The Flash Recap: Fear ItselfIt was only a matter of time until The Flash turned its attention back to Savitar.
  46. overnights
    Humans Recap: Cheating DeathAthena’s endgame is revealed.
  47. overnights
    Feud Series-Premiere Recap: Biblical ProportionsRyan Murphy’s new anthology hasn’t yet revealed the women behind the Hollywood icons.
  48. backstories
    The Story Behind Joan Crawford and Bette Davis’s Storied FeudA primer ahead of FX’s Feud.
  49. overnights
    The Flash Recap: Attack the BlockEven a telepathic, genius gorilla hell-bent on destruction can’t save this lackluster episode.
  50. vulture lists
    The Bette Davis and Joan Crawford Films You Must Watch Before FeudFrom The Women to Now, Voyager.
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