Bilge Ebiri Author Archive
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Bilge Ebiri is a film critic for New York and Vulture. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, the New York Times, Rolling Stone, and the Criterion Collection.

  1. vulture lists
    Every Coen Brothers Movie, Ranked From Worst to BestNearly every Coen Brothers film treads the same themes, but you’d never mistake one for another.
  2. sundance 2016
    The 13 Most Insane Moments From This Year’s Sundance FilmsIncluding Daniel Radcliffe’s postmortem boner.
  3. sundance 2016
    The 20 Best Performances of Sundance 2016Including Michelle Williams, Craig Robinson, and Nate Parker.
  4. sundance 2016
    At Sundance, Two Different Films Examine the Life and Myth of Christine ChubbuckChristine and Kate Plays Christine approach the same purported subject in vastly different ways.
  5. sundance 2016
    Operation Avalanche Is a Sly Act of Movie Love For and By Kubrick FansFans of Room 237 will be enamored.
  6. movie reviews
    Sundance Review: Little MenIra Sachs has become an essential New York filmmaker.
  7. sundance 2016
    Sundance review: The Heart-Wrenching NewtownThe film is about one of the most horrifying events of recent years, and yet it’s defined by its austerity, its sense of quiet.
  8. sundance 2016
    Yoga Hosers Is Vintage Kevin Smith, for Better or WorseYou get the sense that this is a filmmaker having fun, which is an element Smith’s work has been missing for some time.
  9. sundance 2016
    The Striking Sand Storm Unearths Loneliness Deep in the Israeli DesertIt’s emerging as one of the most-admired films at this year’s Sundance.
  10. sundance 2016
    Sundance Review: The Powerful Birth of a NationIt’s a beautiful, reflective film, even as it is also a brutal, visceral one.
  11. sundance 2016
    Sundance Review: First Girl I Loved“All language, it seems, is flexible – both in the world of the film and in how it communicates with its audience.”
  12. sundance 2016
    Music Doesn’t Save in Sing Street, But It Does SateSing Street is far more boisterous and certainly funnier than Once, but it remains in a minor key; “finding happiness in sadness,” is how one character puts it.
  13. movie reviews
    Aferim!’s Chatty, Creative Cruelty Eventually ClicksThese characters hate each other, but not as much as they hate other people.
  14. sundance 2016
    Sundance Review: Manchester by the SeaIt isn’t just another sad story.
  15. Sundance Review: Morris From America Is LovelyCraig Robinson gives a subtle, tender lead performance.
  16. sundance 2016
    Sundance Review: Author: The JT LeRoy StoryThe film is wildly entertaining and informative, but also alive and ever-changing.
  17. movie reviews
    Review: Monster Hunt, China’s Box-Office GiantThis movie will one day be a mere footnote in Chinese movie history. But it’s an occasionally enjoyable footnote.
  18. movie reviews
    Review: In 5th Wave Innocence and Plot Are LostAt first, The 5th Wave admirably conveys the contrast between warm nostalgia and the absurdist catastrophes befalling humanity. Then the movie becomes disappointing. Then, laughable.
  19. movie reviews
    Ride Along 2 Is Like Ride Along, But More, and WorseAt least Ice Cube still glares really well.
  20. Rob Schneider’s Norm of the North Is [Fart Noise]Don’t see this movie.
  21. charts
    The Politics of Michael Bay’s Supposedly Apolitical MoviesAn assessment of where his movies fall ideologically.
  22. The Treasure Is Dreary, Dry, and SublimeThe purposefully uninteresting aesthetic is, to discerning viewers, hilarious.
  23. movie reviews
    Film Review: DiabloScott Eastwood, son of Clint, should know a thing or two about westerns.
  24. movie reviews
    The Forest Is Dumb, Tedious, and Not ScaryDumb Americans get lost in a Japanese forest and bad things happen to them.
  25. reviews
    The Point Break Remake Is Escapism You Can’t Escape IntoThis remake will make you actually miss Keanu Reeves.
  26. movie reviews
    Michael Moore’s Where to Invade Next Is a Smart Idea Excuted ShoddilyRemember when Michael Moore was a great filmmaker?
  27. movie reviews
    Daddy’s Home Offers Will Ferrell’s Shtick and Not Much ElseIt’s Will Ferrell’s latest study of modern masculinity in retreat.
  28. movie reviews
    Concussion Goes Too Far in Beating Viewers Over the Head With Its MessageThe constant drumbeat of Big, Teachable Moments starts early, and it never lets up.
  29. Applauding the Sadness and Subtle Coherence of Michael Mann’s HeatWith Heat, a major American auteur was clearly swinging for the fences. Attention had to be paid.
  30. movie reviews
    Review: Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road ChipAnd a John Waters cameo.
  31. movie reviews
    Movie Review: The Emperor’s New Clothes The loquacious comedian teams up with Michael Winterbottom for this documentary.
  32. movie reviews
    Sisters Bludgeons Us Into Laugh-Induced SubmissionThe sheer commitment of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler make this movie worth seeing.
  33. it takes a family
    What Do We Know About Rey in The Force Awakens? A Brief InvestigationScavenging for details about the origins of Daisy Ridley’s character.
  34. year in culture 2015
    The 10 Best Movie Action Scenes of 2015Yet another list topped by Mad Max: Fury Road.
  35. year in culture 2015
    Bilge Ebiri’s Top 10 Movies of 2015Even when considered against stand-out foreign films and documentaries, Mad Max still drives away with the top spot.
  36. movie reviews
    Don Verdean Is a Comedy That Forgets to Be FunnyJemaine Clement is in it, though, so that’s good.
  37. movie reviews
    A Royal Night Out Is Hard to ResistThis is a fun, spirited movie that knows not to overstay its welcome.
  38. movie reviews
    In the Heart of the Sea Never Finds the Heart of Its StoryThe film fails to show us the very thing that it contends Herman Melville learned from the tale of the Essex.
  39. movie reviews
    Hitchcock/Truffaut Is Brisk and InsightfulFilmmakers really make the best critics.
  40. ho-ho-horrible
    Krampus Is As Lost and Incoherent As Rudolph-Less ReindeerThe movie can’t strike a balance between naughty and nice.
  41. chat room
    D.A. Pennebaker Reflects on His Storied CareerFrom Dylan to Joplin to Hendrix, he has a story about everyone.
  42. movie review
    Youth: A Beautiful Yet Emotionally Paralyzing FilmMichael Caine and Harvey Keitel deliver compelling performances.
  43. movie reviews
    Victor Frankenstein Is Not Alive, Is Not Alive, Is Not AliveVictor Frankenstein is a movie mostly about Frankenstein failing to create his monster.
  44. movie reviews
    Review: Good Dinosaur Awes, But Doesn’t InnovateThe Good Dinosaur immerses us in a world in which a primordial vision of nature becomes tactile.
  45. movie review
    Zimbabwean Documentary Democrats Makes Politics MesmerizingDemocrats may be about one volatile country’s experiment with democracy, but it has a lot to say about how politics works in every part of the world.
  46. movie reviews
    Goodnight Mommy Roots Its Horror in Uncertainty and UnderstandingI couldn’t help but sense a kind of muted, helpless compassion behind all that cruelty.
  47. movie reviews
    Movie Review: The Secret in Their EyesThe movie is more concerned with sorrow than suspense.
  48. Legend Can’t Keep Up With Its Lead’s PerformanceTom Hardy’s leading men outshine the rest of the movie.
  49. Mustang Breathes New Life Into Turkish MelodramaMustang grasps the perverted idealism that lies behind all this forced modesty.
  50. movie reviews
    The Night Before Has Xmas Spirit, Jews, DrugsPlus Michael Shannon shows up to steal the show as a pot dealer.
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