Daily coverage of Criticism by Vulture

Criticism

  1. close read
    Who Did It Better — House of the Dragon or Game of Thrones?A side-by-side analysis of premiere episodes “The Heirs of the Dragon” and “Winter Is Coming.”
    By Jen Chaney
  2. movie review
    ‘Traveling Light’ Is a Dreamy, Harrowing Return to Our First COVID SummerBernard Rose and Danny Huston have spent the past two decades exploring the vapid desolation of Los Angeles. This might be their darkest work yet.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  3. movie review
    Beast Is the Very Model of a Tight, Tense ThrillerIdris Elba is quite compelling fighting both a lion and his own private demons.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  4. tv review
    House of the Dragon Is Built on a Shaky FoundationOne thing’s for certain: This prequel is definitely a Game of Thrones series. As for what else it is, that’s harder to say.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  5. album review
    Megan Thee Stallion Takes Control of Her News CycleTraumazine is a reminder there’s a human on the other side of the headlines.
    By Craig Jenkins
  6. spoilers
    Let’s Talk About the End of Better Call SaulAs it turns out, the Breaking Bad prequel turned sequel is also TV’s best time-travel show.
    By Jen Chaney
  7. movie review
    A Movie So Ideal for the End of Summer That It’s Actually Called FallHead empty, just tower.
    By Alison Willmore
  8. movie review
    Emily the Criminal Isn’t Interested in EmpathyAubrey Plaza is great as a woman caught between crushing loans and a felony record who embarks on a surprisingly gritty criminal side hustle.
    By Alison Willmore
  9. close read
    Better Call Saul’s Most Surprising Crossover Transcends Fan ServiceThere’s a lot more to Kim Wexler and Jesse Pinkman’s chance encounter than meets the eye.
    By Ben Rosenstock
  10. tv review
    A League of Their Own Pulls Off an Awkward Double PlayThis imperfect but captivating series adaptation of the 1992 film is both a correction and a celebration.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  11. movie review
    Bodies Bodies Bodies Could Stand to Be MeanerAmandla Stenberg, Pete Davidson, and the rest of the cool-kid cast star in a satirical slasher that’s never as sharp as it should be.
    By Alison Willmore
  12. tv review
    The Sandman’s Lost DreamNetflix’s adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s legendary comic works well when it has a strong sense of its titular character. If only it stayed that way.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  13. movie review
    Run Me Over, Bullet TrainDavid Leitch’s film is all manipulation and extended cinematic sleight of hand. It begs you to surrender logic and simply enjoy it.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  14. stonks!
    Industry Is the Best Show to Listen ToWho knew money-flavored white noise could be so soothing?
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  15. album review
    Beyoncé’s Sequined RevolutionRenaissance, a love letter to Black queer innovators, comes at a precarious moment in history.
    By Craig Jenkins
  16. movie review
    Vengeance Is a Clever But Hollow Satire of New York Podcast BrosThe Office star B.J. Novak’s directorial debut squirms away from any satirical or emotional territory that might genuinely hurt.
    By Alison Willmore
  17. movie review
    In A Love Song, Dale Dickey and Wes Studi Finally Take Center StageIt’s the simplest of tales, but there’s a complex universe of longing contained within it.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  18. movie review
    Good Luck Sleeping After Seeing ResurrectionRebecca Hall and Tim Roth are both perfect in Andrew Semans’s incredibly tense psychological thriller.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  19. theater review
    At the Armory, an Oresteia That’s Barely GreekRather than being pared to its essence, it’s just rootless.
    By James Frankie Thomas
  20. remembrance
    Jennifer Bartlett’s Great Tree of LifeThe artist wanted to make a work “that had everything in it.”
    By Jerry Saltz
  21. tv review
    Rap Sh!t Is Having the Most Fun This SummerIssa Rae’s first post-Insecure series is charmingly acted, perpetually funny, and utterly immersive.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  22. tv review
    Only a Star Could Make The Last Movie StarsEthan Hawke’s docuseries about Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman unearths a potent portrait of celebrity.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  23. theater review
    On Broadway, The Kite Runner Barely Escapes the Printed PageSo much of the action is spelled out verbatim here that The Kite Runner is more of a vivid recitation than fully realized drama.
    By Naveen Kumar
  24. album review
    Lizzo Is Hedging Her BetsSpecial seems invested in uplifting everyone in earshot but anxious to secure its slice of the pop radio market share.
    By Craig Jenkins
  25. movie review
    Nope Is Jordan Peele’s Darkest Horror Comedy to DateIn Jordan Peele’s thrilling new movie, Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer are willing to risk death to get something on camera.
    By Alison Willmore
  26. movie review
    The (Literal) Stink of Corruption in Costa Brava, LebanonPart family drama, part political statement, Mounia Akl’s debut is wistful and uncompromising.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  27. movie review
    Where the Crawdads Sing Eats Itself into NothingnessThe movie is largely faithful to the novel’s story, but it’s lacking in atmosphere.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  28. movie review
    The Gray Man Is the Most Expensive Movie Netflix Has Ever Made, and It’s … FineRyan Gosling and Chris Evans star in an action extravaganza that feels made to be watched in the background while you’re on your phone.
    By Alison Willmore
  29. tv review
    Resident Evil Is Plagued by PredictabilityBrief, welcome glimpses of silliness hint at what could have been if this Netflix series were more willing to deviate from the franchise’s mythology.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  30. tv review
    Ray Liotta Keeps the Unstable Black Bird GroundedIn one of his final roles, the late actor brings much-needed poignancy and pathos to a stilted true-crime miniseries.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  31. close reads
    Natalie Portman Put on a Cape for This?Thor: Love and Thunder lets down Jane Foster, who never makes it past a catchphrase in her return to the MCU.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  32. movie review
    The Sea Beast Plays Like an Old-fashioned Live-action AdventureNetflix’s latest animated film is so thoroughly immersive and tactile it might make you believe in sea monsters.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  33. theater review
    A Richard III Made Not So GloriousThe production works against the best qualities of its star, Danai Gurira.
    By Helen Shaw
  34. theater review
    A Near-Perfect Into the Woods, for a MomentSara Bareilles leads a cast without a weak link.
    By Christopher Bonanos
  35. movie review
    Claire Denis’s Brutal Both Sides of the Blade Cuts Through Grown-up DelusionsJuliette Binoche stars in Claire Denis’s movie about a couple given the perfect excuse to blow their lives up over a former friend and lover.
    By Alison Willmore
  36. movie review
    The Riveting Coming-of-Age Drama Murina Is Filmmaking of the Highest OrderCroatian director Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović’s feature debut, which won an award at Cannes, heralds the arrival of a major new talent.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  37. movie review
    Thor: Love and Thunder Makes You Wonder If Marvel’s OkayThe gods, Asgardian and otherwise, must be crazy.
    By Alison Willmore
  38. theater review
    In White on White, an Anti-racism Conversation Turns Monstrous“When horror does finally arrive, it’s ecstatic and Cronenbergian and bizarre.”
    By Helen Shaw
  39. movie review
    The Princess’s Vain Requiem for the GirlbossThis dumb elevator-pitch gag of a Hulu movie has the aura of an intrusive thought.
    By Alison Willmore
  40. finales
    Stranger Things Just Wouldn’t Stop Running Up That Damn Hill The fourth season of the Netflix series got stuck on repeat.
    By Jen Chaney
  41. movie review
    Minions: The Rise of Gru Isn’t Smart Enough to Be Truly StupidInspired idiocy requires wit and invention, but the latest entry in the Despicable Me franchise doesn’t quite get there.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  42. movie review
    The Forgiven’s Toothless Indictment of White CrueltyThe satire, starring Jessica Chastain and Ralph Fiennes, grasps for profundity but lands on insincerity.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  43. theater review
    A Hamlet That May Have Been Nobler in the West EndRobert Icke’s production lost something on its way across the Atlantic.
    By Helen Shaw
  44. movie review
    Savoring Flux Gourmet’s Satire of Celebrity Performance ArtPeter Strickland’s art-world satire is funny, opulent, and filled with infinite sympathy when it comes to gastrointestinal distress.
    By Alison Willmore
  45. tv review
    Loot Is At Odds With ItselfA perfectly pleasant but ideologically hollow comedy about an ultrarich girlboss? In this economy?
    By Roxana Hadadi
  46. movie review
    There’s a Better Story The Black Phone Wishes It Could TellEthan Hawke and some excellent young actors are the real highlight of this horror movie from the director of Sinister.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  47. movie review
    Marcel the Shell With Shoes On Is the Gentlest of Gut PunchesIt’s the most unassuming of movies, but don’t be shocked if it leaves you an emotional wreck.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  48. movie review
    Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Might Be a Hazard to Your CorneasElvis is bloated, hectic, ridiculous, and utterly shameless in presenting Presley as a talent too beautiful for this earth. I liked it.
    By Alison Willmore
  49. theater review
    Strangers at My Table: Domestic Drama in Epiphany and ChainsA loose adaptation of The Dead, and a revival of largely forgotten 1909 London hit.
    By Helen Shaw
  50. theater review
    Will Arbery, Back in Texas With CorsicanaDeirdre O’Connell and Jamie Brewer star in the latest work from the Heroes of the Fourth Turning playwright.
    By Helen Shaw
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