Daily coverage of Criticism by Vulture

Criticism

  1. album review
    Doja Cat Refuses to Be Dragged Down to EarthPlanet Her makes a case for Doja as our new ice-cool pop-queen supreme.
    By Craig Jenkins
  2. movie review
    F9 Brings an Improbably Good Gearhead Daddy-Issues Opera HomeCinéma, it lives.
    By Alison Willmore
  3. bird watching
    Tuca & Bertie Are Just As Anxious As You AreThe best bird buds are back on Adult Swim and perfectly suited to our new neurotic normal.
    By Jen Chaney
  4. theater review
    The Shed Artwashes Hudson Yards. Who Artwashes the Shed?Open Call strives for drama in the long shadow of a luxury mall.
    By Helen Shaw
  5. extremely online
    Our Chemically Imbalanced Romance With Trisha PaytasI pressed play on Trigger Warning on a lark and enjoyed it at a time when the H3 extended universe seems fraught with disputes and news of lawsuits.
    By Craig Jenkins
  6. movie review
    Review: Pixar’s Luca Is a Literal Fish-Out-of-Water FantasyThough charming and vibrant, the new Disney film aspires for greater meaning that it doesn’t always reach.
    By Alison Willmore
  7. tv review
    Physical Hurts, Sometimes on PurposeBeneath its superficial pleasures, the Rose Byrne–starring Apple TV+ series is a bottomless hole of bad feelings.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  8. album review
    We Weren’t Supposed to Hear Bo Burnham Like ThisIndependent of the Netflix special, the songs of Inside feel strangely vital.
    By Craig Jenkins
  9. tv review
    Kevin Can F**k Himself Effectively F**ks With TV ConventionThe Annie Murphy–starring AMC series flips the bird at the trope of the beleaguered sitcom wife and everything she represents.
    By Jen Chaney
  10. movie review
    The Bleak, Beautiful Holler Marks the Arrival of a Major New TalentNicole Riegel’s suspenseful Rust Belt drama might seem familiar, but don’t be surprised if it astonishes you.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  11. album review
    Sleater-Kinney Is Whatever Sleater-Kinney Says It IsPath of Wellness flouts the accepted wisdom about what happens to bands when the most beloved lineup changes.
    By Craig Jenkins
  12. song review
    Lorde Has Risen But Only Halfway“Solar Power” feels more like a carefree vacation update than the blockbuster comeback we’ve been anticipating since the simpler times.
    By Craig Jenkins
  13. movie review
    Ramshackle Dreams Make In the Heights a Believable FairytaleUncertainty, humanity, and fantasy turn this Broadway adaptation into a show-stopper.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  14. movie review
    Mark Wahlberg’s Reincarnation Movie Infinite Needs a Few More Lifetimes of WorkSuch a high-concept action movie, so little imagination.
    By Alison Willmore
  15. tv review
    Betty Rolls Through a Vibrant, Visceral Pandemic-Era New YorkIn its second season, the dynamic skateboarding series maintains a singular style as it navigates myriad mid-2020 obstacles.
    By Jen Chaney
  16. tv review
    Loki Is a Litmus Test for Marvel TVThe MCU’s third Disney+ series makes its debut as a playful storytelling variant, but can it sustain the fun?
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  17. streaming theater reviews
    Two Digital Theater Projects Pretend to Put 20-Somethings’ Lives on the LineTheater Reviews: ’The Kill One Race’ and ‘Capricorn 29’
    By Helen Shaw
  18. podcast review
    Slow Burn Takes on the Forever WarThe podcast’s fifth season — a rigorous marshaling of the facts — explores the conditions that led to the Iraq War.
    By Nicholas Quah
  19. movie review
    Undine Is a Perplexing Take on the Mermaid MythThe new film from the Phoenix director Christian Petzold is hard to shake off, even if it also never really comes together.
    By Alison Willmore
  20. movie review
    The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It Should Have Stuck to the Haunted HousesThe Patrick Wilson–Vera Farmiga horror franchise tries to depart from its previous format, with some seriously mixed results.
    By Alison Willmore
  21. tv review
    We Are Lady Parts Rocks Outside the BoxThis absolutely delightful new musical-comedy series about an all-female Muslim punk band is a stereotype-shattering blast.
    By Jen Chaney
  22. endings
    Mare of Easttown Kept It All in the FamilyThe HBO miniseries’ dual fixation on crime-solving and family drama makes for a finale reveal that is startling but also immediately right.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  23. movie review
    Cruella Is the Girl-Bossification of the MadwomanCruella takes one of the richest narrative archetypes and whittles her down into a glossy, hollow, capitalism-approved monster.
    By Angelica Jade Bastién
  24. album review
    DMX’s Exodus Isn’t a Final Word But a Striking Parting MessageIt was the groundwork for a new career path, not the unexpected end of the road.
    By Craig Jenkins
  25. movie review
    A Quiet Place Part II Will Turn You Into a Nervous WreckBut in a good way.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  26. streaming theater review
    This American Wife Gives the Real Housewives the Fake Friends TreatmentI’m saying it to your face!
    By Helen Shaw
  27. tv review
    Friends: The Reunion Is an Extreme Friends ZoneThe much-hyped HBO Max special is somehow both nostalgic and unsentimental. It may also make you ponder the very nature of time.
    By Jen Chaney
  28. album review
    Olivia Rodrigo Studied All the Right MovesAs her debut album Sour opens up, the Disney star’s varied talents begin to flower.
    By Craig Jenkins
  29. movie review
    The Dry Is a Mystery You Might Find Hard to ShakeEric Bana is spectacular in this thriller that never lets up on the grief.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  30. book review
    Writing Love Notes to the Archive of Black PerformanceBooks by Hanif Abdurraqib and Daphne A. Brooks are devoted to performers of the past and present—and their adoring fans.
    By Danielle A. Jackson
  31. tv review
    The Underground Railroad Is the Cinematic Event of the YearThis is a series not witnessed but felt.
    By Angelica Jade Bastién
  32. tv review
    In Treatment Plays Therapy Like a Game of Cat and MouseThe season-four revival of the HBO series, which moves Uzo Aduba into the lead role, is beautifully appealing and inevitably a touch disappointing.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  33. theater review
    Downtown Theater Comes Back, Slowly and Then All at OnceThe current New York performance jamborees, though, aren’t catering primarily to newcomers or out-of-towners.
    By Helen Shaw
  34. tv review
    Master of None’s Third Season Is Slowly But Surely GratifyingThe new Lena Waithe–focused iteration of Aziz Ansari’s Netflix series is resoundingly low-key, but it packs a subtle punch thanks to Naomi Ackie.
    By Jen Chaney
  35. album review
    J. Cole and the Limitations of Millennial RapHe doesn’t have to attempt, and be good, at everything. He knows it, but he’ll never stop trying.
    By Craig Jenkins
  36. movie review
    Profile Captures the Anxiety of Our All-Digital Lives, But Is That a Good Thing?Come for the ISIS recruitment exposé, stay for the social-media nightmare.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  37. movie review
    The Woman in the Window Is a Trashy Movie Trying to Be a Classy OneThe Amy Adams thriller would be better off embracing its true self.
    By Alison Willmore
  38. movie review
    Those Who Wish Me Dead Is a Straight Shot of AdrenalineThe neo-Western-inflected work is striking in its aesthetic decisions. And it proves once more why Angelina Jolie is a star.
    By Angelica Jade Bastién
  39. tv review
    Halston, An Unwitting Cautionary TaleA Ryan Murphy-produced series about a creator whose brand gets diluted to the point it no longer carries a guarantee of his signature style. Hm.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  40. movie review
    Chris Rock and a Game Cast Can’t Quite Save Spiral: From the Book of SawIt’s more a tired cops-chase-a-serial-killer movie than a tired Saw sequel.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  41. podcast review
    The Improvement Association Tries to Dismantle ‘The Big Lie’The New York Times podcast zooms in on one county’s response to election-fraud mania.
    By Nicholas Quah
  42. movie review
    Oxygen Feels Like Something the Netflix Algorithm Vomited UpIn that sense, it’s fine?
    By Alison Willmore
  43. tv review
    Give Jean Smart All the Awards for HacksShe’s terrific in the new HBO Max comedy about the contentious art of making comedy.
    By Jen Chaney
  44. art review
    Frieze New York and the Return of the MegafairsSocial reentry, sensory overload, and some very good art at the first big event since … well, you know when.
    By Jerry Saltz
  45. movie review
    Army of the Dead Is a Tale of Two Zack SnydersHis Netflix Vegas-heist movie set during a zombie apocalypse, starring Dave Bautista, starts off great, but the fun doesn’t last.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  46. theater review
    In Taxilandia, the Front Seat Is Stage, the Back Seat an AudienceAnd the partition is the proscenium arch.
    By Helen Shaw
  47. movie review
    The Abysmal Wrath of Man Proves Guy Ritchie Is His Own Worst EnemyHow do you mess up a Jason Statham revenge thriller?
    By Bilge Ebiri
  48. tv review
    Mythic Quest Returns, Imperfect But Easy to LoveSeason two of the Apple TV+ comedy sets a high creative bar for itself, and even when it doesn’t quite clear it, it’s fun just to watch the attempt.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  49. tv review
    Shrill Doesn’t Need ClosureThe low-key yet insightful closing episodes of the Hulu comedy eschew resolution in favor of continued evolution.
    By Jen Chaney
  50. movie review
    Fear Not, Here Today Is Not a Billy Crystal-Tiffany Haddish Romantic ComedyBut you get the feeling that Crystal kind of wanted it to be?
    By Alison Willmore
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