Daily coverage of Criticism by Vulture

Criticism

  1. movie review
    Greyhound Proves Tom Hanks Is the Ultimate Navy GeekHe’s the captain, now and forever.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  2. tv review
    Kingdom Feels Like a Nightmare of NowThe South Korean zombie series is set in the 16th century and was filmed in 2017, but seems to be riffing on headlines from five minutes ago.
    By Matt Zoller Seitz
  3. movie review
    In Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow, Capitalism Continues to Divide and ConquerWhat you register in the 19th-century frontier drama is what’s absent: a sense of community, of a shared enterprise.
    By David Edelstein
  4. album review
    Pop Smoke’s Story Might Always End With a Glaring Question MarkThe main artist feels profoundly missing on his posthumous debut album.
    By Craig Jenkins
  5. movie review
    Netflix’s The Old Guard Is BreathtakingOnce you watch it, you’ll wish every superhero movie were this good.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  6. movie review
    Palm Springs Is Thoroughly Charming and Unexpectedly TimelyThe time-loop rom-com skims past many of the genre’s obligatory beats in order to get to less explored territory.
    By Alison Willmore
  7. movie review
    In The Truth, a Great Director FaltersCatherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche, and Ethan Hawke star in Cannes winner Hirokazu Kore-eda’s latest.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  8. theater review
    Uses for a Dull Knife: Productive Boredom in Three ZoomertainmentsState vs. Natasha Banina, And So We Come Forth and Zero Cost House
    By Helen Shaw
  9. podcast review
    Slow Burn: David Duke Is a Scorching Look at White Supremacy in AmericaThe new season follows the sinister prescience of the former Klansman’s political career.
    By Nicholas Quah
  10. movie review
    The Hamilton Movie Swings Open the Doors of BroadwayThe Disney+ version of the musical is in-your-face at a moment when nothing is allowed to be in your face.
    By Helen Shaw and Mark Harris
  11. vulture recommends
    Sasha Geffen’s Glitter Up the Dark Is an Essential Companion to the Year’s MusicYou’ll devour Glitter Up the Dark with eyes wide and mind racing, drawing connections to whatever music you listen to.
    By Justin Curto
  12. radio vulture
    Welcome to the ‘New’ Kanye NarrativeToday Kanye West released his first formal artistic statement of the pandemic and the nationwide movement for racial justice.
    By Craig Jenkins
  13. close reads
    Taste the Nation With Padma Lakshmi Reclaims the American DreamThe new Hulu food series examines how immigrants shaped the definition of American cuisine.
    By Bianca Gracie
  14. album review
    Bob Dylan Is Still the Voice of a GenerationThe only difference is he speaks for more than just one now.
    By Craig Jenkins
  15. tv review
    The Baby-Sitters Club Is a Welcome Surprise and Utter DelightI was dubious about Netflix’s new adaptation of the middle-grade book series, and I am thrilled to be proved wrong.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  16. the inside track
    Arca & Sophie’s ‘La Chíqui’ Pushes Pop Music Further Into the FutureThe producers team up after circling each other for years.
    By Justin Curto
  17. tv review
    I’ll Be Gone in the Dark Sheds Light on a Remarkable True-Crime CrusaderThe miniseries is a brilliant retelling of Michelle McNamara’s quest to identify the Golden State Killer.
    By Matt Zoller Seitz
  18. tv review
    Search Party Is Back, and Its Knives Are OutDespite a two-year delay, season three’s focus on privileged, white millennials winding their way through the justice system feels of the moment.
    By Jen Chaney
  19. let em stay mad
    It Wouldn’t Be ‘The Chicks’ If Their Comeback Didn’t Piss Off Some PeopleOnce again, “the Chicks” find themselves on the pulse of the times.
    By Craig Jenkins
  20. movie review
    Jon Stewart’s New Comedy Irresistible Feels Shockingly Out of StepThe former Daily Show host enlists Steve Carell and Rose Byrne for a political farce that suggests he’s not up for satirizing our moment.
    By Alison Willmore
  21. movie review
    You’ll Want to Sing Along to Will Ferrell’s Glorious EurovisionThis comedy about the Eurovision Song Contest might be the most emotionally engaging movie the actor has ever made.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  22. the inside track
    Phoebe Bridgers’s ‘I Know the End’ Has the Catharsis You’ve Been CravingFeaturing Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, Conor Oberst, Nick Zinner, Tomberlin, Blake Mills … everyone?
    By Justin Curto
  23. tv review
    The Politician Can’t Triumph Over Its Own CynicismThe Netflix series’s fundamental emptiness was easier to stomach when it was about high school and not real-world politics.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  24. book review
    After Months Spent Inside, The Great Indoors Is Uncannily RelevantFrom microbes to building design, Emily Anthes’s new book explores the science of indoor living.
    By Molly Young
  25. movie review
    Miss Juneteenth Is a Gently Beautiful Film Worth CelebratingThe emotionally realized mother-daughter story is a testament to Nicole Beharie’s prowess as an actress.
    By Angelica Jade Bastién
  26. movie review
    Babyteeth Is Not Your Standard Cancer RomanceA terminally ill teenage girl falls in love with a junkie in Shannon Murphy’s sweet but unsentimental directorial debut, now available on VOD.
    By Alison Willmore
  27. tv review
    Sherman’s Showcase Black History Month Spectacular Goes Way Back in TimeThe IFC variety show goofs on everything soulful and sacred.
    By Michael A. Gonzales
  28. movie review
    I Should Have Skipped You Should Have LeftIt might have worked as drama. But as horror, it’s a disaster.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  29. tv review
    Meet the New Perry Mason, Not Much Like the Old Perry MasonHBO’s loose interpretation of the classic CBS procedural is a gorgeous, gritty, and sometimes gory period piece filled with fine performances.
    By Jen Chaney
  30. tv review
    In Love, Victor, a Spinoff Pushes Back Against Its Origin StoryOn its own, Hulu’s new teen coming-out series is pleasant TV. As a frankly resentful follow-up to Love, Simon, it’s something much more interesting.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  31. tv review
    Insecure Is a Balm, Even When It FailsDespite a soapy twist, season four felt like solace, bristling with mature storytelling and beguiling aesthetic dimensions.
    By Angelica Jade Bastién
  32. theater review
    Does Interactive Theater Work on Zoom? Two Theaters Switch On the VideoWhat exactly makes something feel “live”?
    By Helen Shaw
  33. movie review
    Artemis Fowl and the Death of the Fantasy YA FranchiseThe long-delayed adaptation of Eoin Colfer’s hit series, now streaming on Disney+, is more baffling relic of the past than movie.
    By Alison Willmore
  34. tv review
    13 Reasons Why Was Always Teen Torture PornIn its final season, the coming-of-age drama is as dark, traumatic, and utterly ridiculous as ever.
    By Jen Chaney
  35. tv review
    What We Do in the Shadows Is the Best Comedy on TV Right NowWhy aren’t you watching this show yet?
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  36. movie review
    Da 5 Bloods Is Spike Lee’s Agit-Prop Action MovieAs a stirring, deliriously referential treatise on race, American history, and black patriotism, it’s one of Lee’s greatest works.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  37. movie review
    The King of Staten Island Returns Pete Davidson to AnonymityJudd Apatow’s dramedy is loosely based on the SNL star — a kind of thought experiment about what his life would be like if he never found comedy.
    By Alison Willmore
  38. album review
    Run the Jewels 4 Is Exactly What America Needs to Hear Right NowKiller Mike and El-P have landed on the pulse of spring 2020.
    By Craig Jenkins
  39. movie review
    Be Water Is a Sports Doc with Righteous RageIn fact, it doesn’t feel like a sports doc at all. You walk away convinced that Bruce Lee was an artist more than anything else.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  40. movie review
    Netflix’s Last Days of American Crime Is a Ghastly, Unimaginative MessThe relentless action orgy is somehow both too much and not enough.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  41. tv review
    I May Destroy You Confirms Michaela Coel’s Stunning TalentAn unflinching, dynamic exploration of desire and consent stands on the strength of Coel’s work as a writer, director, and performer.
    By Angelica Jade Bastién
  42. movie review
    Shirley Is a Woozy Portrait of an Underappreciated WriterElisabeth Moss is terrific, as usual, in this dizzying film about The Haunting of Hill House author Shirley Jackson — now available on Hulu and VOD.
    By Alison Willmore
  43. album review
    Lady Gaga’s Chromatica Crash-Landed Right When It Was Needed MostIt’s the hard reset Fame/The Fame Monster fans have been waiting for.
    By Craig Jenkins
  44. tv review
    Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story Offers a Careful Study of a Woman ScornedAmanda Peet sinks every one of her teeth into the role of the famous housewife turned murderer.
    By Jen Chaney
  45. movie review
    The Vast of Night Makes Retro Sci-Fi Feel Startlingly FreshOne of the year’s great movie discoveries — a 1950s-set directorial debut about a possible alien encounter — is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
    By Alison Willmore
  46. tv review
    You Should Watch Quiz and That’s Our Final AnswerThe AMC series about the British Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? scandal is smart, entertaining, and just three hours long.
    By Jen Chaney
  47. movie review
    The High Note Is a Mostly Forgettable Hollywood Fairy TaleIn the end, Tracee Ellis Ross’s Grace Davis feels like a diva in search of real characterization.
    By Angelica Jade Bastién
  48. movie review
    Netflix’s I’m No Longer Here Is a Lovely Tale of Music, Migration, and LossFrom the director of Los Espookys, it’s a heartbreaking drama about a cumbia-obsessed teen’s journey from Mexico to New York.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  49. welcome to chromatica
    All I Want to Listen to Is Lady Gaga Saying ‘That’s Gossip’ in ‘Babylon’Gaga brings her rah-rah bitch self back harder than ever on Chromatica’s closer.
    By Jackson McHenry
  50. tv review
    Central Park Could Be Great If It Gets Out of Its Own WayThe Apple TV+ animated musical from Loren Bouchard and Josh Gad is working out the kinks, but has the potential to become an extremely endearing show.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
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