Daily coverage of Criticism by Vulture
  1. movie review
    On the Record Is Imperfect, Provocative, and Utterly NecessaryThe documentary detailing accusations of sexual assault against Russell Simmons proves to be a compelling and uneven work of the Me Too era.
  2. tv review
    Ramy Is Best When It’s Not About RamyMahershala Ali joining the cast is a big plus, too.
  3. tv review
    Space Force Is a Massive MisfireDespite its strong cast, Netflix’s new political workplace comedy from Greg Daniels and Steve Carell just can’t get off the ground.
  4. finales
    Mrs. America Ends With a Loaded EllipsisThe takeaway may seem to be that Phyllis Schlafly won in the end, but “Reagan” argues just as strongly that this story isn’t over yet.
  5. movie review
    Lucky Grandma Is a Rorschach Test Comedy-ThrillerTsai Chin’s transfixing lead performance is the main reason the film works so well.
  6. movie review
    The Lovebirds Is a Staunchly Average Streaming Rom-ComThe Netflix movie is designed to be watched while performing a menial task — folding the laundry or washing dishes — in quarantine.
  7. movie review
    The Painter and the Thief Is a Sexy, Strange Not-Quite-Love StoryAn artist finds a muse in the man who stole her work in this arresting documentary, now on Hulu, VOD, and in theaters.
  8. song review
    Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s ‘Rain on Me’ Is a Win for EveryoneThis song will be huge not just because it’s Gaga in peak dance-pop form with chart assassin Ariana Grande in tow.
  9. radio vulture
    Country Music Was Designed for a Bad Year Like ThisLucinda Williams, the Drive-By Truckers, Jason Isbell, and Steve Earle have each released albums that speak to the stress of being alive right now.
  10. tv review
    Homecoming’s Second Chapter Trades Conspiracy for Psychological ThrillsIt’s not as provocative as season one, but the Janelle Monáe–led continuation of the Amazon thriller is a binge-worthy search for identity.
  11. movie review
    The Trip to Greece Is the Final, Most Despairing Trip Film YetAmid all the decadent food and Michael Caine impressions, the four-part series has always had a darker edge.
  12. movie review
    Scoob! Is the Kind of Kids Movie That Features Jokes About TinderThe Scooby-Doo reboot, bumped from theaters to on demand, attempts to update the mystery-solving franchise with superheroes and internet jokes.
  13. tv review
    Snowpiercer Is Slow to Leave the StationThe long-gestating TV adaptation of Bong Joon Ho’s movie is both larger in scope and messier in execution, especially in its shaky early episodes.
  14. book review
    What’s the Deal With Eels?A new book examines what we know about the mysterious creature, and a lot more that we do not.
  15. streaming theater review
    Molly Sweeney Returns: A Dark Play Brightens the ScreenBrian Friel’s triple intertwined monologues, in a streamed revival of the 2011 production at the Irish Rep.
  16. tv review
    The Great Is Nasty, Brutish, and Long — and Very, Very GoodHulu’s “occasionally true” period satire skillfully balances empathy for its royal protagonist with an impulse to slice her to shreds.
  17. tv review
    Kimmy Schmidt vs. the Reverend Is What Interactive TV Was Made ForNetflix’s choose-your-own-adventure special delivers the jokes, then more jokes, then still more jokes.
  18. movie review
    Capone Features Tom Hardy at His Most MaximalistThe Al Capone biopic may not be the comeback story that director Josh Trank needed, but it has a truly batshit performance from Tom Hardy.
  19. album review
    Petals for Armor Feels Like Meeting Hayley Williams for the First TimeSometimes a change of setting and a bit of personal upheaval are a recipe for a breakthrough.
  20. streaming theater review
    The Online By Jeeves Is Lousy, and Still Reminded Me How Much I Miss TheaterIt made me realize I’ve even missed the eat-your-spinach parts of being a critic.
  21. song review
    Tekashi 6ix9ine Is a Black HoleWe can’t stop him because we must know what happens next; our curiosity is his source of power.
  22. movie review
    Driveways, Starring the Late Brian Dennehy, Is Quietly ShatteringCo-starring Hong Chau, it’s a fragile flower of a film that works on you in sly, mysterious ways.
  23. tv review
    Dead to Me Is Even Wilder in Season TwoI mean that in a good way.
  24. movie review
    Spaceship Earth Casts a Sympathetic Lens on a Much-Ridiculed Failed UtopiaMatt Wolf’s very entertaining documentary about Biosphere 2 sets out to liberate its architects and participants from their fate as a punch line.
  25. tv review
    Upload Is Bleak As HellIt’s an afterlife comedy that asks, “What if Jeff Bezos could add heaven to Amazon Prime?”
  26. tv review
    The Eddy Has Its Own RhythmsIf you can surrender to its freewheeling tempo, you may find pleasure, even moments of joy, in Netflix’s new Parisian jazz drama.
  27. movie review
    Michelle Obama Doc Becoming Is a Guarded Look at Life After the White HouseThe new film, part of the Obamas’ deal with Netflix, shows the former First Lady reveling in the freedom to not engage.
  28. radio vulture
    What More Is There for Drake to Do?It might be a mistake, 14 years in, to expect an artist who built a very lucrative thing for himself to keep mucking with the formula.
  29. movie review
    Bull Is So Much More Than a Coming-of-Age ClichéThe story of a 14-year-old girl’s attempt to escape her homelife by apprenticing with an ex–bull rider is more stoic than it sounds.
  30. movie review
    You’ll Want to Give a Hug to Netflix’s The Half of ItAlice Wu’s teen rom-com is yet another take on Cyrano, but that’s not what makes it special.
  31. tv review
    The Parks and Recreation Reunion Special Is Such a GiftI wasn’t crying, I swear.
  32. streaming theater review
    Richard Nelson’s Apple Family Is Muted in Grief and Unmuted on ZoomIn What Do We Need to Talk About?
  33. tv review
    Ryan Murphy’s Hollywood Is a Dreamland, for Better or (Mostly) WorseThe Netflix limited series imagines an alternate-history Hollywood predicated on the same inequalities and gatekeeping that fuel the current one.
  34. movie review
    Our Mothers Digs Up Guatemala’s Painful PastCésar Diaz’s drama about the aftermath of the nation’s civil war feels a bit like shards from a larger mosaic, but that somehow fits its subject.
  35. song review
    Beyoncé and Megan Thee Stallion Just Brought Back the Lost Art of a Killer RemixIt’s so rare in this era for a remix to feel like an event and not just a few new words plopped onto an existing song.
  36. tv review
    Normal People Is an Honest, Absorbing Love StoryIt also features a ton of sex.
  37. tv review
    Never Have I Ever Made Me Happier Than I’ve Been in WeeksI mainlined every episode of Netflix’s pitch-perfect teen rom-com, co-created by Mindy Kaling, and instantly wished for more.
  38. movie review
    Bad Education Gives Hugh Jackman One of His Greatest Dramatic RolesCory Finley’s sly dissection of a Long Island embezzlement scandal — premiering on HBO — plays to its leading man’s theatrical strengths.
  39. movie review
    New Braveheart Sequel Brings You More Angus Macfadyen and a Lot Less BloodTwenty-five years after Mel Gibson yelled “freeeeeedommm,” director Richard Gray brings Robert the Bruce back.
  40. album review
    Rina Sawayama’s Debut Album Might Make You See the 2000s Much DifferentlySawayama is an exercise in making pop out of not-so-popular 2000s nostalgia.
  41. quibi
    Yep, Quibi Is BadI spent two weeks watching Quibi shows, but I still can’t tell you exactly what Quibi is.
  42. quarantuning
    The Rolling Stones Have Arrived Right on TimeMick and Keith didn’t write “Living in a Ghost Town” about the current crisis, but astute poets can smell a bad time coming.
  43. spoilers
    Let’s Talk About That Little Fires Everywhere EndingThe finale of the Hulu miniseries aims for surprise by diverting from its source material, sometimes in ways that defy believability.
  44. tv review
    The New Prince Tribute Concert Is a Must-Watch Now More Than EverLet’s Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince, airing Tuesday night on CBS, is both a new special and a reminder of how live music used to feel.
  45. movie review
    You Could Watch Beastie Boys Story, But Really, Why Not Just Read Their Book?Spike Jonze’s Apple TV+ documentary, featuring Mike D and Ad-Rock, is a surprisingly staid act of fan service.
  46. theater review
    A Benefit Buyer & Cellar Is Proof-of-Concept for Streamed TheaterMichael Urie’s short-run online benefit performance that works.
  47. movie review
    Selah and the Spades Is a Mesmerizing Portrait of a Prep School Queen BeeLovie Simone plays a high school senior reluctant to relinquish her position of power in Tayarisha Poe’s new movie, now streaming on Amazon.
  48. tv review
    The Last Dance Is a Perfect Remedy for Sports WithdrawalA ten-part ESPN docuseries about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls would have been great under any circumstances. Right now, it feels like a gift.
  49. album review
    Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters Is the Album She Deserved to Make All AlongThe singer-songwriter has had a breakthrough.
  50. movie review
    The Lighthouse Is About the Horror of Roommates in IsolationMermaids, hallucinations, bodily fluids — in Robert Eggers’s movie, the most frightening thing of all is having to share your space with someone.
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