Daily coverage of Criticism by Vulture

Criticism

  1. album review
    We Should Appreciate The Smile While It’s Still HereDropping four projects in 20 months screams “Here for a good time, not a long time.”
    By Craig Jenkins
  2. movie review
    The Greatest Night in Pop Is a Huge Blast of Gen-X NostalgiaNetflix’s new documentary about the making of “We Are the World” will be hard to resist for a lot of us.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  3. theater review
    Soaring Voices and Plastic Plants in Days of Wine and RosesKelli O’Hara and Brian d’Arcy James at peak vocal power.
    By Sara Holdren
  4. movie review
    Pictures of Ghosts and the Images That Outlive Us AllThe beguiling new film from Bacurau’s Kleber Mendonça Filho is a meditation on place, film, and time passing.
    By Alison Willmore
  5. movie review
    Tótem Throws a Goodbye Party You’ll Never Want to LeaveDirector Lila Avilés’ extraordinary family drama is in the vein of party films like Monsoon Wedding and Rachel Getting Married.
    By Alison Willmore
  6. sundance 2024
    The Chilling War Game Shows Us What America’s Next Insurrection Might Look LikeAnyone who witnessed the real January 6 will find their stomach in knots, though admittedly some of us have had our stomachs in knots for years now.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  7. sundance 2024
    Kieran Culkin Is a Mercurial Pleasure in A Real PainJesse Eisenberg’s charming Sundance breakout moves gently and smoothly but hints at an all-consuming darkness underneath.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  8. theater review
    The Encores! Once Upon a Mattress Is the Biggest Summer-Camp Show EverSutton Foster and friends play it really big and really broad for this lively short run.
    By Jackson McHenry
  9. tv review
    Masters of the Air Skims the SurfaceApple TV+’s WWII miniseries soars when it’s in flight but gets weighed down attempting to cover too much narrative ground.
    By Nicholas Quah
  10. theater review
    Diary of an Overbooked Theater-Festival Surfer: Week ThreeJack! Rose! Jack! Rose! And Eugene Onegin.
    By Sara Holdren
  11. theater review
    The Long Zoom of Public ObscenitiesA story of bringing a partner home to Kolkata is steeped in naturalism.
    By Sara Holdren
  12. close read
    Don’t Come for the Housewives, HoneyThe Traitors’ oversimplified gamers-vs.-non-gamers divide overlooks what the best Bravo stars to ever do it are capable of on an individual level.
    By Olivia Crandall
  13. sundance 2024
    Love Lies Bleeding Needs More Than Violence and GrandeurRose Glass’s new thriller, starring Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian, is passionate and bold, but can rely too much on stylized glimpses of gore.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  14. sundance 2024
    Presence Is the Best Thing Steven Soderbergh’s Done in AgesIt’s an art film that also works as a spellbinding horror film.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  15. sundance 2024
    Love Me Asks Too Many QuestionsKristen Stewart and Steven Yeun star in an emo version of Wall-E that is furiously literal-minded.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  16. art review
    What Was the Bodega?Tschabalala Self’s ambivalent investigation of the cornershop.
    By Jerry Saltz
  17. sundance 2024
    The Moving Ibelin Captures a Life Only Seemingly Half-LivedBenjamin Ree’s powerful new Sundance documentary gently uncovers a dying young man’s online life, full of love, connection, and humor.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  18. theater review
    Diary of an Overbooked Theater-Festival Surfer: Week TwoPuppets, worms, toilets, and a really aggressive Shakespeare take.
    By Sara Holdren
  19. endings
    Let’s Talk About Ole Munch’s Last BiteFargo presses kindness upon its Anton Chigurh analogue in the form of a biscuit.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  20. reality tv
    The Traitors Needs NormiesWith mere mortals banished from season two, the game loses out on a grand possibility.
    By Nicholas Quah
  21. song review
    Jay-Z Is Lost in the Shuffle on ‘I Want You Forever’His new song with D’Angelo feels like a 10-minute sound bath.
    By Craig Jenkins
  22. movie review
    Netflix’s New Heist Movie Lift Wastes a Fun CastKevin Hart, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Vincent D’Onofrio are trying to steal Jean Reno’s gold. Somehow, we don’t really care.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  23. song review
    Lil Nas X’s Return Is More Than a Second ComingHis breezy new single arrived on the prickliest possible battlefield.
    By Craig Jenkins
  24. song review
    Ariana Grande Came Back Cold-Hearted in ‘Yes, And?’People are so lost, they’re in her business.
    By Quinn Moreland
  25. movie review
    In the Moving Bye Bye Tiberias, Hiam Abbass Considers the Cost of WarPalestinian-born actress Hiam Abbass will break your heart in this documentary portrait of her family, filmed by her daughter Lina Soualem.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  26. movie review
    The Ruthless New Mean Girls Knows Better Than to Try and Make Fetch HappenA pretty good remake proves the Plastics will never die.
    By Jackson McHenry
  27. movie review
    There’s Nothing Else Like The Book of Clarence, for Better and WorseEven if it doesn’t work, there’s something admirable about how at ease Jeymes Samuel’s new film is with its own erratic rhythms.
    By Alison Willmore
  28. theater reviews
    Diary of an Overbooked Theater-Festival Surfer: Week OneOn finding eccentric Miranda July commentary and gonzo race commentary during January’s experimental-theater blitz.
    By Sara Holdren
  29. tv review
    You Need to Watch All of EchoThe first Marvel series of the year is also the first one that can be binged right out of the gate. That’s a good thing.
    By Jen Chaney
  30. theater review
    Can You Put Your Faith in Prayer for the French Republic?It’s a timely and engaged play, but that engagement is glib.
    By Sara Holdren
  31. tv review
    Michelle Yeoh Could Do This in Her SleepIf only The Brothers Sun could rise to her level.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  32. movie review
    The Transcendent Society of the Snow Has Existential BiteNot since Martin Scorsese’s Silence has a film so thoughtfully considered what faith can, and can’t, do.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  33. best of 2023
    The 10 Best TV Needle Drops of 2023From Tori Amos to Technotronic.
    By Sophie Brookover
  34. movie review
    The Boys in the Boat Is Better Than You’ve HeardDirected by George Clooney, this period rowing drama is the kind of unfussy medium-budget prestige pic Hollywood rarely makes anymore.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  35. best of 2023
    The Weepiest TV Moments of 2023Whether of sadness or of joy, tears are the perfect seasoning for any show.
    By Maggie Fremont
  36. best of 2023
    Our 78 Favorite Comedy Moments of 2023“Daddy.”
    By Vulture Staff
  37. year in culture
    Vulture’s 20 Most-Read Stories of 2023Our most popular posts from a year marked by industry-shifting strikes and finally, a reason to cover sports.
    By Vulture Staff
  38. best of 2023
    Vulture’s 25 Most-Read TV Recaps of 2023The shows that generated the most readership—and comments.
    By Vulture Editors
  39. movie review
    In Ferrari, Adam Driver Is a Force of Steel, Asphalt, and DeathMichael Mann’s long-gestating movie is elegant and restless, with a sense throughout that something horrific is lurking around each corner.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  40. movie review
    The Push-Pull of Brutality and Joy at the Heart of The Color PurpleThe movie musical adaptation of the classic novel (and film) carves out its own path.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  41. best of 2023
    All the Music I Didn’t Get to Write About This Year (Until Now)A final shout-out to the best docs, YouTube explainers, and songs from otherwise bad albums.
    By Craig Jenkins
  42. this week in late night
    15 Late-Night Moments You May Have Missed in 2023John Wilson was a toilet! John Oliver was a bird! The Late Late Show was extant!
    By Bethy Squires
  43. movie review
    Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard Are So Weirdly Right Together in MemoryNot a lot of Michel Franco’s somber drama makes sense, but it’s a movie clearly meant to be carried by its leads.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  44. movie review
    Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon Is a Visionary SlogThe first part of his Star Wars–ish Netflix saga looks amazing but has lifeless characters and little excitement.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  45. movie review
    All of Us Strangers Is Two Movies Trying to Be OneAnd, with all love for Paul Mescal, the romance with his character is the weaker of the two.
    By Alison Willmore
  46. close read
    Rap Sh!t Hits the ‘Seduce and Scheme’ CeilingIn season two, Shawna and Mia’s anthem transformed from a symbol of empowerment to one of limitation.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  47. art review
    The Impeccable Peacocks of Barkley HendricksA master portraitist takes his place alongside the Whistlers at the Frick.
    By Jerry Saltz
  48. movie review
    There’s No Heroism or Fantasy in John Woo’s Brutal Silent NightIn his latest action thriller, the director foregrounds grief and pain over the balletic mayhem of his previous work.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  49. movie review
    Maestro Is a Masterful Reconstruction That Remains Just ThatThe Leonard Bernstein biopic somehow proves that Bradley Cooper is a director of genuine vision, even though it’s not a particularly successful movie.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  50. theater review
    A Cold-Blooded Night of the IguanaA Tennessee Williams curio whose temperature never rises above a simmer.
    By Jackson McHenry
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