How Brazilian Cinema Survived Fascism
Under Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s national cinema was gutted, censored, and left for dead. Then Lula returned — and so did the movies.
424 Article(s) by: Eileen Jones
Eileen Jones is a film critic at Jacobin, host of the Filmsuck podcast, and author of Filmsuck, USA.
The Dog Stars Is a Western in Postapocalyptic Drag
Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars is a postapocalyptic thriller without thrills, resting on the shoulders of a mopey Jacob Elordi, who’s far from up to the task. What the film does have is a frontier fantasy it can’t stop indulging.
Tony Is a Terrific Coming-of-Age Story
Matt Johnson’s Tony takes a few pages from Anthony Bourdain’s best-selling memoir and turns them into a warm, character-driven film about a spoiled kid learning how to work. It’s fantastic.
Tim Curry Was Never Not Having Fun
From Dr Frank-N-Furter to Pennywise the killer clown, Tim Curry played every role at full volume — and made a six-decade career out of refusing to be small.
Camp Miasma Is More Theory-Head Satire Than Horror
The new slasher film Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma promises “a frenzy of psychosexual mania.” What director Jane Schoenbrun delivers is tamer but considerably funnier.
The End of Oak Street Is Nostalgia Eating Itself
The new sci-fi film The End of Oak Street is about a 1982 suburban cul-de-sac taken over by dinosaurs. It’s Steven Spielberg nostalgia recycled into something barely alive.
Jonathan Demme’s Wild, Humanist Cinema Deserves a Reappraisal
The Criterion Channel’s new Jonathan Demme retrospective is a chance to look beyond The Silence of the Lambs and rediscover one of America’s most adventurous, surprising, and charming filmmakers.
The New Spider-Man Is Pure Fun
The record-breaking Spider-Man: Brand New Day is gleeful, undemanding fun that doesn’t pretend to be anything more. In a superhero monoculture that keeps draining Hollywood of money, talent, and ambition, that’s about the best you can hope for.
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey: A Dissenter’s View
I know I’m in the minority here. I really did try to like it. But Christopher Nolan has taken the wiliest, most delightful hero in Western literature and turned him into one more Nolan sad sack, trudging guilt-stricken through a gray and godless world.
Young Washington: A Simpleminded Take on Our First President
The Christian conservative Angel Studios’ Young Washington feels more like a MAGA political project than a movie. Sadly, it’s the exact kind of paint-by-numbers George Washington biopic you would’ve expected.
Great Cinematic Odysseys to Prepare You for The Odyssey
From Preston Sturges and the Coen brothers to Martin Scorsese and John Ford, the Criterion Channel’s “Odysseys” series traces the enduring appeal of Homer’s epic in American cinema.
Toy Story 5 Takes On the Existential Dread of Big Tech
A kids’ movie about tech addiction and the terror of being obsolete? Of course Toy Story 5 is a hit — we’re all living through it.
1976 Was Hollywood’s Swan Song
The mid-1970s were a good time for film buffs. But the industry was on the precipice of a long decline that has stripped productions of not only their political content but their seriousness.
Disclosure Day Is the Big Fat Spielberg Summer Movie We Need
Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi thriller Disclosure Day is corny and cluttered. But in these dark days, a classic Spielberg summer movie about aliens is just what the doctor ordered.
Backrooms and Obsession Are Glimpses of a Better Hollywood
Two indie horror movies with YouTube origins, Obsession and Backrooms, crushed big-budget Star Wars and He-Man movies at the box office. But claims that these films represent a revival of cinematic creativity à la the New Hollywood era are overblown.
Spider-Noir Is Just Another Night in Noirtown
Nicolas Cage’s black-and-white Spider-Man spin-off, Spider-Noir, recycles all of the tropes of the classic 1940s film genre. But all the femme fatales and wisecracking detectives can’t keep Spider-Noir from feeling like a lifeless museum piece.
We Rarely See Films as Fresh as I Love Boosters
Boots Riley’s remarkably easy confidence and visual flair in I Love Boosters is a tonic in an era of boring CGI slop. He’s one of the most compelling filmmakers working today.
Hollywood Invented the Girlboss
The Criterion Channel’s excellent new “Office Romances” retrospective shows how Hollywood’s classic workplace comedies exposed a deep panic about women who dared to be competent.
Boys, Beasts, and a Bloated Lord of the Flies
Jack Thorne’s Netflix adaptation of Lord of the Flies drowns William Golding’s brutal clarity in arty excess, muddled psychology, and a strangely sentimental plea for sympathy for boys.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 Hits the Right Bleak Notes
At this point, the Devil Wears Prada franchise is a major cultural phenomenon. And The Devil Wears Prada 2 is a worthy addition, with more than a dash of topicality in its treatment of some of the bleaker aspects of contemporary existence.