After Yang Is Another Boring Example of “Contemplative” Sci-Fi
The people in the somber new sci-fi film After Yang are god-awful. If this movie represents our near future, that Earth-destroying asteroid can’t obliterate us fast enough.
343 Articles by: Eileen Jones
Eileen Jones is a film critic at Jacobin, host of the Filmsuck podcast, and author of Filmsuck, USA.
Steven Soderbergh’s Kimi Is a Slick, Unmemorable Thriller
Kimi, the new thriller from director Steven Soderbergh, is an ordinary genre piece — so ordinary that not even its insistent topicality can make it seem more compelling.
The Batman Is Both Too Dark and Not Noir Enough
Men will literally become Batman instead of going to therapy.
Severance Is the Perfect Thriller for the Great Resignation of Our Era
Ben Stiller’s excellent new limited series, Severance, turns the corporate workplace into the setting for a new and timely subgenre: “job horror.”
Pam & Tommy Is the Kind of Sharp, Funny, Class-Conscious Satire We Need
In Pam & Tommy, the story of the infamous Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee sex tape becomes an epic tale of thwarted American dreams.
The Coen Brothers and Their Big Socialist Losers
Spinning comedy out of misery, Joel and Ethan Coen have spent decades telling the story of American failure. No wonder they’re so drawn to American socialists.
The Afterparty Is a Comedy Murder Mystery for Millennials
The Afterparty is just one of several new comedies about stressed-out millennials finding themselves trapped in a murder mystery. So what is it about this generation that makes them all want to star in an Agatha Christie story?
A Hero Puts the Struggles of the Working Class Back on the Silver Screen
Iranian writer-director Asghar Farhadi’s brilliant drama A Hero is about a young man trying to buy his freedom from debtors’ prison — the kind of depiction of working-class struggle that’s at the heart of some of the greatest cinema.
The Gilded Age Somehow Makes Class War a Bore
HBO hired Julian Fellowes to make a Downton Abbey out of 1880s NYC. But all the fussy costumes and jewelry in the world can’t bring The Gilded Age’s story of old vs. new money to life.
The Tragedy of Macbeth Is a Cinematic Feast for Starving Film Lovers
The Tragedy of Macbeth is Joel Coen’s first film without his brother Ethan. And the movie isn’t just a triumph — it’s a reminder that, even with the dismal state of cinema today, movies can still surprise us.
George Clooney’s The Tender Bar Needs More Bar, Less Yale
With Ben Affleck playing a lovable bartender and surrogate father, The Tender Bar has its charms, but it stalls out with familiar tropes about working-class kids getting the hell out of the old neighborhood.
Peter Bogdanovich Embodied an Era When Cinema Really Mattered
Writer, director, and actor Peter Bogdanovich died last week at 82. His rocky career as a filmmaker, actor, and critic is a testament to an era in which the public took film seriously — and filmmakers took the public seriously.
Sidney Poitier Was a Giant of the Screen
Sidney Poitier was more than an icon for his civil rights activism and for “paving the way” for black actors to follow. He was a master of his craft, and one of the greatest performers of all time.
Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley Paints an Old Noir with Lurid, Fantastical Color
The new Nightmare Alley is wilder than the brilliant 1947 original. But director Guillermo del Toro trades its original expansive sense of human tragedy for a simple, bleak pessimism.
Did Steven Spielberg Just Ruin West Side Story?
Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins’s 1961 adaptation of the Broadway musical West Side Story embraced fantasy and ended up making a Hollywood classic. But Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner’s remake brings the larger-than-life story of doomed lovers down to earth — and sinks.
The Power of the Dog Is a Tamped-Down Melodrama of Masculinity
Right at the point that director Jane Campion should have pushed us all the way to the edge of our seats with fever-pitch intensity in The Power of the Dog, she pulls back to the solemnly serious. Just give us the melodrama, Jane!
House of Gucci Should Have Been Campier — and More Scathing
Lady Gaga captures every scene in House of Gucci, and she’s backed up by a stellar supporting cast. But the film somehow ends up going far too soft on the Gucci family’s absolute sociopathy and appallingly hideous clothes.
Will Smith Is Stunning in King Richard
Based on the true story of Venus and Serena Williams’s coach and father, King Richard shows us the toll racism took on a generation of black men — but also the fight it inspired in them.
The Harder They Fall, Netflix’s New All-Black Western, Is Bloody, Star-Filled Fun
Drawing from real but forgotten figures from the old West, The Harder They Fall breathes new life into the Western. It’s also a violent good time for all.
Spencer Is an Early Christmas Gift for Gothic Melodrama Fans
If you, like me, despise the British monarchy, you may expect Spencer, the new Princess Diana movie, to be insufferable. But the film is so bonkers, you may put aside all desire to watch the House of Windsor drown in the River Thames and actually enjoy the show.