Amsterdam Is a Mess and a Bomb and Also Sort of Interesting
Credit to David O. Russell for trying to make a movie, Amsterdam, that’s unique and compelling. He didn’t really succeed, but at least he tried.
405 Article(s) by: Eileen Jones
Eileen Jones is a film critic at Jacobin, host of the Filmsuck podcast, and author of Filmsuck, USA.
Angela Lansbury Was a Brilliant Actor and a Comrade
Angela Lansbury, who died this week at 96, was a proud socialist who achieved enormous success in film, theater, and TV. Yet her astonishing range was botched by the Hollywood studio system — preventing her movie career from flourishing even more.
Blonde Is Marilyn Monroe Abased All Over Again
Based on Joyce Carol Oates’s novel, Andrew Dominik’s film Blonde ignores the assertive and hardworking real-life Marilyn Monroe and instead gives us a lurid tale of perpetual victimization.
Sidney Poitier Was an Icon. But Oprah Winfrey’s Documentary Sidney Is Too Worshipful a Tribute.
The new Oprah Winfrey–produced Sidney Poitier documentary, Sidney, is a gushing tribute film, not a fully rounded portrait of a human being who had weaknesses to go along with his many strengths.
Don’t Worry Darling Is Dull Female Gothic Aided by Scandal
Director Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling is a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes celebrity scandal, helping to keep an otherwise forgettable film in the public’s consciousness.
Pearl Is a Heartland Horror Fit for Our Times
Martin Scorsese loves Ti West’s “demented Disney film,” Pearl — and you will too.
The New Tom Hanks Pinocchio Is a Clumsy, Awkward, CGIed Mess
Disney’s remake of its 1940 animated classic Pinocchio is just as bad as you’ve heard.
Bling-Bling TV
As standards of living fall at the bottom and rise at the top, the only thing to do is watch TV about the trivial problems of the phenomenally rich.
Three Thousand Years of Longing Is the Genie-Professor Love Story You Never Asked For
Three Thousand Years of Longing, director George Miller’s whimsical follow-up to Mad Max: Fury Road, finds him returning to the gentle storytelling he perfected in the Babe films. Too bad this one’s a slog.
In Emily the Criminal, Crime Pays When Nothing Else Will
Aubrey Plaza’s title character in Emily the Criminal is trapped by crushing student loan debt, a punitive criminal justice system, and low wages. She, like so many other Americans, feels like she’s out of legitimate options — because she is.
Jamie Foxx’s Day Shift Is Another Big-Budget Netflix Mediocrity
With a solid premise about working-class vampire hunters, Day Shift had real potential — but there’s no escaping the Netflix curse.
Thirteen Lives Leaves the Viewer Stuck Between Rocks and Ron Howard
At the heart of the new film Thirteen Lives lies a paradox. On the one hand, Ron Howard can be boring and annoying. On the other, caves are really cool, and we all want to see a group of teenagers get rescued from deep in the bowels of one.
Bodies Bodies Bodies Is a Bad Class Satire and a Boring Film
Like so many horror films attempting to be subversive, Bodies Bodies Bodies tries to satirize the upper class. But all it delivers are tired, lazy tropes about Gen Z.
The Bear’s Kitchen Nightmares Make for Great TV
In FX’s The Bear, a struggling Chicago family restaurant is the site of hope and ambition — and it’s thrilling to watch.
Prey Brilliantly Revives the Predator Franchise
Hollywood loves to crank out boring action movies. But Hulu’s Prey is anything but. It plays off of and reverses long-standing Hollywood tropes about Native Americans to craft an alien thriller that actually delivers.
Brad Pitt’s Bullet Train Is a Train Wreck
Don’t let the glossy trailers fool you — Brad Pitt's new action comedy, Bullet Train, is a strenuous and leaden film that never takes off.
B. J. Novak’s Vengeance Is a Dark Satire of America’s Cultural Divide
Actor B. J. Novak’s impressive directorial debut, Vengeance, sends a Brooklyn writer out to West Texas in order to turn a family’s grief into a podcast. It's a satire that nails our era like no other.
Jordan Peele’s Nope Is a Triumph
Writer-director Jordan Peele’s mysterious third film, Nope, draws on genre tropes from both alien invasion films and Westerns, but it ends up with something altogether original: a Hollywood spectacle about spectacle.
Netflix Bets Big on The Gray Man and Loses
With its stock cratering and its audience shrinking, Netflix needs a savior. But The Gray Man, a bloated and boring $200 million action movie, is unlikely to be it.
Where the Crawdads Sing Is Pure Book Club Sentimentalism
Reese Witherspoon’s book club made the 2018 novel Where the Crawdads Sing a hit. The new film adaptation, just like the book it's based on, is pure bathos of the mushiest kind.