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.
371 Articles by: Eileen Jones
Eileen Jones is a film critic at Jacobin, host of the Filmsuck podcast, and author of Filmsuck, USA.
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.
Everywhere Grime in America, Terrible Time in America
Forget the parodies — West Side Story was an epic musical about gang violence that was as hard-hitting as it was stunning.
RIP Dean Stockwell, a 70-Year Hollywood Renegade
Forced to support his family as a child star of the 1940s, Dean Stockwell embraced the counterculture of the 1960s while cutting his own path through eight decades in Hollywood.
Wes Anderson Goes Gallic in The French Dispatch
The French Dispatch tips the director’s trademark, Francophile style into overdrive — no doubt pleasing his fans while infuriating his detractors.
Nostalgia for Swinging London Haunts Last Night in Soho
British filmmaker Edgar Wright’s knack for mixing and matching subgenres finally leads him off the deep end — and into incoherence — with Last Night in Soho.
The New Dune Is Too Somber for Its Own Good
I can’t help but wonder what Denis Villeneuve’s new Dune movie might have been had it chucked those handsome but cold visuals and embraced a wilder approach.
It’s Time to Put the Halloween Reboots Out of Their Misery
The second film in David Gordon Green and Danny McBride’s Halloween reboot can’t hold a candle to their 2018 installment — let alone the original.
The Velvet Underground Brings Back the Thrills of the 1960s Avant-Garde
Todd Haynes’s excellent new documentary on legendary rock band the Velvet Underground reminds us of just how daring both music and film once was not that long ago.
No Time To Die Is a Disappointing Finale for Daniel Craig’s James Bond
The new James Bond movie, No Time To Die, is so disappointing that I don’t see how the iconic franchise can be reformed simply by creating a more woke 007.
The Sopranos Goes Phantom Menace on Us
We asked our film critic — who has somehow never seen The Sopranos — to watch HBO’s new prequel film The Many Saints of Newark to see if it could work on its own merits.
When Malcolm Met Ali
A new Netflix documentary, Blood Brothers, offers a moving look at the friendship between Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali, two of the 20th century’s most dynamic figures. When black-and-white photos of the pair grace the screen, it practically vibrates with energy.
Respect Is a Weak Portrait of the Hellaciously Strong Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin was a legend. But the new Franklin biopic, Respect, is a forgettable film that avoids the darker and more difficult parts of her life.
In Clint Eastwood’s Cry Macho, Even the Rooster Is Bad
Clint Eastwood is back in a starring role at age 91 in Cry Macho. But if this is to be his final film, it’s an awful way for a legend to say goodbye.