WandaVision Needs More Surrealism
Disney Plus’s new Marvel show WandaVision promises a surreal spin on a 1960s sitcom reality. But so far, it’s delivered little more than winks and nods to Marvel Cinematic Universe loyalists.
343 Articles by: Eileen Jones
Eileen Jones is a film critic at Jacobin, host of the Filmsuck podcast, and author of Filmsuck, USA.
Wonder Woman 1984 Has Set the Bar Even Lower for Superhero Films
The big-budget Wonder Woman sequel is an ugly, tedious, bloated, badly CGI-ed mess and a wretchedly directed film. And yet critics keep making excuses for it because of its supposed social relevance.
Mank: A Great Screenwriter in Search of a Great Biopic
David Fincher’s ode to Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz revives an eighty-year-old debate over whether or not Orson Welles deserves a co-writing credit — and it’s exactly as entertaining as that sounds.
Steve McQueen’s Small Axe Is Pretty Damn Good So Far
The first film in Steve McQueen’s new Amazon Prime anthology chronicles the struggle for racial justice in Britain with the 1970s Mangrove Nine trial. It’s a wonderful achievement and valuable popular education on the British struggles against racist policing.
Ronald Reagan Paved the Way for Donald Trump
A new Showtime docuseries reminds us of just how awful Ronald Reagan was and how his brand of demagogic racism became a model for Trump.
Hillbilly Elegy: Bad Politics, Even Worse Cinema
The only good thing we have to say about the reactionary film adaptation of Hillbilly Elegy is that it’s so boringly told you’ll forget about it in an hour.
Sofia Coppola Wants You to Feel Bad for the Very Rich and the Very Sad
Sofia Coppola’s On the Rocks is yet another meandering depiction of life as a bored and alienated celebrity.
John Carpenter, Apocalyptic Filmmaker
John Carpenter’s movies provide visions of societies falling apart. No wonder his work is resonating now more than ever.
We’re Sorry to Report That the New Borat Movie Isn’t Funny
Amazon’s Borat sequel tries to replay the zany laughs of the original but picks easy, woke moralizing over funny social satire.
Aaron Sorkin Turned the Chicago 7’s Militancy and Defiance Into Bland Liberalism
Netflix’s new Aaron Sorkin movie on the Chicago Seven tries — and fails — to turn a travesty of justice and an attack on the Left into a defense of American institutions.
The New Season of Fargo Is an Embarrassment of Riches
The new season of Noah Hawley’s Fargo moves the action to 1950 Kansas City. It looks at Midwestern history and culture with raucous humor, wild plotting, and a rogues’ gallery of American oddballs in the best tradition of Mark Twain.
Antebellum Is as Bad as Everyone Thinks
Get Out was a triumph. Antebellum tries to follow in its footsteps, but it completely fails at making a horror movie out of the experience of racism in America.
The New John Brown Series Is as Good as You’d Hoped
Ethan Hawke’s The Good Lord Bird is the thrilling cinematic depiction of radical abolitionist John Brown that we’ve been waiting for.
The Only Thing You Need to Read About the Inane Cuties Controversy
The controversy over the new Netflix movie Cuties is so stupid, you never should’ve heard about it. But it’s gotten so hysterically overblown by this point, it can’t be ignored anymore.
The Labor Abuses of Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen DeGeneres’s reputation as the kindest celebrity in America has finally been shattered. But it’s not just her “mean streak” that’s the problem — it’s that she’s an exploitative boss, who cheated her employees at the height of the pandemic.
Chadwick Boseman (1976–2020)
More than any other actor of his era, Chadwick Boseman, who played a range of black heroes from Thurgood Marshall to T’Challa, had a capacity to inspire his audience and evoke a sense of pride in the triumphs and struggles of black people.
Bringing H. P. Lovecraft to Jim Crow America
The new HBO series Lovecraft Country melds the macabre monster stories of H. P. Lovecraft with the real-life horror of Jim Crow America. Once again, Jordan Peele shows that the scariest American monster is the white-supremacist cop.
Movie Theaters Were Made for a World That No Longer Exists
Movie theaters are set to reopen soon, but neither the safety of viewers, nor support for the film industry itself, can be guaranteed.
The Controversy Surrounding An American Pickle Is Better Than the Film Itself
Seth Rogen’s new film prompted him to ask some searching questions about Jewish education in the diaspora today and drew significant attention after his criticism of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. But An American Pickle is a superficial portrait of Jewish experience in the New World and a corny rags-to-riches story of immigration.
Bacurau Is the Most Must-See Movie Since Parasite
Movies about class and inequality have made it into the global mainstream recently and are picking up major prizes. The genre-busting, edge-of-your-seat Brazilian film Bacurau is the latest. You’ve gotta see it.